News

National Post, June 17, 2020. The federal taxpayers’ ombudsman says some of Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) processes are “systemically oppressive” towards vulnerable populations as well as indigenous, rural and northern communities.  “These (tax) filers feel they receive conflicting information, the processes are unfair and the CRA do...

We are pleased to announce Prosper Canada CEO, Elizabeth Mulholland, has been appointed by the FCAC Commissioner effective July 1, 2020, to the Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (CPAC). Contributions will include perspectives on the implications of the pandemic on the financial well-being of Canadians, the response of governments and financial institutions to ...

Français A clear, easy-to-follow resource featuring COVID-19 relief measures from governments, banks, credit unions, and utility, internet and telecom providers.   Prosper Canada announced the launch of the Financial Relief Navigator (FRN), a bilingual one-stop portal where Canadians can access critical COVID-19 emergency benefits and financial relief from governm...

We have been spending a lot of time ensuring that our Learning Hub is up-to-date with the most recent information related to COVID-19 benefits and financial empowerment tools to help support the work you are doing. Many of our toolkits are now PDF fillable and the calculations are done for you!Specifically we added four key toolkits: We’re expanding and updating our t...

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...