Legislation

EIFEL 

In February 2022, CCPPP was made aware of proposed federal tax legislation related to Excessive Interest and Financing Expenses Limitation (EIFEL). 

Background 

The draft rules represent Canada’s response to the recommendations in Action 4 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project (BEPS) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 

On May 3, 2022, the Council submitted its views to the federal government via the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. The Council highlighted the following concerns: 

• Canada would be at a disadvantage to our neighbours to the south who have implemented an exemption
• It would result in an increase in costs to the public sector in a post-COVID environment already struggling with costly supply chain and labour issues as well as inflation
• It would reduce the effectiveness and the viability of the P3 structure for projects moving forward
• The potential for default by private partners for existing projects will escalate due to an unforeseen policy change that causes significant upheaval and untenable additional tax obligations, and 
• It would lead to the potential exit of international builders and operators lessening competition, access to global practices and innovation, and higher pricing

Latest Developments

The Council and a small group of members worked over the summer of 2022 to meet with officials to bring a greater understanding of how P3s are financed and funded and the tangible impacts of the draft proposal.

A follow-up informal response was then provided by CCPPP to Finance Canada in August 2022 and shared broadly across other interested or affected federal departments. The results were largely successful for the P3 industry with the federal government granting an exemption in its revised legislation published in connection with the Fall Economic Statement. 

However, concerns remain regarding the need to include grandfathering, and the need to ensure the current language will actually do what the exemption is intended to do. 

As a result, the Council and its working group prepared a second submission sent to Finance Canada in January 2023 as part of the government's second round of public consultations. CCPPP’s Lisa Mitchell and a small contingent of members involved in the EIFEL working group met with officials from Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office in February 2023.

The Council is continuing to work on a few follow-up items requested by the minister’s office. If you'd like more information about EIFEL and the Council's advocacy efforts, please contact Lisa at [email protected].

CCPPP would like to thank the following member organizations for their guidance in drafting these documents: ACS Infrastructure; BBGI; BDO; Concert Infrastructure; EllisDon; KPMG; McCarthy Tétrault; National Bank of Canada; Plenary; and Torys.

Download May 2022 CCPPP Submission

Download August 2022 CCPPP Followup

Download January 2023 CCPPP 2nd SUBMISSION