Discover financial empowerment resources
Discover financial empowerment resources
This 90-minute webinar is designed to provide frontline practitioners with foundational knowledge and skills to support Canadians who are living on a low income to access benefits. Participants learn the importance of access to benefits for individuals and families, review key skills and...
The SimpleFile by Phone service, formerly called File my Return, allows eligible individuals to auto-file their income tax and benefit return over the phone. It is free, secure, and easy to use. There are no forms to fill out or calculations to do. You do not need to speak to an agent to use this...
The Canada Disability Benefit is an opportunity to guarantee that people with disabilities can live a life with dignity and have an adequate standard of living. For the new Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) to meet its goal of financially supporting and reducing poverty of people with disabilities,...
This publication is an outreach product to help promote the program "How to open a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) for yourself or a loved one with a disability". This infographic was created in response to feedback from stakeholders and was designed in collaboration with experts in...
The report presents a summary of CDSP annual statistics up to the end of 2022. These include the RDSP take-up rates, the number of RDSP beneficiaries, and the values of CDSB, CDSG, contributions, and total assets. Starting in 2024, the program will release comprehensive CDSP statistics on an annual...
Practically everyone today seems to have some form of debt. Whether that’s from student loans or credit cards, debt is a huge issue for Canadians—one that we could all use a little help to get out of. To gain some relief, people all over the world have turned to side hustles and the “gig...
This 90-minute webinar is designed to provide frontline practitioners with foundational knowledge and skills to support Canadians who are living on a low income to access benefits. Participants learn the importance of access to benefits for individuals and families, review key skills and...
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...
This 90-minute interactive workshop is designed to provide frontline practitioners with foundational knowledge and skills to support Canadians who are living on a low income to access benefits. Participants learn the importance of access to benefits, review key skills for benefits conversations,...
The overall purpose of the collaborative project between Seneca College and Prosper Canada was to build a supportive booking system for tax clinics serving low-income...
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...
The Expanding Economic Opportunity Through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (EEOVITA) cohort has been working to identify and engage targeted, underserved populations most at risk for missing out on the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) benefit. This project, which began in January 2022 and concludes...
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...
This toolkit was created to support the Virtual Self Filing tax filing model piloted in 2020-2022 by Canadian community agencies. In this model, individuals file their own tax returns, but receive support from community agency staff or volunteers to do so. In 2023, this toolkit was updated to...
There are rules about how much money a person living on Ontario Works can receive in gifts or “voluntary payments”. Generally, a person living on Ontario Works can receive gifts up to a maximum of $10,000 in a 12-month period. There are rules around reporting gifts, and decisions on how to...
In 2014, the government of BC declared October RDSP Awareness Month to help raise awareness about the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). The RDSP is the world’s first savings plan specifically designed for people with disabilities. Even with little to no personal contributions, there are...
In this blog, John Stapleton breaks explains income security and personal tax systems in Canada in the simplest way...
Increasing Access to Benefits for Peoples with Disabilities project - Insights and Recommendations This 60-minute webinar for front line practitioners and government agencies shares the insights and recommendations from the three-year Increasing Access to Benefits for Peoples with Disabilities...
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...
Bridge to benefits: Implementing benefits access in social service has been created for organizations that are interested in starting, refining or expanding their work in access to benefits services. This includes benefits services such as helping to fill out applications, providing access to...
Searching for government benefits can feel like wading through a huge ocean of information. With so many benefits programs out there, it can be hard to know where to start. This webinar will teach you how to help people seeking ways to boost their incomes and/or reduce their expenses by...
This infographic by community food centres Canada provides a helpful visual summary of tax benefits that can add to income or reduce the taxes Canadians pay when they file their tax return. The information is especially useful for people: Working or living on a low income; Living with a...
The average Canadian tax return amount in 2023 is $2,072 and that money can go a long way when it comes to meeting your financial goals. But remember, this isn’t a cash windfall; it’s YOUR money that the government borrowed from you, so Credit Canada recommends using it for needs versus...
There are many good reasons to keep up to date on your tax filing each year. You may file a tax return even if you don’t have any income. It could help you access certain refundable tax credits and other...
The CRA has compiled benefits and credits factsheets for: Students Persons with disabilities Modest income individuals Housing insecure individuals Adults 65 and older Women in shelters Indigenous peoples Newcomers These are available in English and...