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Prosperity Gateways

Prosperity Gateways is our bold step toward making financial help part of everyday community life.

Through this initiative, we work with public libraries and other trusted local spaces to bring financial empowerment services directly to where people already are. Instead of expecting people to seek out unfamiliar programs, we’re embedding support into places they know and trust—making it easier to get help with benefits, money management, and financial planning. By testing and refining this model with community partners, we’re building a scalable approach that can be adopted across Canada, expanding access to financial help for people who might otherwise go without it.

Built-in financial empowerment support

Through Prosperity Gateways, Prosper Canada has helped embed financial empowerment supports directly into municipal services, reaching people where they are. In just five years, nonprofit pilots in 14 communities supported 464,000+ people with low incomes and connected them to over $794 million in new income through tax and benefit help. This work has sparked innovative local models—from financial coaching at Toronto Public Library to financial empowerment social workers in Edmonton—proving that when financial help is built into everyday services, communities thrive.

A safe address, a fresh start

Max was staying in a shelter when he visited one of Prosper Canada’s partner programs, ACSA’s Ontario Financial Empowerment Champions. He needed to file his taxes, but without stable housing he couldn’t receive mail or access the benefits he was owed.

A financial empowerment worker helped Max register a safe mailing address at the ACSA office. They also discovered a missed payment from a previous year—overlooked when Max’s bank account was closed. Working with the Canada Revenue Agency, the worker updated Max’s payment method and had all missed benefits reissued.

With those funds, Max can put down first and last month’s rent when he finds housing—a big step toward stability and a more secure future. This is the impact Prosper Canada creates with partners across the country: helping people, no matter their starting point, take control of their financial future.

“The Financial Empowerment program [at TPL] not only gave me the skills I need to budget and understand my finances but also showed me that financial literacy isn’t nearly as daunting as I’d always thought. The Social Worker that supported me really helped me feel in control of my situation, and provided me with resources regarding debt management, saving and banking, and even employment. Above all, their kindness and understanding made my participation in our sessions that much easier, and I would absolutely recommend this program to anyone in need of financial support.” – TPL FE Client

  • Toronto Public Library

    At Toronto Public Library, Prosper Canada helped embed financial empowerment experts into library branches to provide one-on-one coaching and problem-solving for patrons. A part-time financial empowerment librarian and management team now oversee strategy, marketing, coordination, and impact measurement—making financial help a consistent and trusted part of library services

  • City of Edmonton

    Through Prosperity Gateways, Prosper Canada supported the City of Edmonton to train social workers to provide financial help directly to low-income transit and recreation pass holders. These workers connected people to free tax clinics, identified benefits they were eligible for, created action plans, and offered referrals to deeper financial coaching—meeting people where they were and helping them build stability.

  • Ottawa - Ontario Works

    In Ottawa, Prosper Canada is partnering with local Ontario Works and Financial Empowerment Champion staff to integrate financial empowerment supports into life stabilization services. They are piloting interventions like financial education for clients and caseworkers, plus a conversational guide to help staff discuss money challenges and connect clients to solutions.

  • Toronto Employment & Social Services and Seniors Services and Long-Term Care

    Working with multiple city divisions and partners like Seneca College, Prosper Canada co-led engagement sessions, research, and co-design to build a coordinated tax filing assistance model in Toronto. This collaboration created a clear, unified approach to helping seniors and social assistance recipients access the benefits they are entitled to.

Want to learn more about Prosperity Gateways? Our primer gives more details about why FE supports are important.

Download the PDF

Looking for tools to get you started embedding FE supports in your municipality? Check out our toolkit.

Access the toolkit