LoonieLabs publishes Canadian financial calculators, benefit explainers, and immigration tools. This page documents exactly how we research, build, verify, update, and correct that content. It applies to every calculator, blog post, and news article on the site.

Who we are

LoonieLabs is an independent Canadian publisher founded and edited by Shrey Patel. Every calculator and article is built from primary sources: CRA, IRCC, Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada, and provincial finance ministries. We have no affiliate relationships with any bank, credit card, or immigration consultant featured on this site. We're based in Winnipeg, MB.

Who is accountable & how pages are checked

LoonieLabs is edited by founder Shrey Patel, who approves every published page and signs off on each "Last reviewed" date. Before that date is updated, a page goes through the checks below.

• Editorial sign-off — every published page is approved by the editor, who carries final accountability for accuracy and tone.
• Calculator engineering — calculators are coded in TypeScript with unit-style checks against CRA worked examples, and annual constants live in a single shared file per topic in src/data/.
• Tax & benefits check — Tax and benefit figures are cross-checked against current CRA notices and published rate tables.
• Immigration data check — CRS, NOC, and processing-time figures are verified against the latest published IRCC data.
• Banking & credit check — Bank, card, GIC, and HISA figures are re-verified against issuer disclosure pages.
• Copy check — every page is checked for plain-English clarity, prescriptive "you should" phrasing is removed from YMYL topics, and disclaimers are verified as present.

Corrections, source questions, or press enquiries reach the editor at hello@loonielabs.ca.

Where our numbers come from

We use primary sources only. Every figure on the site can be traced back to one of these:

• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) — tax brackets, credit amounts, contribution limits, payment dates, benefit formulas.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) — CRS, NOC, processing times, fees, proof-of-funds amounts.
• Statistics Canada — CPI, average wages, housing data used in calculators.
• Bank of Canada — policy rate, FX rates.
• Provincial finance ministries — provincial tax brackets, surtaxes, credits.
• Issuer disclosure pages — bank account fees, credit card terms, GIC and HISA rates (read directly from the issuer's site, not aggregator feeds).

We do not scrape blogs, repackage other publishers' summaries, or use AI to invent numbers. If we can't find a primary source, we don't publish the figure.

How calculators are built

1. We read the underlying legislation or CRA technical document (e.g. Income Tax Act for tax brackets, T4127 for payroll).
2. We code the formula in TypeScript with the constants stored in a single shared file per topic (e.g. src/data/taxBrackets2026.ts), so an annual update is one file change, not dozens.
3. We test against the CRA's own published worked examples where available. If results diverge by more than rounding error, the calculator does not ship.
4. We label indexed result pages with a "Last reviewed" date and a methodology callout pointing to this page.

Update cadence

• •Numbers re-verified against official sources every 90 days
• •Tax constants updated within 14 days of CRA announcements
• •Immigration data refreshed within 7 days of IRCC posting
• •Reader corrections reviewed within 48 hours

Annual constants (tax brackets, TFSA/RRSP limits, OAS thresholds) are refreshed within 14 days of the CRA's November announcement so January 1 calculations are correct on day one.

Conflicts of interest

LoonieLabs has no affiliate relationships with any bank, credit card issuer, brokerage, immigration consultant, or insurance company featured on this site as of the date this page was last reviewed. We are not paid for placement, not paid per click, and not paid per signup. If that ever changes, we'll add a clearly labelled disclosure on the affected page before any link goes live, and update this paragraph.

Our income comes from display advertising (Google AdSense, once approved). Ad placements do not influence editorial content, ordering, or recommendations. Editors do not see which advertisers appear on which pages.

Corrections policy

If you spot an error — a wrong number, an outdated rate, a miscoded formula, a broken link — email hello@loonielabs.ca or use our contact form. We acknowledge corrections within 48 hours and publish a fix within 7 days. Material corrections (anything that would change a user's decision) include a dated note at the top of the affected page for at least 30 days.

What we do not do

• We do not give personal financial, tax, or immigration advice.
• We do not collect personal information through calculators — inputs stay in your browser.
• We do not publish mass-produced articles or fake author bylines.
• We do not accept paid editorial placement disguised as reviews.
• We do not republish issuer marketing copy as if it were independent analysis.