The $50k/yr is passive investment income limit.  So essentially the government is saying it is OK to retire on $50k/yr, you'll be taxed lightly like anyone with an RRSP. But if you want to have retirement income of $100k/yr then you will be hit with marginal tax rates over 75% in many cases. What I wonder is ..is this $50k/yr per small biz corp investment portfolio ie can a person hold multiple holding companies each with 50k limit on low tax rate? Or perhaps is it per-individual business owner, or is it individual shareholders, or per-family???