Why Do We Need to Measure?

The National Financial Literacy Strategy 2021-2026 is a 5-year plan to create a more accessible, inclusive, and effective financial ecosystem that supports diverse Canadians in meaningful ways.

The ultimate goal of the National Strategy is financial resilience. Resilience is not a standalone outcome. In order to build resilience, Canadians need a financial ecosystem that works for them, and helps them build the skills, capacity, and behaviours that lead to financial resilience. The Strategy is focused on how financial literacy stakeholders—from government, community groups, non-profit organizations, or industry—can work together to reduce barriers, catalyze actions, and help consumers develop key building blocks so that we can collectively help Canadians achieve positive financial outcomes.

Underlying the Strategy is an evidence-based approach grounded in research and collaboration between all ecosystem stakeholders. Stakeholders like you can advance the Strategy by using measurable, outcome-driven initiatives combined with partnerships and cooperation, as well as increased investment in initiatives that have been proven to work. The National Strategy provides a roadmap to guide you in supporting this ambition and to help focus our combined efforts.

To understand the impact of our collective efforts, we need to find ways to associate your initiatives to changes in consumers’ financial outcomes. Traditionally, national surveys have been used to monitor trends at a population level, but they are limited in connecting changes in consumers' financial outcomes to stakeholders' efforts. In other words, we need to measure, both at the initiative-level and at the national level, what works to help Canadians achieve good financial outcomes, such that we scale that which does, and refine or stop that which does not.

This Measurement Plan is intended to define progress measures that we can all use to assess success against the outcomes of the National Strategy. It presents Strategy-Aligned Measures (SAMs) which are metrics that can provide direct and clear evidence of progress towards each of the 23 specific Target Outcomes and Key Consumer Building Blocks of the Strategy. These measures will be collected and updated regularly, will be made available to all stakeholders, and will be used to track high-level indicators of progress where possible.

The National Financial Literacy Strategy Measurement Plan will:

1. Help identify and track indicators and progress towards achieving the outcomes of the National Financial Literacy Strategy
2. Help gain collective agreement about how best to improve and evaluate the financial outcomes and resilience of Canadians
3. Help stakeholders in the Financial Ecosystem scale the impact of their financial literacy initiatives

The importance of this Measurement Plan

The Strategy focuses on the ecosystem priorities and target outcomes needed to monitor progress and drive change, while the Measurement Plan will help FCAC and ecosystem stakeholders track impact. 

As we implement the Strategy, it is crucial that we measure whether our implementation efforts are successful and use that understanding to refine our approach such that we may maximize our collective impact. Measures help us to define the current landscape, track progress and identify challenges, and set clear goals for the future. 

The Strategy and associated Measurement Plan are intended to leverage the many strengths of stakeholders across the country to help gain collective agreement about how to evaluate and improve the financial resilience of Canadians, and to provide a platform through which our efforts can gain increased visibility, traction, and success. 

The Measurement Plan is intended as an actionable guide to enable you to:

1. Understand how to participate in advancing the National Strategy
2. Take precise next steps aligned with your particular focus and situation
3. See how your actions result in tangible outcomes and impact, and benefit your organizational goals

The Measurement Plan at a Glance

Figure 1: What Steps Can You Take?

Welcome, Stakeholder! You and your initiative are about to embark on a journey of outcomes measurement. Before you hit the road, this is what the journey could look like. Although the journey is designed for both new and existing initiatives, we encourage you to include measurement in the earliest phase of initiative development. When you are ready, jump to the starting point that looks most relevant to your initiative. Return to this map whenever you need to re-orient yourself. Bon Voyage.

Measurements Aligned with the National Strategy’s Priorities

What Should We Be Measuring?

This Measurement Plan provides ecosystem stakeholders like you with an actionable guide to measure our collective progress towards achieving the outcomes of the National Strategy (see Annex II for the list of target outcomes). By using a guided and outcomes-based approach to measurement, we can ensure that we are measuring the true impact of our actions towards achieving the goals of the National Financial Literacy Strategy.

