Share your thoughts: Supporting newcomers to Canada filing their income tax and benefit return

The CRA's People First philosophy guides us to meet client needs and expectations by putting people at the centre of everything we do. Our philosophy reinforces the importance of engaging people to understand their experiences, the issues that they face, and how we can improve our services to align with their needs.

The CRA will undertake consultations to collect input from service provider organizations and community organizations working with newcomers who have arrived in Canada within the past five years. Our goal is to better understand how to support newcomers and the organizations that assist them in filing an income tax and benefit return.

Consultation methodology

We will hold consultations in two phases:

• Phase 1: virtual interviews
• Phase 2: online questionnaire

Key objectives of the consultations

• To understand if newcomers are aware of the benefits and credits they could be eligible for prior to filing their first income tax return.
• To learn about the common issues newcomers face in accessing benefits and credits and/or filing their tax return.
• To understand if newcomers are aware of the need to file their taxes, how to improve awareness, and where they go for financial and tax related information.
• To understand if/how service provider organizations and community organizations interact with the CRA.
• To identify opportunities for the CRA to improve its interactions with service provider organizations and community organizations serving newcomers.

What we are learning

We will provide a summary of consultations as they become available.

Related information

Benefits, credits, and taxes for newcomers - Canada.ca

Contact us

Individuals who want to get more information may contact us by sending an email to: BOMS/SMDP@cra-arc.gc.ca.