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These are dramatic proposals, and they will have a major impact on Canada’s ability to attract investment and skilled workers here. The top U.S. personal tax rate will be reduced at the federal level from 39.6 to 33 per cent for couples with US$225,000 in combined income and singles with US$112,000. After those earners get their federal deductions for income tax paid to the state, their overall top tax rate will be about 38 per cent on average.

Suddenly Canada’s already high top federal-provincial rate of 53 per cent on income of roughly US$150,000 or over looks more uncompetitive than ever. With the decline in the Canadian dollar putting our salaries well below American ones, and our much higher marginal income tax rates, Canada could see a repeat of the same “brain drain” we experienced in the 1990s.

Then comes Trump’s planned cuts to corporate income taxes, from 35 to 15 per cent, applying to both large and small businesses. With state-level corporate income taxes, the combined rate will average 20 per cent. He’s also planning a one-time 10 per cent tax on US$2.5 trillion of profits that multinationals have parked in subsidiaries outside the U.S., to ensure that money gets patriated to the United States.

Canada’s combined federal-provincial corporate income tax rate is roughly 27 per cent — seven points higher than the combined U.S. rate Trump is aiming for. With the signature of the next president’s pen on a tax reform bill, Canada will instantly lose one of its key business tax advantages, while businesses suddenly begin shifting profits from here to the U.S. None of this looks good for federal and provincial treasuries.