Prosper Canada - Parners in Financial Empowerment February 2016 | Issue No. 16

Connect     facebook         Twitter         linkedIn         youtube

Federal government to help more Canadians tax file and access their benefits

Canada Revenue Agency to extend a helping hand

Financial empowerment efforts received a major boost in November when Prime Minister Trudeau instructed Canada’s newly minted Minister of National Revenue, the Hon. Diane Lebouthillier, to help more Canadians access benefits they are entitled to and make it easier for Canadians with low and fixed incomes to tax file.

Read

Highlights in this Issue

What's New

The Canada Social Report

The Caledon Institute of Social Policy launched the Canada Social Report initiative in June 2015. It is intended to act as a national hub of social policy information.

  Read  

FEPS program is expanding to Kitchener and Ottawa

The Financial Empowerment and Problem Solving (FEPS) Program will expand to two new partner sites, The Working Centre located in Kitchener and EBO Financial Education Centre located in Ottawa. This expansion will help broaden the programs reach and meet the needs of low income Canadians across the province.

  Read  

PM addresses poverty in ministry mandate letters

On November 13, 2015, the new Liberal federal government mandate letters were released and for the first time ever, publicly communicated to the Canadian public. Through the letters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assigned each of his newly-appointed Cabinet Ministers with specific priorities and key goals for their respective portfolios over the next four years.

  Read  

ABLE Financial Empowerment Conference videos now available

The 2015 ABLE Financial Empowerment Conference was a great learning and networking opportunity for many of our stakeholders who joined us in Toronto for two days this past November. We are pleased to advise that full conference videos are now available for viewing for all plenary sessions.

  Read  
Learn about Financial Empowerment

Blog

CAMH is helping clients become Money Wi$e

January 14, 2016

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's (CAMH), Social Determinants of Health Service recently launched a financial literacy program called Money Wi$e, an initiative that addresses the financial literacy needs of the hospital’s clients.

  Read  

Highlights from the Field

Promising approaches to expanding tax filing for people on low incomes

Now that the holiday season is behind us it’s time to turn our attention to something a little less festive – tax season. While filing taxes may not be on your list of favourite things to do, for Canadians living on low incomes, tax time is an important opportunity to boost their income by accessing a wide range of government benefits.

  Read  

Investing in youth pays off

Momentum recently evaluated the impact of its Youth Fair Gains (YFG) program and found that investing in youth absolutely pays off. YFG is a matched-savings program for youth ages 16-21 that helps youth build up to $2,250 in savings which can be used to purchase tools for work, training or education, or to start a business. Learn more about this program’s impact and opportunities for improvement.

  Read  

Online tools help newcomers meet financial goals

Canada has become home to approximately 6.8 million immigrants and a total population that includes over 200 ethnic origins! Thanks to funding provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), Prosper Canada has developed the online Money Management Tool for Newcomers to help new Canadians learn about our increasingly complex financial system.

  Read  

Resources

The following resources may assist you in your work:

*Accessing income-boosting benefits through tax filing

*ABLE Conference ‘Accessing income boosting benefits and tax credits’ presentations

*Volunteer Tax Preparation Clinic locations

*CPA Ontario Tax Preparation Assistance

*What It’s Worth: Strengthening the Financial Future of Families, Communities and the Nation, CFED

Poll

What percentage of Canadian tax filers prepare their returns themselves?

Upcoming Events

February 16-18, 2016
AFOA Canada National Conference – Montreal

The AFOA Canada 16th National Conference will focus on the importance of strong leadership and governance.

  Read  
February 29, 2016 and March 1, 2016
Free financial literacy facilitator training – Hamilton

Do you work with Newcomers to Canada? Would you like to offer them financial literacy education? Please join us for a Financial Literacy Facilitator Training Workshop!

  Read  
April 5-7, 2016
Cities Reducing Poverty: When Mayors Lead – Edmonton

This conference will bring together mayors, provincial and territorial representatives, poverty reduction roundtable members, and interested individuals across the country.

  Read  
April 13-15, 2016
Annual Conference on Financial Education – Orlando

This conference promotes the effective delivery of consumer financial products, services and education by hosting a national event for professionals providing these services.

  Read  
April 20, 2016
10th Annual Financial Literacy Summit – Webcast and/or Chicago

This summit brings together senior international financial literacy experts from governments, the financial services industry, NGOs, the news media and academia.

  Read  

Donate to Prosper Canada

Support Our Work

Connect

facebook         Twitter         linkedIn         youtube

Contact Us

60 St. Clair Avenue East,
Suite 700
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1N5

Tel: 416.665.2828
Toll free: 1.877.568.1571
info@prospercanada.org

February 2016 | Issue No. 16
Subscribe