July 1, 2026
This is the conclusion to the article entitled “Are Other CRA Programs Better At Helping Low-income Households File Their Returns?”
To recap:
The past: While I maintain that the Non-filer Benefits Letters initiative was of dubious value, at best it helped on average 20,000 residents each year to file a return.
The present: In the 2025 season, 73,140 (or 3.5%) of the 2.1 million individuals invited to use SimpleFile services filed a return using one of its methods.
The future: At best, deemed filing may help up to 50,000 individuals annually to file a return. While more than 1 million individuals will also be offered a pre-filled return, it is too early to tell if the adoption rate will be significantly higher than the SimpleFile experience.
To put these programs into perspective, in 2025 the CVITP helped 926,710 individuals to file a return. At present and in the immediate future, the CVITP appears to be the overall winner in helping low-income individuals to file their return.
Before taking a closer look at the future of the CVITP, the next article in this series will look at the Auditor General’s report on the CRA’s Sustainable Development Strategy as it examines the CRA’s commitments to promoting poverty reduction.