News

In April 2020, Prosper Canada reset its priorities to focus on helping people with low incomes to safely weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing that vulnerable Canadians would bear both the brunt of the disease and its devastating impacts on livelihoods and financial security, we set out to mobilize $20 million to sustain and expand financial help services to help t...

On April 7, the federal government released its 2022 budget, A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable, which marks a return toward pre-pandemic spending. We have highlighted some features of this budget that impact Canadians living with low income. We focused on measures benefitting low- and moderate-income Canadians, notably significant investments in ...

Social distancing has “pushed” more people to use online banking, order multitudes of items from their computer and even scan, pay and bag their own groceries. Self-service is a widely accepted way of providing more services with fewer resources. Though there are some drawbacks, it has also proven that with the right tools, and just a little help, people can perf...

Au début de la pandémie, le gouvernement fédéral a agi rapidement pour mettre en place la Prestation canadienne d’urgence (PCU), offrant une stabilité financière à 8,9 millions de personnes touchées par des pertes de revenus ou d’emplois. Ensuite, la Prestation canadienne de la relance économique (PCRE) et la Prestation canadienne pour les travailleurs en cas de ...

TORONTO, Feb. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On behalf of the coalition of concerned consumer advocates, FAIR Canada has sent the following open letter to Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, calling on her to take action to establish a designated, single ombuds organization to handle consumer complaints.Read

As many Canadians confront the difficult financial realities of navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to help those struggling to access financial relief has never been greater. For those who are urgently seeking financial relief, benefits can be the life line to  increasing income, lowering expenses, and making a positive shift in quality of life, such as ...

Principles provide guidance on how to act and what decisions to make. Financial empowerment (FE) interventions such as supporting people to gain access to benefits, are not only ‘activities’ to achieve ‘outcomes’, but are based on principles as well. It is important, in understanding FE interventions, to also take stock of the foundation upon which th...

At the start of the pandemic, the federal government acted quickly to roll out the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), creating a financial floor for 8.9 million people impacted by earnings or job losses. The subsequent Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) and Canada Workers Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) have continued to support people who have lost income because of the pandemic....

Now that the Benefits wayfinder has launched and many pandemic supports have ended, we will be winding down the Financial Relief Navigator and have transitioned the content over to this new, helpful tool. As of January 19, 2022, the Financial Relief Navigator is no longer receiving updates or maintenance. This means that some of the information may be outdated or no longer r...

The CRA has launched Learn about your taxes. This online interactive learning tool is designed to help Canadians learn about taxes, benefits and credits, and how to complete their income tax and benefit return. Canadians have said they need help understanding how to do their taxes. Following public consultations, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) identified the need to fill a...