What Happened During the 2026 Peak Return Filing Season?

For most CVITP host organizations and volunteers, the period between late February and mid-May is the heaviest time of year for helping clients to file their returns.  A lot of unusual things happen, whether it be with the Canada Revenue Agency’s CVITP support, the UFile software volunteers are provided with, Service Canada’s support, or the work of other service providers.  Last year, I started documenting these oddities for the first time.  It served as a good sounding board when discussing the 2025 season with other volunteers and a useful reminder to me as to what went well and what didn’t.  So, I decided to repeat the practice again this year.

This article contains an eclectic list of 19 noteworthy things (at least for me) that happened.  Some may already be obvious to you; others may be puzzling.  Let me know what you think, and what I’ve missed that’s noteworthy.

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What’s New?

What’s new and relevant to volunteers in the 2026 tax season?  I have created two pages, one for clinic coordinators and another for preparers of income tax and benefit returns (or ITBRs for short), that cover the most important changes to be aware of.  Each page is divided into two sections, including one I call the “Essentials” and the other, things that are “Good to Know”.  Please let me know if you feel there’s anything important that I’ve missed.