Discover financial empowerment resources
Discover financial empowerment resources
The executive summary on the progress of Opportunity for All- Canada's First Poverty Reduction Strategy identifies the availability and affordability of safe and suitable housing, the ever-increasing cost of feeding one's family, the long hours and low wages of work to barely keep your head above...
The 2021-2023 Building Financial Wellness in First Nations (FWFN) project - led by Prosper Canada and funded by IG Wealth Management - aimed to integrate culturally appropriate financial wellness supports into existing services in Manitoba and Ontario First Nation...
Internet use in Canada is prolific, with 94% of Canadians going online for personal use in 2022, up from 91% in 2018. Not only are more Canadians using the Internet since the COVID-19 pandemic, but more are managing their personal and household finances online. Based on data from the Canadian...
A CIRO Member is an investment firm regulated by CIRO who must follow CIRO’s rules, including rules for handling client complaints. Clients of a CIRO Member who are not satisfied with a financial product or service have a right to make a complaint and to seek resolution of the problem. CIRO...
This report provides insights from the project, including highlighting the challenges people with disabilities in British Columbia face in their journey to get income benefits, the opportunities to remove those barriers and implications for future benefits design. The demand for access to benefits...
If you work with people in Canada living on low incomes, you can play a meaningful role in supporting access to benefits regardless of your expertise or sector. Prosper Canada identified 36 barriers that individuals living on low incomes face when trying to access benefits. More than half of the...
From June – July 2023, ONN conducted our fourth annual sector-wide survey to gather critical data on the state of Ontario’s nonprofits regarding their financial health, staffing and volunteers, and general operations. Nearly 1,400 nonprofits, charities, and grassroots groups across the province...
The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) is a partnership between the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and local community organizations. The program is intended to ensure that all taxpayers have equal access to the tax system. In Grey and Bruce Counties, 14 community organizations provide...
As cash use, access, and acceptance declines in Canada, vulnerable demographics are at risk of being left behind. For many, cash is more than just a method of payment. The growing pattern of electronic payments means that cash could become more scarce, threatening those who rely on it. While a...
Organizations play a vital role in providing community members with access to benefits. Tax clinics, homeless shelters, food banks, health centres and others can all do their part to provide these services. This free 60-minute demonstration will showcase our new Bridge to Benefits tool which...
A recent Prosper Canada report shows that Canadians with low incomes are increasingly financially vulnerable but lack access to the financial help they need to rebuild their financial health. People with low incomes are unlikely to find help when they need it to plan financially, develop and adhere...
When Canadians have a financial problem, want to make a financial plan, or need help with their taxes, most simply reach out to their financial institution, adviser, accountant, or commercial tax preparer for the help they need. But who do low-income individuals turn to? A new report by Prosper...
Women’s shelters are often the first point of contact for victim-survivors fleeing abusive relationships. Therefore, safety and shelter are logically at the forefront of staff members’ immediate concerns. Once the victim-survivor is in a place of safety, it is crucial to explore the patterns of...
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario commissioned a research study that focused on consumer attitudes, how consumers are engaging with financial services, and consumer characteristics such as vulnerability. Insights from the research are allowing FSRA to better understand the...
One of the consequences of social distancing and other restrictions, during the pandemic, such as those on business operating hours, is that consumers spent more of their time searching for information, shopping, and streaming entertainment on-line. With more free time on their hands and money in...
The Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing (CISP) is a new national hub to link people and share practices that connect people to community-based supports and services that can help improve their health and...
With a growing number of barriers to accessing vital services, we need to think critically about accessibility and people’s services experiences in the social and public sector. Human-centred design is an approach which centres the voices and lived experiences of people who are impacted in the...
NB Social Pediatrics and the Saint John Community Loan Fund recently surveyed 157 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia residents about their experiences with finances, banking, and ID to better understand if biometrics or ID banks could be effective solutions for people living without ID. Eyeing the...
In 2019, the Australian Government committed to additional actions to improve the financial outcomes of Australians, including undertaking an immediate review of the coordination and funding of financial counselling services that disadvantaged Australians rely on. The review noted the benefits...
This exploratory study aims to better understand the challenges experienced by members of cultural communities in Montreal, particularly the most disadvantaged groups, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Spring of...
In an effort to understand the challenges and opportunities facing civil society and community organizations working to improve the quality of Canada’s internet, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) commissioned research firm The Strategic Counsel to conduct a qualitative and...
Internet is an essential service. As technology increasingly shapes our world, it is important that Canadians can keep up with the rapid changes, latest skills and emerging industries. Unfortunately, not every resident of Canada is able to access these opportunities to unlock a potentially brighter...
This report provides the findings of research conducted to assist Employment and Social Development Canada in identifying good or best practices and lessons learned from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Conducted in partnership with the DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada...
Canada’s digital divide has often been narrowly defined as the gap that exists between urban and rural broadband internet availability — Canadian urban centres have significantly greater internet subscription levels at faster speeds than rural communities.(Government of Canada, 2019). The cost...