Priaire Mountain would like to see more area residents making use of the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.

About 240,000 low-income Canadians eligible for more than $175 million in benefits are not receiving those benefits, largely because they are not filing their income tax returns.

The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program is a collaboration between community organizations and the Canada Revenue Agency. Through this program, organizations such as Prairie Mountain Health bring together volunteers who prepare income tax returns for low-income Canadians for free. This program helps ensure that people like seniors, newcomers, students and all low-income residents maintain access to all the benefits to which they are entitled.

Brett Turner is the lead who heads up the program for Prairie Mountain Heath and he says the program has been around since 1971 and it started operating in the Westman region in the early 1990’s. “Prairie Mountain Health is involved in the program because there is a direct relationship between income and health.”


You can get your income tax done FREE through this program if you fall under one of the categories below:

• Single with income under $30,000

• Married Couple with income under $40,000 plus $2,500 for each dependent

• 1 Adult & 1 child with income under $35,000 plus $2,500 for each additional dependent

In 2016 2,200 people (1,700 in Brandon and 500 in rural areas) got their taxes done through the program.



If you qualify for this program, you can drop off your information starting March 5 at a number of rural
sites throughout the Prairie Mountain Health region. Drop off at those sites are for March and April.

The World Health Organization has declared poverty as the single largest determinant of health. As an example, cardiovascular disease mortality rates are highest among those in the poorest income group and, as income increases, mortality rate decreases. The same data applies to many other health issues.

Turner says more Westman communities are opening up locations to handle the Volunteer Income Tax Program.