April 11, 2025

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This is the first article in a four-part series entitled The Evolution of the CVITP – 2024 Update.  This article focuses on the impact of the CVITP on the clients it serves, using data published by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).[i]

Individuals Assisted

Looking at the numbers in the table above and the bar chart below, there are two visible trends.

In the first trend line, one can see there was gradual growth in the number of individuals assisted between 2016 and 2019. The 2020 tax season was thrown into disarray with the introduction of COVID related restrictions that closed in-person clinics.  This led to a sharp drop in the numbers. 

One can see a second, steeper trend line which represents the rebound.  By 2023, the numbers had fully rebounded.  By 2024, the CVITP reached a new peak in serving individuals consistent with the gradual growth seen between 2016 and 2019.

The dip in performance in the 2020 to 2023 period represents four lost years for the CVITP.

The pilot grant project can probably take some of the credit for the second, steeper trend line representing the rebound.  Although the project was initially planned for three years starting in 2021, it was extended for a fourth year until May 31, 2024.  (Most recently, it has been extended for a fifth year until May 31, 2025.)  However, these results come at a cost that did not exist prior to the 2020 pandemic.

Returns Filed

Looking at the numbers in the table and the bar chart below, one can see the same two trends for returns filed as was the case for individuals assisted.  Again, the reasons for this are similar to those for individuals assisted.

It can be safely assumed that the individuals served through the CVITP in any year were assisted in filing a return for the most recent tax year.  The number of returns filed in excess of the number of individuals assisted signals the filing of prior year returns.  These are returns that went unfiled prior to the most recent tax year.  (Perhaps an individual failed to file for one prior year and got back up to date in the most recent tax season.  In the extreme, chronic non-filers may get caught up by filing multiple prior year returns.)

By taking the ratio of the number of returns filed to the number of individuals assisted, one can derive the average number of returns filed per client.

In the 2024 tax season, the average number remained 1.15 returns filed per individual assisted, the peak originally seen in 2020 and repeated in the 2023 tax season.  This is a good sign.  It means that host organizations are showing a sustained inclination to encourage their volunteers to file prior year returns.

There could be several reasons for this.  Notably, the pilot grant project started with the filing of 2020 returns in the 2021 tax season.  Thereafter, with each tax season more prior returns were covered under the grant project, increasing the incentive for host organizations to file prior year returns.[ii]

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Value Generated

The CRA posted the data on the refunds, credits and benefits generated (or what we will call “value generated” purely for conciseness) for clients from filing their returns in the 2024 tax season.   As the main rationale for offering a CVITP clinic is not to help individuals pay income tax but rather to help them maintain access to many poverty-reducing benefits, this figure provides tangible evidence of the real value generated for CVITP clients.

While the value generated has increased over time, this seems to reflect only the increases in the numbers of individuals assisted and the returns filed.  There do not seem to be any significant increases in the average amounts of value generated per individual assisted or per return filed.  Given that all the credits and benefits are adjusted annually for inflation, and this has been rising significantly in the last few years, it is a puzzle why these averages have not increased.  In fact, the lack of significant changes to these nominal amounts could be an indication that the real purchasing power of these benefits is slowly being eroded over time.

The CRA excludes benefits and credits it does not administer, but it is unclear which benefits and credits are included in its calculations.  The CRA could be more transparent by giving more detail about the methodology it uses to arrive at the figure for refund, credit and benefit entitlements generated.

To read about the most recent trends in the numbers of volunteers and host organizations recruited and retained, see Part 2 – Infrastructure Supporting CVITP Service Delivery.

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[i] Prior to 2021, we used several CRA data sources as the CRA did not offer comprehensive CVITP data in any one publication.  Recently, the CRA started providing data from 2021 onwards on its CVITP webpages.  The new data uses a different annual time frame for collecting and reporting on the CVITP from the time frame the CRA previously used.  This creates a discontinuity between the data we cited before 2021 and the new data.  However, we do not believe the new data time frame creates a significant change in the trends observed.  Therefore, we have replaced the old data we cited by the new data starting with the year 2021. (For more information, see Great CRA Innovations: Annual Data on CVITP Results.) 

[ii] For example, in the 2024 tax season, the host organization could receive $20 ($5 per year) for assisting an individual to file their 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 returns (but nothing for any of the individual’s returns prior to 2020).  Assuming the grant program were to remain in place beyond the pilot phase and the grant per return filed remained the same ($5), by 2030 a host organization could get as much as $50 for assisting an individual to file their returns for 2020 through 2029.