Question of the Week: Can I give an investment as a gift?

Submitted by nsscadmin on Wed, 05/13/2020 - 09:22

When I was growing up it was common to receive a Canada Savings Bond from a grandparent as a gift on your birthday or for grading. Since Canada Savings Bonds have been phased out, a reader wondered can I give an investment as a gift?

In Canada it is legal to gift stocks, bonds and other securities. They must be transferred from one person to another and classified as a gift. However, depending on the type and value of the security involved the gift giver may have to pay capital gains tax.

As there is no gift tax in Canada the receiver of the securities does not need to declare the securities as income.

How the receiver will hold the given securities must also be taken into account. As we stated in a previous blog post, to open an RRSP or TFSA in Nova Scotia you must be the age of majority, which is 19. If the receiver is not old enough to open an account to hold the securities they may need to be held in trust by a parent or guardian.

Before making any decisions about gifting a security you should contact a lawyer, estate planner or tax expert.

Failure to file annual financial statements.
Failure to file interim financial statements.
Failure to file an annual or interim management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) or an annual or interim management report of fund performance (MRFP).
Failure to file an Annual Information Form (AIF).
Failure to file a certification of annual or interim filings required by Multilateral Instrument 52-109 Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings (MI 52-109).
Failure to file required proxy materials or a required information circular.
Failure to file an issuer profile supplement on the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI).
Failure to file a material change report.
Failure to provide a written update after filing a confidential report of a material change.
Failure to file a business acquisition report.
Failure to file annual oil and gas disclosure prescribed by National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure of Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101) or technical reports for a mineral project required under NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).
Failure to file a mandatory news release.
Failure to file corporate governance disclosure as required by national Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices (NI 58-101).
Failure to file audit committee disclosure as required by Multilateral Instrument 52-110 Audit Committees (MI 52-110) or BC Instrument 52-509 Audit Committees.
Failure to include disclosure in an issuer’s MD&A relating to disclosure controls and procedures and their direct effectiveness that is referred to in a certificate filed under MI 52-109.
Financial statements of the reporting issuer, or the auditors’ report accompanying the financial statements, do not comply with the requirements of NI 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations (NI 51-102), National Instrument 81-106 Investment Fund Continuous Disclosure (NI 81-106) or National Instrument 52-107 Acceptable Accounting Principles, Auditing Standards and Reporting Currency (NI 52-107).
The reporting issuer has acknowledged that its financial statements, or the auditors’ report accompanying the financial statements, may no longer be relied upon.
The reporting issuer’s AIF, MD&A, MRFP, information circular, or business acquisition reports do not contain information for each of the content items required by NI 51-102 or NI 81-106.
The reporting issuer’s technical disclosure or other reports do not comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 43-101 or 51-101.
Failure to pay a fee required by the Act or the regulations.
Failure to comply with any other requirement related to continuous disclosure.