Brazilian financial requirements

For reasons unknown to the general public, the Brazilian government has carved up Canada into four consular jurisdictions for the purpose of issuing visas for tourist and business travel.
For visa applications to any and all of the jurisdictions, we at VSC require applicants to provide financial data. The standard requirement is that all applicants provide either a recent bank statement with their name on it, or their recent Revenue Canada "Notice of Assessment" which usually arrives about two weeks after you file your taxes.
Now some people naturally disagree with having to supply what they rightly see as personal financial information. Of course, the Brazilian government is under no obligation to provide a visa, either!
Making the whole thing even more complicated is the fact that the four jurisdictions have different financial requirements.

Ottawa: "self-employed or unemployed applicants must present statement of earnings. Statements of earnings of spouses or parents in case of students can be accepted."
Ontario: None listed.
Eastern Canada: "proof of financial means: - copy of recent bank statement, with complete name of the account holder; - copy of last income tax."
Western Canada: "Proof of income or employment: - copy of recent bank statement, with complete name of the account holder; - copy of recent pay stub; - copy of last income tax."

The lesson is that the requirements are on average for everyone (not just the self- or unemployed). Only Toronto does not specifically ask for the info, but is still subject to the rules set down by the Embassy in Ottawa. This is why we inform people of the requirement to provide either the Notice of Assessment, or a recent bank statement. Either document must have the name of the person applying on the original document. Photocopies are encouraged. The account number or the SIN can be deleted.
I hope this explains why we stand by this requirement. There is no use in having the visa process grind to a halt just before an important and expensive departure just because a simple document was not submitted.