Amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, community service agencies across Canada have had to rapidly adapt the way they engage and support people in the community. ​ A growing number of Canadians need (or soon will need) support as they deal with the financial strain brought on by an unprecedented global...

Recover and Rebuild: Helping Canadians build financial security during the pandemic and beyond The 2021 ABLE Financial Empowerment (FE) virtual series is a collection of online financial empowerment events designed to provide frontline FE practitioners, FE...

As practitioners continue to deliver important client-centred services during the COVID-19 pandemic, this can be accompanied by feelings of burnout or compassion fatigue. It can be helpful to establish or renew your practice of self-care, fostering your own physical and mental health during...

The Financial Relief Navigator is an online tool that can help you find support to raise your income or lower your expenses in these challenging times. The tool will suggest income benefits or other support programs you may be eligible for in your province/territory in...

On March 9th, 2018, leading American and Canadian researchers and policy makers from all sectors gathered in Toronto to explore the question: Growing household financial instability: Is income volatility the hidden culprit? The policy research symposium was an invitational event co-hosted by the...

This report, Roadblocks and Resilience Insights from the Access to Benefits for Persons with Disabilities project, provides insights on the barriers people with disabilities in British Columbia face in accessing key income benefits. These insights, and the accompanying service principles that...

Canada ranks consistently as one of the best places to live in the world and one of the wealthiest. When it comes to looking at the financial health of Canadian households, however, we are often forced to rely on incomplete measures, like income alone, or aggregate national statistics that tell...

This toolkit has been created to support the Virtual Self Filing tax filing model piloted in 2020 by community agencies in Ontario. In this model, individuals file their own tax return but receive support from community agency staff or volunteers to do so.  This resource was made possible through...

During 2020, alternative approaches to the traditional community tax clinic model have become even more valuable as COVID-19 lockdown measures prevented in-person program delivery. In response to the growing demand for alternative ways to deliver tax-filing support, Prosper Canada partnered...

This tax season, community tax clinics across Canada will be preparing to support clients virtually rather than in person amidst physical distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Adapting to a virtual tax clinic model means preparing for different ways of volunteer preparation, client...

Household debt levels in Canada have been rising since the 1990s, which poses increasing risks for Canada’s economy and Canadians’ financial health. However, the debt ‘picture’ for an average low- or moderate-income household is likely to be quite different from higher income...

Almost half of low-income households and 62 per cent of moderate-income households carry debt, with households on low incomes spending 31 per cent of their income on debt repayments, according to a new report published by national charity, Prosper Canada. This report analyzes the distribution,...

This resource offers a set of common indicators that community organizations can use to measure the reach and impact of their financial empowerment (FE) programming. It is intended for any community organization that works to foster greater financial well-being for economically disadvantaged...

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadians were having difficulty making ends meet, and the pandemic has further impacted the financial well-being of financially vulnerable Canadians.  In this webinar, we present research on how COVID-19 has impacted the financial security of Canadians...

Saving is an important part of financial well-being. Saving money helps you manage short-term needs such as day-to-day spending. It protects you and your family during emergencies. It is the key to reaching your future hopes and dreams. Maybe you are recovering from a hard time financially and...

Making the transition from in-person to virtual program delivery has become a necessary step in continuing financial empowerment services during these times of physical distancing. Financial education workshops are a valuable part of any financial empowerment program, and there are many different...

The ability to build assets allows an individual or family to meet long-term financial goals and create economic stability for the future. This toolkit contains resources on goal setting, action planning and information on financial products and government supports that can help with building...

L’Explorateur d’allègements financiers : un outil pour connaître les mesures d’aide et d’allègement liées à la COVID-19 dont vos clients pourraient bénéficier En réponse à la pandémie de COVID-19 et en raison de la complexité des mesures d’aide et d’allègement offertes à...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the complexities of the benefits and financial relief measures available to Canadians, we developed the Financial Relief Navigator (FRN), an online resource that helps vulnerable Canadians and those that work with them access critical emergency benefits and...

WoodGreen Community Services, a large multi-service frontline social service agency in Toronto, provides free tax preparation services year-round to people living on low incomes. WoodGreen was interested in designing a novel solution to address the tax filing needs of homebound seniors who are...

Many frontline community organizations provide free tax preparation services to people living on low incomes across Canada using a variety of methods. However, when COVID-19 struck, a large majority of agencies offering free tax-filing supports were forced to close their doors and halt in-person...

Benefits and credits provide income and financial support for many individuals. This toolkit contains information on common tax credits and benefits, benefits for specific populations, and practitioner resources including case studies and information on identification documentation for accessing...

This toolkit contains resources and information which may offer support to organizations, agencies, or frontline staff supporting individuals, during a challenging time. This toolkit was developed in response to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and more resources will be added as they become...

The Financial Literacy Outcome Evaluation Tool offers organizations a collection of evidence-based financial literacy outcomes and indicators. The tool guides users through a series of questions about their program and evaluation goals and then suggests scales (sets of questions) and individual...

Budgeting and saving are the core building blocks of financial stability and sound financial decision making. In this toolkit you'll find helpful resources and worksheets on goal setting, making a budget, and saving money. We are grateful to The Working Centre in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario for...