A charity is offering free financial planning advice to people in Toronto with low incomes.
The charitable organisation Prosper Canada has developed a money coaching program to help low-income individuals identify, plan for, and achieve personal financial goals. Participants will be supported by volunteer advisors who have been trained to provide financial coaching to people who do not have much money.
On June 24 Prosper announced that, working in partnership with the City of Toronto, 50 advisors will help 100 low-income participants set financial goals and develop action plans. The advisors will assist them in building household budgets, increasing savings, reducing debts, and improving their credit scores. Participants will also be given help with filing their taxes should then require it.
"This is a unique collaboration, with partners from all sectors working to ensure people at all income levels have access to neutral, high quality help with their finances when they need it ," says Prosper Canada’s CEO Elizabeth Mulholland. "Collaborations like this are the key to achieving our financial empowerment goal – ensuring all Canadians are financially capable and have access to the financial products, services and advice they need to prosper."
The pilot program is funded by a consortium of companies including: AGF, Bridgehouse Asset Managers, Dynamic Funds, Franklin Templeton Investments, IA Clarington Investments, Sun Life Global Investments, Zavitz Insurance, and the Investment Funds Institute of Canada. The 50 volunteers from the financial planning community have been recruited with the help of Advocis, the Financial Planning Standards Council, and the Independent Financial Brokers of Canada.
