Financial Empowerment Service
Toronto Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
Toronto Public Library’s (TPL) new Financial Empowerment service operates with the support of community partner agency staff who provide financial counseling and financial literacy within library spaces to assist low-income individuals in support of overall equitable economic mobility and opportunity.
There are three main service components of this service being offered at two branches of TPL: direct one-on-one counselling, programs on financial literacy topics and initiatives to increase financial literacy awareness of TPL staff.
At participating branches, TPL customers can find help and learn how to improve their financial health and well-being. In-branch advisors from partner agencies specializing in financial empowerment help low-income individuals with tax filing, accessing government benefits, saving with limited cash flow, and planning for the future.
Challenge/Opportunity
In the Fall of 2022, TPL launched a Financial Empowerment pilot to address the common barriers in accessing financial supports and information. While TPL has long-offered financial literacy, job-seeking, and entrepreneur programs and provides personal finance resources, offering custom, expert guidance on financial information was absent from service offerings. More than ever, access to trusted personal finance and financial empowerment information is important to Torontonians. Loss of income, loss of employment, financial disruption, and the need to fulfill income tax requirements and access emergency benefits are a few of the priorities for individuals. More than 13% of Toronto’s population have an income below Statistics Canada's Low Income Measure After Tax. Now established as a permanent service, the Financial Empowerment initiative is an equity response to the economic and financial inequity of Torontonians, with poverty experienced disproportionately by equity-deserving groups.
Key Elements of Innovation
This service shows the outcomes of partner collaboration for collective impact and change. It combines sector leadership from Prosper Canada, expert service delivery from community agencies, North York Community House and WoodGreen, and leverages TPL as a trusted source of information and safe service access space. This initiative also represents an innovative approach to funding new service development through collaboration with the TPL Foundation, supported by generous donors, leading to permanent operating funding from the City.
In-depth stakeholder consultations employing a design-thinking approach led to a scalable and sustainable model for Financial Empowerment services. The model provides library-based access to one-on-one counseling, financial information, and programming. The service contributes to the systemic change required to lessen the impacts of poverty in the City of Toronto and uses an equity focus to close the service gap for those most impacted by poverty.
Achieved Outcomes
From Fall 2022 to December 2023, over $1.1 million dollars was accessed by Financial Empowerment customers accessing the service at TPL through successful tax-filing and benefits applications. Financial Empowerment staff provided over 1550 counselling sessions and over 35 finance-related programs have been offered, reaching over 500 customers.
Building TPL staff capacity to support financial empowerment is an integral part of the partnership. Financial Empowerment Foundations training developed by Prosper Canada is offered to TPL staff and enhanced resources are now available on the TPL website.
Financial Empowerment demonstrates a unique way to serve Torontonians and collaborate with financial literacy community experts to support the financial well-being of library customers. The collaboration has strengthened critical partner relationships to benefit Torontonians and is a successful model of community organizations working effectively together for collective impact and change.
