Personal finance pages go out of date quietly: a contribution limit changes on January 1, a program is renamed, a rate is cut. This page explains how WealthNorth keeps its figures and rules tied to their sources, and how you can check them yourself.
Primary sources first
Figures and rules come from the organization that sets them: the Canada Revenue Agency for tax rules and limits, Employment and Social Development Canada for CPP, OAS and EI, the Bank of Canada for its policy rate, Statistics Canada for income and price data, CMHC and OSFI for mortgage rules, and the statutes and regulations themselves for legal rules. Where a figure comes from a company (a bank’s fee, a fund’s management expense ratio), we use the company’s own published page or document.
Summaries by search engines and AI tools are not treated as sources. Before a figure is used, the exact wording is found on the source page itself.
Each figure is stored once
Numbers used on more than one page (tax brackets, benefit amounts, contribution limits, fees) are stored once in a data file along with the source it came from and the date it was last checked. Pages display the stored value, so an update to the data file changes every page that uses it and two pages can’t show different values for the same figure. Rules written in words, such as who qualifies for EI or how the B.C. home buyer rescission period works, are stored the same way, with the source’s own wording on record.
The Sources list at the end of a page is built from the data and rules that page actually uses, with the dates they were last checked.
Sentence-by-sentence checks
We are reviewing the site one topic at a time. In a review, every factual sentence on every page in the topic is listed and given a verdict with its source: correct, corrected, or removed when it can’t be confirmed. Calculators are tested against worked examples calculated by hand, table totals are recalculated, and cited links are fetched to confirm they still load and still say what the page says they do. A second reviewer who hasn’t seen the first review then rechecks a sample of the most important claims against the sources.
When an error turns up, we search the whole site for the same mistake, since the same fact often appears on several pages.
Scheduled updates
Each data file has a date by which it must be checked again, based on how often its source changes: quarterly for OAS and GIS amounts, yearly for tax brackets and limits, monthly for housing market data. Pages are also tested against upcoming dates, including the January 1 change of tax year, so they don’t show last year’s figures as current.
Corrections
If you find something wrong or out of date, please let us know. We check the source, correct the page, and look for the same error elsewhere on the site.
WealthNorth provides general information, not personal financial advice. Rules have conditions and exceptions, so for a decision that depends on your situation it can help to confirm the details with the source or a qualified professional.