The Working Centre's free tax clinic busier than usual as income tax deadline nears

When Nahla Al-Saadi and her daughter Mariam Nafel first arrived in Canada from Iraq nearly four years ago, they did not know they were required to file taxes. 

"We came here on our own without any government assistance," Nafel said, adding it was difficult to access information and resources without any help. 

They stumbled across The Working Centre in downtown Kitchener, Ont., last year and discovered the centre's Money Matters Project, a free program that helps low-income individuals file back taxes, access the benefits they need and navigate any of their financial issues.

Last year, the mother-daughter duo were able to sort through their missed tax filings with the centre's help. This year, they are back to use the clinic's walk-in tax clinic, a free service that runs in addition to Money Matters for eight weeks during tax season. 

"It's not as daunting as it was because we know there is somebody to help us," Nafel said. 

Ala Abdul Karem is an outreach worker at the centre and has helped people with their taxes since 2017, when she moved to Canada.

She said that this year, the Money Matters program has been busy as people are having more issues related to pandemic benefits.

"It's an amazing program that helps low-income families and individuals to access the benefits and navigate the system of money issues that can be quite complicated and difficult for so many people with different barriers," Abdul Karem said. 

While the Money Matters program is by appointment only, the tax clinic is available on a walk-in basis.

"The main service between March and April is helping people with income tax, and it's through income tax that people get the kinds of benefits like the Canada Child Benefit and all the other kinds of Ontario benefits that people need to add to their income," said Joe Mancini, co-founder of The Working Centre. 

Mancini said Money Matters started as a pilot project about seven years ago. It is funded by the province along with four other similar programs across Ontario. He said work is being done to make these services more widely available.

"So this service is very valuable. We we do it with about 20 volunteers every day," Mancini added. 

Last year, 4,000 people sought help with their income taxes during the free clinic. The Working Centre helped 500 people with their income taxes in the program's first week. 

Nearly every weekday morning at 9 a.m., there is a lineup of about a dozen people outside The Working Centre waiting for it to open. There's a steady stream of people in and out all morning. 

Allyson Urquhart is one of them. On this day, she waits patiently for her name to be called and brought a book to read while she awaits her turn. Urquhart has used The Working Centre's walk-in tax clinic for several years, since she stopped working and started receiving disability benefits. 

"I'm a cancer survivor, and I've been coming here to get help with my taxes," Urquhart said. "I think it's a very welcoming and a very important part of the community. It brings us all together." 

She said it can be tricky to navigate benefits and resources available to low-income individuals, and The Working Centre helps provide that communication. 

"For all the people who struggle, it's not clear or accessible for us to find out how to get help."