Why Ontario and BC Perform Poorly Compared to New Brunswick and PEI
In a recent article on the CVITP participation rates of those living in poverty, we noted that “New Brunswick has the best participation rate, with 43.4% of the province’s poor receiving CVITP services. At 17.4%, Ontario has the worst participation rate among the provinces, well below the rate for all the provinces combined (24.3%).”
The purpose of this article is to explore some of the reasons for these wide divergences. To help find some of the reasons, we compare the two best performers, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (PEI), with the two weakest performers, Ontario and British Columbia (BC).
First, we dismiss a couple of reasons we think are not relevant. Next, we analyze the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) CVITP data for 2021 at the provincial level. Here we discover three important differences between these high and low performing provinces. Then we look at the provincial level data in 2022 and 2023. We want to see if there have been changes since 2021 in these three areas which might significantly improve the CVITP participation rates of the poor performers relative to the strong performers.
Finally, we link these differences with the expected results of the CRA’s pilot grant program. We argue that the developments in these areas prove the pilot did not achieve two and arguably three of its four expected results. (No CRA data has been made public which allows for an assessment of the fourth area.)
Read here about the three differences between the high and low performing provinces in 2021, how these differences evolved between 2021 and 2023, and why we believe they demonstrate that the CRA’s pilot grant program has been a disappointment.
Inequalities of Access to Free CVITP Services Across Canada
There are great disparities in vulnerable Canadians’ access to CVITP services across Canada. This shows up clearly in the different rates of participation in CVITP services between the provinces.
In this article, we look at the 2020 provincial poverty data Statistics Canada estimated using its Market Basket Measure or MBM. (At that time, Statistics Canada had yet to establish a separate MBM for the territories.) We compare this data with the CRA’s data on the number of CVITP clients served in each province during the 2021 tax filing season. From this, we calculate the percentage of those living in poverty who were served by the CVITP. (We use the generous assumption that all individuals served by the CVITP in 2021 were living in poverty in 2020.) This gives us what we call CVITP participation rates by province.
These rates vary substantially between the provinces. See here how Ontario ranks in comparison to the other provinces in providing CVITP services to those living in poverty.
What Happened to the GAINS T Slips?
As in past seasons, this year we used the Autofill My Return function to download the T slips for our clients. However, these downloaded T slips did not include any of the GAINS T slips, which come as T5007s.
GAINS or Guaranteed Annual Income System is a provincial payment made by the Ontario Ministry of Finance to top up the income of a senior, much like the federal government does with the Guaranteed Income Supplement. Given that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) encourages volunteers to use the Autofill My Return function (which we like for many reasons) we were surprised to see no GAINS T5007s in the CRA’s database when using Autofill My Return.
Read more here to find out why this is a problem.
2021 Provincial Budget Consultations – Fixing OEPTC
We took advantage of the Ontario government’s 2021 pre-budget consultations to make a submission regarding the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC) to the Ontario Ministry of Finance. See our submission here.
Rent-Geared-to-Income and the Income Tax and Benefit Return
Starting in 2019, the Government of Ontario made the filing of a tax return a condition for almost 200,000 tenants in Ontario to obtain rental subsidies for their living accommodation. Read here to learn more about what is called Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) and why it makes filing an income tax and benefit return so important for these tenants, most of whom will have a level of income which makes them eligible for the CVITP.
What’s wrong with OEPTC and how to fix it
The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC), one of the three credits that make up the Ontario Trillium Benefit (OTB), is flawed and the flaw has the effect of excluding some of the very people it was intended to help.
The OEPTC is claimed annually through the personal income tax and benefit declaration process. It is explicitly designed with two distinct policy intentions: to help low to moderate-income Ontario residents with (a) their property taxes, and (b) the sales tax they pay on energy.
Mirroring its intent, the OEPTC has a property tax component and a home energy component. Both homeowners and tenants can apply for it.
But tenants living in housing that is exempt from property taxes cannot claim the home energy component, even though they pay their own energy costs. This is because of an inconsistency between the policy and the way the Ontario Taxation Act was written.
As a result, thousands of low-income tenants in Ontario are ineligible to get the help that the OEPTC was designed to provide.
Learn more about how this problem has arisen, why it is inequitable and what you can do about it here.
Ontario Credits and Benefits
Learn here about the most important Ontario Government credits and benefits likely to be used in preparing CVITP client income tax and benefit returns.
Calling for contributors from Ontario
Do you work as a CVITP volunteer or does your organization host a CVITP clinic in Ontario? What is happening with the provincial portion of the income tax and benefit return or with the CVITP that you think others in Ontario should know about?
We’re looking for contributors who want to share useful Ontario-related information and ideas with our readers. (Not sure if your contribution is relevant? Check out the three purposes of this page here.) If you’re interested in contributing, please use the Contact page to let us know more about what it is you want to share.