CRA Response to the 2017 Systemic Examination Report: Benefits Unsheltered
Original report submitted to the Minister of National Revenue December 2017.
An examination into the Canada Revenue Agency’s communication and outreach efforts to shelters and other support organizations about benefits and credits administered by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Recommendation #1
The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency continue to find new ways to effectively inform, educate, and collaborate with organizations, to provide information on benefits and credits to persons using shelters.
CRA’s response
The CRA concurs with this recommendation.
2018 update
The CRA partners with shelters through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) and the Outreach Program, to ensure that homeless and housing-insecure individuals get the benefits and credits they are entitled to receive. The CRA continues to recruit shelters to participate in these programs.
The CRA shared its regional expectations for the CVITP and the Outreach Program with its regional staff, across Canada, in January 2018. The following were communicated as being Agency priorities moving forward:
- building on existing outreach to women’s shelters; and
- increasing the awareness of benefits and credits and of the CVITP among homeless and women’s shelters.
The CRA is able to report on the following achievements between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018:
- conducted 63 outreach activities to women’s shelters, connecting with more than two thousand individuals across Canada who use shelter services;
- created a factsheet specifically tailored for women in shelters;
Note: Some information highlighted in the factsheet includes:- how to apply for the Canada child benefit (CCB);
- the importance of filing tax returns every year, regardless of income, so as not to interrupt CCB payments;
- how the CRA helps those in abusive situations to access benefit and credit payments without the involvement of their abusive partner; and
- how to update personal information with the CRA.
- shared benefit and credit information with more than 500 individuals at Halifax Connects and at Homeless Connect in Toronto and Vancouver (September 2017 to February 2018); and
- provided general tax-filing and benefit information to over 250 individuals through a collaborative effort by the CVITP and Outreach Program at the Under One Umbrella event in Sydney, NS (November 2017).
Note: Several booth visitors were not only able to have their tax slips printed by outreach officers, but were also able have their tax returns prepared and filed by CVITP volunteers.
The CRA is in the process of developing a 3-year strategy to reach and help vulnerable Canadians, which it expects to finalize by the fall of 2018. This strategy was developed using Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+).
Note: GBA+ is the process by which a policy, program, initiative, or service can be examined for its impacts on various groups of women and men.
The 3-year strategy includes items on the following topics:
- housing-insecure individuals (such as shelter users) as a vulnerable group; and
- increasing targeted outreach to shelters.
As a result of funding announced in the 2018 Federal Budget to expand the scope of the CVITP and the Outreach Program, the CRA will increase its visibility by approaching more organizations to create partnerships which will contribute to reaching more homeless and housing-insecure Canadians nationally.
To that end, efforts are underway to develop a partnership with Women’s Shelters Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, with the aim of allowing the CRA to more directly, yet discretely, communicate and offer services to most shelters in Canada.
2019 update
The CRA is continuing to reach out to and partner with shelters through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) and the Outreach Program, to ensure that homeless and housing-insecure individuals get the benefits and credits they are entitled to receive. The CRA continues to recruit shelter organizations to participate in these programs.
The CRA’s Strategy for Reaching and Supporting Vulnerable Canadians 2018-19 to 2020-21 includes housing insecure individuals (such as shelter users and homeless individuals) as one of its target demographics. The strategy aims to increase the take-up of government benefits and credits by vulnerable individuals through enhancing awareness of benefits and credits and increasing access to free tax preparation services provided by the CVITP among each of its target demographics. A Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) was completed during the development of the strategy.
The CRA is preparing its regional expectations for 2019-2020, which will include outreach to shelters as a key area of focus.
The CRA is able to report that between April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019, it conducted 139 outreach activities to shelters and organizations that serve them, connecting with more than 3,100 individuals across Canada who use and support shelter services. Of these activities, 78 were with women’s shelters and organizations that serve them, and these activities reached over 1,500 participants.
The CRA now offers additional products tailored to women in shelters. In addition to the factsheet developed in 2017-2018, the CRA developed an information poster designed for women’s shelters.
A PowerPoint presentation covering key topics of interest for shelter users was also developed to facilitate outreach to this demographic. It includes information on the Canada child benefit and the child disability benefit, the Disability Tax Credit, the GST/HST credit, and the Working Income Tax Benefit (renamed the Canada Workers Benefit beginning with the 2019 tax year) as well as the CVITP.
The CRA established an outreach partnership with Women’s Shelters Canada to promote benefit and credit awareness and the free tax filing services provided by the CVITP among its membership. Women’s Shelters Canada is a network of 14 provincial and territorial shelter networks representing over 400 shelters across Canada. It works as a unified voice to collaborate, educate, and innovate for systemic change that ends violence against women. Through the partnership, the CRA was able to include an article titled "Getting Benefits when They’re Needed the Most" in Women’s Shelters Canada’s Fall 2018 quarterly newsletter.
