The objective of this article is to study cash use in Canada. The Bank of Canada, as the sole issuer of Canadian bank notes, needs to understand the public’s demand for cash. However, measuring cash use is difficult because it is an anonymous payment method. Given this, cash use is typically...

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...

As the economy continues to be in turmoil, and recession feels like depression for tens of millions of low-income workers, financial coaching has emerged as a tool with great promise to create prosperity for low-income Americans. The field of financial coaching for low-income people is growing...

This online tool released by the Canada Revenue Agency can be used to determine the eligibility and payment amounts of child and family benefits. Additional information on child and family benefit programs may be found on the Canada Revenue Agency's child and family benefits...

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...

In this webinar you will learn about the barriers facing people with disabilities in accessing benefit programs and the work currently underway to identify, influence and pilot solutions to help advance the access to benefits process now and in the future.    This webinar includes:  An...

Canada’s tax system has a punitive impact on lower income families with children hoping to earn more money, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Softening the Bite: The Impact of Benefit Clawbacks on Low-Income Families and How to Reduce It,” authors Alex Laurin and...

For most households in America, financial shocks are inevitable. The car will break down. The house will need a repair. A key earner for a household will be laid off. These shocks can be devastating to household finances. And while the COVID-19 pandemic, which we are still recovering from, was a...

A report from Auditor General Karen Hogan concludes that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) managed the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) program so that millions of eligible families received accurate and timely payments. The audit also reviewed the one-time additional payment of up to $300 per child issued...

In this presentation, Noralou P. Roos, Co-Director, GetYourBenefits! and Professor, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, explains how access to tax filing and benefits is an important poverty intervention. This presentation is from the panel discussion 'National and regional strategies to boost tax...

The financial resources available to families with young children are an important factor affecting child development, and they can have long-term impacts on socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. This article summarizes the findings of a new study using Statistic Canada’s data and analyzes the...

First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition has been tracking child and family poverty rates in BC for more than two decades. Every November, with the support of the Social Planning and Research Council of BC (SPARC BC), a report card is released with the latest statistics on child and family...

The Canada workers benefit (CWB) is a refundable tax credit to help individuals and families who are working and earning a low income. The CWB has two parts: a basic amount and a disability supplement. You can claim the CWB when you file your income tax return. Learn more including eligibility...

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...

This report provides information on the results of Phase 1 of the Benefits Screening Tool project. Details on Phase 2 of the project (July 2016 to March 2018) are also included. The online Benefits Screening Tool (BST) enables health practitioners to screen patients for poverty and suggest...

This article explores benefits screening, a system of auditing patients to identify those living in poverty and the benefits they may be eligible for, as an innovative step towards realizing the right to health in Canada by advancing health equity. In particular, it assesses one online tool...

For Canadians with low-incomes, tax time is an important opportunity to boost their incomes by accessing a wide range of government benefits. This can be done by claiming benefits directly when they tax file or by using tax filing to establish their eligibility for benefits that they can then apply...

The federal government has indicated that it will expand WITB by approximately $250 million per year beginning in 2019 to “provide additional benefits that roughly offset incremental Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions for eligible low-income workers.”1 The changes to CPP will be phased in,...

If you are under 65 and cannot work because you have a physical or mental disability, you may be able to get disability benefits from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is a benefits plan for workers. Workers who pay into the plan might get a retirement pension when they...

In this report, the take-up of government benefits is presented as one indicator of Canadians’ financial literacy—that is, their “knowledge, skills and confidence to make responsible financial decisions.” Low take-up rates clearly suggest that some Canadians lack the financial literacy...

This is a study released by Insights on Canadian Society  based on 2016 Census data. Census information on immigration and income is used to better understand the factors associated with low income among senior immigrants. This study examines the factors associated with the low-income rate of...

This handout is from Module 2 of the Financial Literacy facilitator curriculum from Prosper Canada. Some sources of income are government benefits that are accessed only by filing your taxes. There are both federal and provincial benefits. This is a list of the federal benefits. To view...

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit program (CERB) was introduced to provide financial support to employees and self-employed workers in Canada who were directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article examines the proportion of 2019 workers who received CERB payments in 2020 by various...

Many public benefit programs – such as cash welfare and Medicaid – limit eligibility to those with few or no assets. If individuals or families have assets exceeding the state’s limit, they must “spend down” longer-term savings in order to receive what is often short-term public...

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...