Core practice
Business Sale & Owner Exit Planning
You've built your business over 20, 30, 40 years. Selling — or passing it on — is likely the most important financial decision of your life. We structure that transition to maximize after-tax proceeds, secure your retirement, and protect what matters next.
What we cover
Quantified decisions, not generalities.
- Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption — up to $1.25M exempt per shareholder
- Estate freeze and family trust to multiply the exemption
- Sale-proceeds structuring: invest vs. consume
- Coordination with your accountant, tax specialist and notary
- 25-30 year post-transaction retirement income plan
Most business owners never optimize their exit. They sell because a buyer showed up, because health forced it, or because the children didn't take over. The result: 30% to 50% of the proceeds go to tax that 18-36 months of planning would have avoided.
Our practice is built for those moments. We work with you — often 3 to 5 years before the transaction — to structure the business, multiply the capital-gains exemption across shareholders, put in place an estate freeze where it makes sense, and prepare the post-sale portfolio that will fund the next 25 to 35 years.
Once the transaction closes, the challenge shifts: turning a one-time pool of capital into durable income. RRSP/RRIF drawdown, TFSA withdrawals, dividends from the holding company — each lever has a different tax cost. We model your income month by month, year by year, factoring longevity, inflation, and the unexpected.
Questions
What our clients ask us
When should I start planning the sale of my business?
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Ideally 3 to 5 years ahead. That gives time to clean up the balance sheet, structure shares for capital-gains exemption eligibility, put in place an estate freeze where useful, and optimize the buyer profile. If the sale is imminent (under 12 months), we can still capture meaningful gains — but many options close in the final year.
What is the 2026 lifetime capital gains exemption?
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For 2026, the lifetime capital gains exemption on Qualified Small Business Corporation (QSBC) shares is $1,250,000 per individual shareholder. On a family sale, multiplying that exemption across spouse, adult children, and a family trust can represent millions in avoided tax — but the shares must be structured correctly, ideally 24 months before the transaction.
Should I sell shares or assets?
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For the seller, selling shares is almost always more tax-efficient (access to LCGE, capital-gains rate). For the buyer, buying assets offers a tax advantage (goodwill amortization). It's a negotiation — often settled with a price adjustment. Our role is to quantify the net impact for you under both scenarios before you sign.
Tools
Model your situation with our calculators.
Related services
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What you pass on is more than a number — it's a structure. Well-planned, it preserves family harmony, minimizes tax at death, and makes your wealth work for the next generation. Poorly planned, it can destroy both.
Learn morePortfolio Management
Building a portfolio is easy. Building one that walks alongside you for 25 years through every cycle, rebalances automatically, optimizes for tax, and doesn't make you panic in March 2020 — that's our craft.
Learn moreReady to talk through your situation?
A first meeting, with no obligation and no fee. In person in greater Montréal and Québec City, by video call, or by phone.
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