About Carnet
An independent notebook on Canadian money, kept carefully.
Carnet means notebook, in English and in French. That is the whole idea: short, exact notes on the parts of Canadian personal finance that most people learn too late.
Who writes it
Carnet is made by Jean-Michael Boivin, in Edmonton, Alberta. I make short videos for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram and Facebook, and I write the longer notes on this site so every video has a sourced, dated reference behind it.
I am an independent educator. I am not a licensed financial advisor, financial planner, investment dealer or tax professional, and I am not registered with any securities regulator. Nothing on Carnet is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything, and nothing here takes your personal situation into account.
What Carnet covers
- Registered accounts: TFSA, RRSP and FHSA rules, limits and deadlines.
- Sign-up bonuses and promotions, read clause by clause.
- Fees: account fees, card fees, foreign-exchange and trading costs.
- Cashback and rewards: how they are paid, and what they are worth.
- Investing apps: what they are, what they charge, and what to check.
- Taxes and credit: brackets, refunds, deadlines, credit cards and credit scores.
How the notes are made
- Official sources first. Figures come from the Canada Revenue Agency, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, the Competition Bureau, or the provider's own published terms. Every note lists its sources.
- Dated. Each note shows when it was published and last checked. Rules change; the date tells you how fresh a figure is.
- Projections are labelled. If a number has not been officially announced, the note says so, and says who is projecting it.
- Corrections are made openly. If something is wrong, the note is corrected and the update date changes. Tell me at the address below.
The weekly note
Every Sunday, one short email with the week's note, the deadlines coming up and one clause from the fine print. See a sample issue.
How Carnet earns money
Carnet is free to read and watch. It is funded through affiliate and referral programs: when you sign up for or buy something through some of our links, Carnet may earn a commission or credit, at no extra cost to you. Programs are chosen because their products are relevant to Canadians, not because of what they pay, and a commission never changes what a note says. Full details are on the affiliate disclosure page.
Contact
Corrections, questions and partnership enquiries: hello@carnetmoney.ca.
Carnet · Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Noted.