Free tax clinics to help individuals and families are underway across Canada, as the deadline to file personal income taxes approaches.

In the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island, the local Lions Club is marking 30 years since it first started hosting a free tax clinic.

“It’s a great way to help the community,” said Federal Community Volunteer Income Tax Program volunteer Don Jacquest. “I have fun doing it — that may sound crazy.”

Jacquest, a retired Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), has volunteered his services for nine years.

He says the tax clinic typically serves seniors, students, recent immigrants, people with disabilities and people who are on social assistance.

The team of nine volunteers at the Comox Valley tax clinic helps file about 700 returns a year for people living across the region, he says.

Across Canada, the clinics are generally accessible to people who have a low to modest income and a simple tax situation.

‘Invaluable’ service

Ann Janssen, executive director of the Comox Valley Affordable Housing Society, says she refers people to the clinic every year.

“This service is invaluable to those with low incomes as their financial health depends on the filing of their taxes every year,” Janssen said in a written statement.

“Without these amazing volunteers … those who really just need a bit of a hand would end up being unable to get their taxes completed.”

Jacquest and Janssen say many social programs like Old Age Security, CPP, income assistance or child tax credits require that recipients have done their taxes as an important first step.

Collecting taxes and distributing benefits

According to the Canada Revenue Agency, in B.C. alone there were 450 community groups that offered free tax clinics in 2024, filing 141,450 tax returns that resulted in $332,760,000 in refunds, credits, and benefit entitlements.

Across the country that year, 18,090 volunteers helped file nearly a million tax returns that resulted in $2.4 billion in benefits.

“People think of the CRA as a tax collection agency,” said CRA spokesperson TJ Madigan.

“But part of our mandate is also to make sure people are getting the benefits and credits they’re entitled to — a lot of them that we administer.”

Madigan says even people who don’t have any income should file their taxes so they can access those benefits.

Moving toward automation

The CRA also directly offers a free tax filing service called SimpleFile, which is open to low-income individuals and families by invitation only.

But Madigan says this year a digital option of the service will be open to anyone who qualifies.

Last fall, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a long-awaited automatic tax filing system for low-income Canadians.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the automatic benefits filing system will begin enrolling about a million people with “simple tax situations” starting in 2027, rising to 2.5 million in 2028 before hitting up to 5.5 million low-income Canadians by 2029.