In this series of articles, we begin by reviewing the purpose of the CVITP. While the Canada Revenue Agency publications do not give a formal purpose, we look through recent government references to the CVITP and suggest that its purpose is to help individuals on modest and low incomes, and especially vulnerable individuals, to file their income tax and benefit returns.

We then ask whether or not the CVITP is achieving this purpose.  We conclude that the information provided in the Canada Revenue Agency’s current results framework for the CVITP is not useful because it does not tell us if the program is serving the intended population.  Furthermore, the results the Canada Revenue Agency reports on, based on this framework, do not enable us to know if recent budget increases for the CVITP are helping it to reach a greater proportion of its intended population.

To address these weaknesses, we propose an alternate results framework for the CVITP.  We believe it holds more promise for providing the Canada Revenue Agency with results data which will allow for more strategic decision-making, better ensuring the CVITP lives up to its stated intention.