Levelling the 'paying' field for Canada's skilled tradespeople

In the House of Commons, the NDP and Conservative parties are not known for seeing eye to eye.

However, a recent Private Members Bill from Chris Lewis, the Conservative MP for Essex, has earned the support of the NDP as well as the Bloc Quebecois and Green Party.

The bill, which is now making its way through the senate, would enable tradespeople to claim expenses for work that is located at least 120 km from their residence, including travel, accommodations and meals. Shockingly, the bill made it through parliamentary committee in 17 minutes without any amendments.

“If it is good enough for Members of Parliament to write off their travel expenses, their apartments and their meals, then it better darn well be good enough for our skilled trades folks,” Lewis said.

Travel write-offs are not limited to MPs. Businesspeople have long been able to travel and write off the related expenses.

As well, the idea of including the trades in the write-off ability isn’t exactly new.

The NDP have previously tabled similar bills without gaining traction, while the 2022 budget included measures to allow tradespeople to claim up to $4,000 in expenses.

“This bill has no limit, so the more they work, the more money our skilled trades are putting back into our economy, and we are not handcuffing these same folks from going to work,” Lewis said.

Regardless of which political party came up with the idea, the benefits of the tax write-off are numerous.

For the many tradespeople that travel across Canada to work, the tax benefit will make returning home for an occasional weekend more financially feasible. For jobsites in remote locations, lowering the cost of the lengthy commute will likely make the job more attractive to skilled labour.

The financial aspect aside, the amendment to the Income Tax Act is a sign of mutual respect. The tradesperson’s work that requires travel holds the same importance as any white-collar worker that’s on the road for their job.

And as Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval pointed out, the debate for the bill opened an unusual discussion for MPs.

“We address all sorts of theoretical questions in the House. We talk about families struggling to make ends meet, and it is important that we do. We also talk about the ultra-rich,” Barsalou-Duval said.

“However, we do not talk enough about tradespeople, the middle-class, the people who work so hard to build our country.”