Searching for government benefits can feel like wading through a huge ocean of information for many Canadians. The path to benefits is often unclear and can leave people feeling lost and frustrated. The Benefits wayfinder can help you give your clients peace of mind and the confidence to know they’re getting all the benefits that are out there for them.
Are you curious about how you can help your clients access benefits? This tool provides information and resources to determine what kinds of access to benefits services fit best with your capacity and community.
Browse tools and resources for agency staff and your clients:
Prosper Canada hosted two webinars in February 2022, where community service providers learned more about the Benefit wayfinder and how it can support clients. You are invited to watch the recorded webinar in English or in French.
Prosper Canada's Foundations of Access to Benefits course is now open for registration. Visit https://training.prospercanada.org/ to register.
This course will help you gain essential knowledge and skills to support your community members with access to benefits. Upon completion of this course, you will receive a certificate of completion, a practitioner guide to support your use of Prosper Canada's Benefits wayfinder tool, and access to further training.
This course begins as soon as you register and will be available to you for up to six (6) weeks. It requires a total of approximately 3-4 hours to complete and is delivered through self-directed online learning modules.
This course is also available in French.
When peoples’ lives change in a big way, they are usually interested in learning about new benefits. Their life changes often make them eligible for new benefits. Major life transitions include things like:
The Starting points feature, searchable from the top menu bar and the life transition boxes on the home page is a great way to quickly explore some of these different situations and transitions with clients.
Tax filing is one of the main ways that people can access benefits. A conversation with your client about benefits they could get if they filed their taxes can help them see the value of filing their taxes. It could also help identify other ways you might be able to help them overcome barriers, like the cost of tax filing, language barriers, or transient housing situations.
Community Food Centres Canada has graciously shared an infographic that you can use to help your clients understand the benefits of filing taxes, including dollar amounts they could get from benefits.
View resources on free tax-filing services that clients can access.
You can help clients follow-through on applying for benefits by breaking the steps to apply down into manageable chunks. Download our Action Plan template for a fillable pdf that you can share with clients.
Visit yourtrove.org for a range of financial resources to help Canadians take independent action to build their financial health.
Trove provides tools, tips and worksheets to help individuals:
If you don’t have time to go through the full Benefits Wayfinder tool with every client, you can use this guide to learn about the main benefits you should know about. The Key benefits you may be eligible for guide includes a list of the most common benefits available to individuals in Canada. The information provided includes eligibility requirements, maximum benefit amounts, and links to official websites for more information.
Making the most of your money is a free online tool to help you manage your money. It has tools and resources on topics including budgeting, benefits and debt management.
There are three sections to explore:
Start your journey reviewing the topics in sections one and two and then if you want more information on a particular topic, you can explore further in section three.
This toolkit contains resources and information which may offer support to organizations, agencies, or frontline staff supporting individuals, during a challenging time.
This toolkit was developed in consultation with community partners, focusing on key issues facing their communities since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If your clients need help you can't provide, use the "Help" feature to find others who can.
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Our graphic button lets you direct your web visitors to the Benefits wayfinder.