Consultation on the new Simplified Northern Residents Travel Deduction

For the 2023 tax-filing season, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) introduced the Simplified Northern Residents Travel Deduction (SNRTD), a pilot project intended to make it easier for northern residents to claim the travel deduction. The main component of the pilot is a new tool, the airfare tables, that gives taxpayers the option to use an amount provided in the airfare table as the lowest return airfare (LRA) for their travel deduction claims.

The Collections and Verification Branch led a consultation process in the summer of 2023 to receive input on the SNRTD. The consultation was open from July to September 2023 with opportunities to provide input through in-person and virtual roundtables, email submissions, and an online questionnaire.

Participants were asked questions about three main topics: 

• experience claiming the northern residents travel deduction
• perspectives on the SNRTD pilot project 
• resources and support for claiming the travel deduction

What we learned

Participants identified areas of concern with the SNRTD, such as the amounts indicated in the airfare tables being too low, the complexity of calculating the travel deduction, and a lack of clear information available to complete Form T2222, Northern Residents Deductions. The participants made suggestions that they felt could improve the SNRTD, as well the northern residents travel deduction as a whole.

For more information, please read a copy of the full report: Simplified Northern Residents Travel Deduction – What We Heard Report.

What’s next

The CRA thanks the participants who met with us in person in Whitehorse and Iqaluit and virtually, as well as those who participated in the online questionnaire and by email submission. We will carefully review the feedback received and use it to continue our work in making it easier for northern residents to claim the travel deduction.

Related information

• Simplified northern residents travel deduction
• Line 25500 – Lowest Return Airfare Table
• Line 25500 - Determine your maximum deduction

Contact us

Contact us at NRDcomments-DHREcommentaires@cra-arc.gc.ca for additional information.