Financial Empowerment Services

Financial Connect Workbooks

Check out the edible PDF and at-home print versions of our new Financial Connect Workbook. This booklet offers information and instructions for accessing important basic financial services and identification (ID). The financial services are: filing taxes, applying for government benefits, opening RESPs, opening bank accounts, and setting up direct deposits. These services help individuals and families to increase their financial well-being and improve their quality of life.

Downloads

Financial Connect, Canadian Citizens Workbook- Fillable PDF
Financial Connect, Canadian Citizens Workbook – Home Print
Financial Connect, Indigenous Workbook – Fillable PDF
Financial Connect, Indigenous Workbook – Home Print 

Financial Literacy Workshops

Financial Literacy Workshops are generally held monthly on every second Wednesday of the month at 2 pm. Each workshop will cover a different topic:

March 8: Income taxes
April 12: Benefits
May 10: Budgeting
June 14: Banking
July 12: Fraud
August 9: Savings

The workshops will take place at Bissell Centre West at 2 pm.

*Participants are welcome to sign up for just one week or multiple weeks at a time. The workshop size is limited to 6 participants for safety.

Participants receive a $5 gift card for attending.

To register please email adevasagayaraj@bissellcentre.org

Superclinics

Super Clinics are an innovative way to support modest-income Albertans to access basic financial supports and services.  This concept was adopted and implemented in Edmonton by leveraging an existing Financial Empowerment program, that had created an educational course for front-line support workers.  The Super Clinic model eliminates barriers for people trying to access services by providing all essential financial supports in one place at one time and at no cost. The services we provide in this model include:

• Income tax filing,
• Access to ID and Social Insurance Numbers (SIN)
• Setting up Registered Education Saving Plan (RESP)
• Accessing the Canada Learning Bond (CLB)
• Assistance to apply for government benefits and subsidies

Learn more about the Super Clinic Model and how to implement it here.

The Financial Empowerment Project

The Financial Empowerment Champions project is a Prosper Canada initiative conducted in partnership with Bissell Centre, E4C and the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women along with four other national financial empowerment champions. The goal of the project is to improve the financial well-being of one million Canadians living on low incomes by 2020.

Financial empowerment is an approach to poverty reduction that focuses on improving the financial security of low-income people. The five interventions included in this project have proven successful in supporting participants to acquire and practice the financial skills and behaviours that tangibly improve their financial outcomes and build their financial security.

Bissell Centre will train its front-line staff and volunteers to deliver financial empowerment services to people living on low incomes.

The Impact
The targets this Project is designed to meet include helping:

• 140,000 individuals living on low incomes increase their financial knowledge, skills, and confidence
• 13,100 individuals file their taxes
• 400 individuals that did not previously have a bank account will open one
• 5,000 individuals to set personal financial goals and pursue action plans to achieve them

This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program.

Learn more about the national Financial Empowerment Project.

This program is offered in partnership with: