The House of Commons Finance Committee recently released its call for pre-budget consultation briefs as the government considers its policy priorities for the 2021 federal budget. This toolkit created by Imagine Canada provides information on the reasons to submit a pre-budget consultation...

This policy backgrounder provides an overview of how provincial and territorial governments have decided to treat receipt of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) for those receiving social assistance and/or living in subsidized housing. It also looks at provisions for youth aging out of...

As the need for basic income grows, the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) is often asked how Canada could best design and pay for it. To answer that in a detailed way, BICN asked a team to model some options that are fair, effective and feasible in Canada. The three options in this report do just...

As the connection between financial capability and social mobility is made evident, both public and private actors are increasingly interrogating the drivers of personal financial health and investing in the innovation of products and services designed to improve the condition of economically...

This paper focuses on proposed system transformation in Ontario Works, and explores the possibilities and limitations associated with the proposed changes in 2018. First, it looks at the broader context within which the government’s social assistance reforms are taking place. Second, it provides...

Introduced in 1998, the Canadian Education Savings Program (CESP) was designed as an incentive to encourage education savings for the post-secondary education of a child. The program is centred on Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs), where savings accumulate tax-free until withdrawn, to pay...

The mandate of the Committee is to provide advice to the minister of national revenue and the commissioner of the Agency on: the administration and interpretation of the laws and programs related to disability tax measures; ways in which the needs and expectations of the disability community...

A better understanding of human behaviour can lead to better policies. If you are looking for a more data-driven and nuanced approach to policy making, then you should consider what actually drives the decisions and behaviours of citizens rather than relying on assumptions of how they should...

The research and policy symposium on income volatility was held on March 9, 2018, in Toronto, Ontario. Speakers from Canada and the United States present on key research findings on the nature of income and expense volatility in the early 21st Century. Speakers also suggest policy solutions to...

In this presentation, Kevin Schachter, Graduate Student at University of Manitoba and Information Manager at SEED Winnipeg, presents a realist analysis of nonprofit tax filing services.  This presentation is from the session 'Closing the tax-filing gap: Challenges and opportunities', at the tax...

Operating at arm’s length from the Canada Revenue Agency, the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman (OTO) works to enhance the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) accountability in its service to, and treatment of, taxpayers through independent and impartial reviews of service-related complaints and...

In early 2017 Momentum reached out to over 50 community members and participants to better understand local experiences with high-cost alternative financial services. In addition to connecting with individuals through interviews, Momentum hosted community consultations in partnership with Poverty...

Many Albertans turn to high-cost alternative financial services when they need a short-term fix for a financial issue. Though these services are expensive and unsafe, they are often the only option for low-income individuals, particularly those who struggle to obtain credit at mainstream financial...

Many Canadians turn to high-cost alternative financial services when they need a short-term fix for a budgetary issue. Though these banking and credit alternatives are a convenient choice for individuals in search of fast cash, particularly those who face barriers to obtaining credit at a bank or...

The Disability Tax Credit helps Canadians by reducing the amount of income tax they are required to pay. The Registered Disability Savings Plan helps people with a disability or their caregiver save for the future by putting money into a fund that grows tax free until the beneficiary makes a...

In this video presentation Sunil Johal from the Mowat Centre explains how social policy in the 21st century could be redesigned to accommodate the changing nature of work and income in Canada.   This presentation was given at the Prosper Canada Policy Research Symposium on March 9, 2018. Read...

Disability supports should be designed to provide benefit and not burdens to eligible recipients. Unfortunately, this is not a reality when it comes to one of the main benefits open to Canadians with disability: the federal Disability Tax Credit (DTC). Designed to recognize some of the higher...

The Zambia Financial Diaries is a year-long panel study that collects data each week on all transactions performed by respondents - all sales and purchases, income earned from informal or formal labor, uses of financial tools, and exchanges of in-kind goods. The purpose of the study is to develop...

This is the first in a series of @ Issue Papers that looks at the participation of traditionally under-represented cohorts in postsecondary education. The purpose of this @ Issue Paper is to summarize what is currently known about the participation of low-income students in PSE, with a particular...

The purpose of this white paper is to outline how the ongoing struggle of many consumers to manage their finances can be mitigated in the future by focusing specifically on youth financial education. What we propose here is a comprehensive strategy to impart personal financial-management skills to...

This is the slide deck from a webinar by Community Action Partnership for the CFED, on the racial wealth divide and the challenge of wealth building for families of color in the United States. Racial Inequality has always had economic inequality at its foundation....

Spending responses to income are typically explained by households’ capital structures. Households that hold little or no liquid wealth have to consume hand-to-mouth. However, we find that few individuals hold little or no liquidity, and we document that liquidity holdings are much larger than...

The aim of this scoping review of Canadian literature is to examine how the Canadian public understands these seven key social determinants of health that we identified in Making the Connections and to identify gaps in the public’s understanding of the SODH and the research on this subject. Based...

Being homeless, whether briefly or for an extended period of time, can be profoundly distressing for whoever undergoes the experience. This portrait is the result of an exploratory study on homelessness in 13 communities representing five First Nations in Quebec. The report identifies the principal...

Last year marked the seventh straight year of solid employment gains in Canada following the recession. But, scratching beneath the surface shows the credit went solely to part-time positions. Steep losses in energy-producing provinces are only partially to blame for the decline in full-time...