The CRA is also working with the developer of Women In Safe Housing (WISH) software, which is used by shelters across the country for client intake and reporting purposes. Through this partnership, the software was updated to include links on benefits and credits and free tax help. This helps shelter staff provide this information more consistently to their clients as details are readily available on their screens. The next WISH software update will include a link to the CRA’s Child and Family Benefits Calculator, to expand the information readily available to shelter staff and users.
The CRA participates in numerous outreach activities across the country to provide services to homeless and housing-insecure individuals, and the organizations that serve them such as, the Homeless Connex events. It also participated in the Shelters of the Future conference in June 2018, hosted by Women’s Shelters Canada. The conference was attended by over 600 individuals, and allowed CRA officers to connect with shelter organizations from across the country and other related provincial/territorial organizations.
2020 update
The CRA’s Strategy for Reaching and Supporting Vulnerable Canadians 2018-19 to 2020-21 seeks to improve access to free tax preparation services provided by the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) and to heighten awareness of benefits and credits, thereby increasing their take-up by vulnerable individuals among target population groups, including housing insecure individuals such as shelter users and those experiencing homelessness.
To ensure that these individuals have access to the benefits and credits to which they are entitled, the CRA continues to recruit the participation of shelter organizations through both the CVITP and the Benefits Outreach Program.
The CRA is pleased to report that between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020, it conducted 128 outreach activities to shelters and organizations that serve them, connecting with more than 1,380 individuals across Canada who use and support shelter services. Of these activities, 64 were with women’s shelters and organizations that serve them, reaching over 470 participants.
In addition, the CRA organizes numerous outreach activities across the country to provide services to homeless and housing-insecure individuals and the organizations that serve them. Between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020, it conducted 164 such activities connecting with more than 3,000 individuals across Canada who use and support services for homeless and housing-insecure people.
The CRA continues to participate in many large events across the country that provide services to homeless and housing-insecure individuals. Last year, CRA outreach officers participated in the following events which were done in partnership with CVITP volunteers who completed tax returns on-site for interested attendees:
- Under One Umbrella in Sydney, NS
(150 visitors to its booth). - Homeless Connect in Toronto, ON
(130 visitors to its booth). - Homeless Connect in Fort McMurray, AB
(120 visitors to its booth). - End Homelessness in Winnipeg, MB
(120 visitors to its booth). - Whitehorse Connects through partnership with Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition
(21 visitors to its booth).
The CRA has also developed a group of products designed specifically for women in shelters. This includes a factsheet, a poster, a promo card, and a webinar that speaks directly to the needs of this group of individuals. The goal of these products is to provide the information necessary for women in shelters to gain access to benefits and credits that they may not be aware of, and to continue receiving those that they had been getting prior to moving to the shelter. Based on feedback from field officers, some of the products have since also been translated into various foreign and Indigenous languages.
In response to COVID-19 mitigations and the barriers caused by physical distancing measures, the CRA introduced Virtual Clinics. This mechanism established the parameters by which volunteers are able to continue to assist vulnerable individuals in filing their Income Tax and Benefit returns through virtual means, by drop-off, video-conferencing, and telephone clinic sessions.
As part of this initiative, the CRA worked with organizations hosting virtual clinics to authenticate and confirm the identification of tax filers. This included those who were homeless or housing insecure. Once their return is filed, tax filers may access the benefits and credits designed to support them. Also through this process, clients are informed when they have uncashed federal cheques and are referred to My Account or the General Enquiries line for further details.
To support the introduction of Virtual Clinics, and as a unique response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRA has also developed an additional temporary service for taxpayers, the Individual Tax Filing Assistance Initiative.
As of July 27, 2020, CRA will be calling taxpayers who have not filed their 2019 tax return, and who would be eligible for the CVITP service. The goal is to encourage these individuals to file their return in order to receive all benefits and credits to which they may be entitled.
The officers will be able to direct the taxpayers to still-active virtual tax clinics, online certified tax software (some of which are free), and services offered via a toll free number to help file their return. In certain circumstances, officers will also be able to complete tax returns directly with the taxpayer over the phone.
The CVITP and Benefits Outreach programs continue to target and focus its efforts on a variety of vulnerable populations and groups, including those who use shelters, and the CRA will continue to monitor, review, and report on their on-going efforts.
Through the various changes implemented as well as the ongoing efforts of the CVITP and Benefits Outreach Program since the publishing of this report, the CRA has addressed this recommendation in full.
Recommendation #2
The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency actively promote and increase awareness of outreach services and information available to organizations with respect to benefits and credits available to persons using shelters.
CRA’s response
The CRA concurs with the recommendation.
2018 update
The actions taken for recommendation #1 also address recommendation #2.
Recommendation #3
The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the CRA ensure consistency across all provinces and territories in:
- the promotion of outreach services available; and
- the delivery of information to organizations with respect to benefits and credits available to persons using shelters.
CRA’s response
The CRA concurs with the recommendation.
2018 update
The actions taken for recommendation #1 also address recommendation #3.