FCAC's Financial Literacy NewsLetter

If you would like to share a financial literacy success story with FCAC, please contact Martine Bélanger: martine.belanger@fcac-acfc.gc.ca.

 FCAC: Paving the way towards a more financially literate Canada

Since its creation in 2001, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has developed a broad selection of financial education materials. More recently, FCAC has been multiplying its financial literacy efforts by developing a series of key partnerships with other levels of government, as well as the private and community sectors.

FCAC teamed up with the BC Securities Commission to build upon their award-winning financial education program and extend it nation-wide. The outcome is called The City: A Financial Life Skills Resource, which was unveiled in September 2008. The City is a free easy-to-use web-based program that engages both teachers and students, while making learning about money matters relevant and effective. The City can be found on FCAC’s Web portal — themoneybelt.gc.ca — which is dedicated to teaching young Canadians the fundamentals of managing money.

FCAC also developed a partnership with the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) to promote The City. Since last fall, the CBA has been delivering part of The City’s curriculum through their own in-school seminar program, called YourMoney.

In 2008, FCAC also launched a pilot project in collaboration with the George Brown College in Toronto and the Investor Education Fund called Financial Basics. It is a series of financial workshops for youth aged 18 to 29 that provide basic training with respect to saving, credit, investing and financial planning. The program was successfully delivered to over 700 participants. Moving forward, FCAC plans to adapt this course so it can be used across Canada in cooperation with other colleges and community organizations.

To learn more about FCAC, visit: www.fcac.gc.ca.

 New centre aims to improve financial literacy in Canada

Launched by Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) in November 2008, the Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy seeks to partner with businesses, governments and communities across Canada to achieve its goal of increasing the financial literacy of over 230,000 lower income Canadians by 2013. According to Statistics Canada, more than 4.7 million Canadians live on a low income.

The Centre’s activities will include building the capacity of community organizations to deliver effective financial education services, and consulting on financial literacy to businesses, policy-makers and not-for-profit organizations.

The Centre initiated its capacity building work this winter. Program facilitators at organizations in Ottawa, Lac Seul First Nation (Ontario), Toronto and in communities in New Brunswick, Northeast Ontario and British Columbia will be trained to deliver financial literacy services to underserved groups.

To support the Centre and to receive updates on its activities, please contact Casey Cosgrove at ccosgrove@sedi.org or call 416-665-2828, ext. 230, or Caroline Munshaw at cmunshaw@sedi.org or call 416-665-2828, ext. 225. For more information on the Centre, please visit www.sedi.org.

 BC Securities Commission takes Smart Cookies on the road

To raise the profile of BCSC’s The City: Financial Life Skills for Planning 10 and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s new online version of The City, the BC Securities Commission is taking the Smart Cookies into high schools across the province to tell their story.

These five young BC women, like many in their twenties and thirties, had racked up over $40,000 of consumer debt. Inspired by Oprah’s show on personal finance, they started the Smart Cookies Club and clawed their way back to financial health. Since then, they appeared on Oprah’s show, they published a book The Smart Cookies Guide to Making more Dough, and now they even have a new TV show on the W Network.

Together, the BCSC and the Smart Cookies have been touring high schools with their interactive show, talking to audiences of students and teachers about the importance of saving from a young age, how to create a financial plan and the dangers of getting into credit card debt. To date, the BCSC has sponsored ten presentations to about 5,000 students and the feedback has been very positive.

To learn more about BCSC, visit: www.bcsc.bc.ca.

The AMF in Quebec: A solid presence in financial education

This year, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is celebrating its fifth anniversary. Five years of partnering with community organizations and leading annual consumer awareness campaigns such as: Investor education month (October), RRSP season (January and February) and Fraud prevention month (March), in order to increase financial literacy in Quebec.

The AMF also provides conferences which showcase its services, provide tips on how to manage one’s personal finances and how to protect oneself from financial fraud. These conferences are offered free of charge to associations and organizations upon request (1-877-525-0337).

For young people
In early March, the AMF officially launched Tesaffaires.com, a Web site for young people from 15 to 21 years old and for teachers.

A financial education fund
The Education and Good Governance Fund will support more than a dozen projects in 2009. These include the Dollars make cents (sense) project, a series of interactive information sessions and training workshops targeting youth from the visible minority communities of Montreal who wish to improve their financial literacy.

The Autorité des marchés financiers is the body that regulates and monitors Quebec’s financial sector. Visit www.lautorite.qc.ca and Tesaffaires.com.

The Investor Education Fund expands its Funny Money high school program

Investor Education Fund, in partnership with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), is expanding its sponsorship of the Funny Money for High Schools Assembly Program to a national audience. This program, delivered by professional comedian James Cunningham, offers a highly entertaining show which takes students on a financial literacy tour through the basics of balancing a cheque book, reconciling a debit card statement, to credit card fundamentals and more.

Since Investor Education Fund first began sponsorship of the program in 2005 in partnership with the Cambridge, Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Funny Money has reached over 150,000 students in 110 Ontario schools. Over the next three years, the program will expand to high school students from coast to coast, in both English and French. IIROC funding will also support the development of marketing materials and a Web site providing content and tools for students.

Schools interested in securing the Funny Money for High Schools Assembly Program for the 2009 spring and fall sessions are encouraged to contact Lisa Durocher of Funny Money at 519-622-2670. For more information, you can also visit: www.investored.ca.

YourMoney program brings financial literacy to life

YourMoney is a free, non-commercial seminar available to high schools across Canada, offered by the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA). The seminar covers budgeting, saving, wise credit use and keeping your money safe, and is delivered in-class by one of more than 900 community banker volunteers. This school year, more than 13,000 students across Canada are expected to participate in a YourMoney seminar.

"Banks in Canada are strong supporters of financial literacy," notes CBA President Nancy Hughes Anthony. "And having a YourMoney volunteer visit the classroom gives students the ability to ask questions and get real answers about the financial issues that matter to them."

The CBA partnered with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) to design the presentation, and it is a recommended activity within the FCAC’s youth program, The City.

Find out more at www.yourmoney.cba.ca or visit CBA’s page on Facebook.

International Gateway for Financial Education launched on the web

To promote enhanced visibility and co-operation on financial education, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has launched a new website, the International Gateway for Financial Education (IGFE), designed to act as a central international source of information on financial education, literacy and awareness. To assist stakeholders to develop national strategies, policies, programmes or initiatives on financial education, the Gateway provides an extensive and comprehensive range of information, data, research and news on financial education issues and programmes around the globe.

The Gateway aims to raise awareness on financial education issues worldwide and ensure the dissemination of research, best practices and guidelines on financial education. In doing so, the Gateway promotes the exchange of information, knowledge, experience and expertise on financial education. To date, the Gateway has expanded its content to cover more than 60 countries, summarising more than 100 financial education programmes, and offers hundreds of web links, research articles and statistical data. Visit: www.financial-education.org.