News

Many frontline social service agencies provide free tax preparation services by trained volunteers through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP). CVITP clinics attempt to address a number of barriers to tax filing for eligible people living on low incomes (e.g. costs related to tax filing, documentation burden, and limited proficiency in English/French etc.).&nb...

The federal government has put in place contingency plans to maintain the flow of Old Age Security (OAS), Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and the GST credit for late tax filers in 2020 until the Fall. We applaud this decision and encourage the federal government to engage provincial and territorial governments to take a similar approach and mak...

Like the communities they support, many nonprofits and charities have been hard hit by the pandemic. In times like these, we rely on and appreciate our friends and partners like never before – because they stick with us and support us, even though they too may be under stress and grappling with their own challenges.   Corporate partners play a critical role in s...

Earlier this month we soft launched the English version of the Financial Relief Navigator (FRN), a one-stop online resource that helps vulnerable Canadians identify benefits and financial relief in one place. We are now gearing up for the official launch of both the French and English sites this June. The FRN is clear, easy to follow and features COVID-19 relief measures fro...

Over eight million Canadians have lost jobs or significant earnings due to COVID-19 and are urgently seeking financial relief.   COVID-19 has also made life much worse for 2M+ Canadians who were already living on low incomes prior to the pandemic:   Many community services they rely on to make ends meet have shut down – e.g. food banks, free internet ...

Financial security can be thought of as an island where everyone has enough money to meet their needs, now and in the future, while financial insecurity is the sea in which everyone else swims, desperate to keep their heads above water.     This is a stark image, but no starker than the 8.2 million Canadians now facing unemployment or steeply reduced ea...

WoodGreen, Prosper Canada, and Intuit Canada team up to help low-income filers as the tax filing deadline nears on June 1st.   Due to COVID-19, thousands of low-income Canadians who would normally prepare their taxes through Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) clinics saw their appointments cancelled, leaving many of Canada's most vulnerable people...

The Financial Relief Navigator - soft launch.  More than seven million Canadians have lost their jobs or seen a drop in earned income due to COVID-19 and are urgently seeking financial relief. For many Canadians on low incomes, COVID-19 has just made their lives much, much worse.  In response to the crisis, we developed the Financial Relief Navigator (FRN), an ...

CEO, Elizabeth Mulholland summarizes government measures being taken in response to COVID-19 to support people living on low-incomes and those that serve them. Read the latest update from the Prime Minister's Office, April 7-8.April 7Spring is here - stay home!   When we hear someone has been hospitalized by COVID-19, we worry, but we are not powerless.  ...

CEO, Elizabeth Mulholland summarizes government measures being taken in response to COVID-19 to support people living on low-incomes and those that serve them. Read the latest update from the Prime Minister's Office, April 6.Introduction   Reminder that as we face a challenge unlike any other, we lean on our friends and family. And we let them know that they ca...