To be useful, measurements must be meaningful, applicable, and easy to understand. Importantly, they should align with at least one of the Strategy’s outcomes, be reliable over time, and lead to results that answer the intended questions. Every ecosystem stakeholder, regardless of size, can participate by embedding the right measurements into their initiatives and by using their expertise to help advance some of the outcomes.

Here are the steps you can follow:

Step 1: Use Strategy-Aligned Measures within initiatives    

Step 2: Include key demographic and vulnerability questions within initiatives 

Step 3: Share your initiatives, Strategy-Aligned Measures, and results with FCAC

Step 4: Reach out to FCAC or potential collaborators to identify next steps

Step 1: Use Strategy-Aligned Measures

Strategy-Aligned Measures (SAMs) are metrics that allow us to assess progress against the target outcomes of the Strategy. Typically, SAMs are questions embedded within initiatives/activities (see Annex I for examples). They can be directed at individual consumers or stakeholders and can be questions that are answered through many different types of stakeholder activities such tracking behaviours in apps or counting products and services tailored to vulnerable groups. They can, but do not need to, be questions that are answered directly by the consumer (e.g., via surveys or focus groups).

By definition, SAMs elicit results that are aligned with a specific target outcome of the Strategy. SAMs embedded within initiatives can help directly assess the impact of the initiative on the intended audience (either consumers or other financial ecosystem stakeholders). In other words, the data gathered from each SAM ought to provide the clearest and most direct evidence of progress (or failure—which is every bit as important!) toward the target outcome. The following is an example of a SAM that could be embedded within many kinds of initiatives (e.g., interventions, surveys, apps, courses, webinars, focus groups):

• Priority 1 (Communicate in ways people understand)
  • Outcome 1 (More Canadians understand the key facts about financial products and services that are available to them)
    • Example SAM: “True or false? Credit card protection insurance will always cover the outstanding balance on your credit card if your claim is approved.”
      Correct answer: false

The answer to this question helps to directly determine whether ecosystem stakeholders have communicated effectively, or in other words, communicated key facts regarding credit card protection insurance in ways consumers understand. When combined with demographic and vulnerability information (see step 2), we can further glean if communication to specific groups of consumers requires additional work to enhance understanding. For instance, younger people or newcomers who are less familiar with these products may need tailored information to achieve the same level of comprehension.

Note that a given SAM could apply to more than one outcome. For example, the same SAM about credit card protection insurance could also be embedded in an initiative that addresses priority 6, target outcome 3 (More Canadians understand their rights and responsibilities when dealing with the financial services industry). Similarly, a SAM that assesses mortgage providers’ communication to consumers about key facts on homebuying (priority 1, target outcome 1) could also measure homebuyers’ skills, capacity, and behaviours that are essential to their financial resilience (see the Tracking Key Consumer Building Blocks as Measures of Impact section below).

To sufficiently assess the impact of your initiative against a certain target outcome, you are encouraged to use as many SAMs as necessary. For example, to measure priority 1, target outcome 2 (More Canadians understand which financial products and services are appropriate for their own situation and goals), asking consumers “Did you compare credit cards from more than one provider?” followed by “Did you compare them on X (e.g., product features or prices)?” will provide more accurate results. By asking two questions, your results will reflect the number of consumers who knowingly selected a credit card that suits them. Without the second question, you may get a potentially inflated number if some consumers have selected a credit card based on marketing schemes/promotional materials alone, rather than using relevant information to make an informed decision.

Embedding a SAM such as the one on credit card protection insurance in an intervention is a useful way to understand the efficacy and the impact of the intervention. For example, consumers could be asked this question both before and after an educational program aimed at improving their knowledge on the basics of credit cards. The change in consumers’ understanding of this key fact between the two time-points would indicate how successful the program was at communicating information in ways people understand.

In contrast, a question asking credit card holders “Are you satisfied with the credit limit on your credit card?” would not provide evidence of consumer understanding, and as such is not a SAM.

You are encouraged to explore various avenues to use SAMs (see BOX 1: Two Ways to Use SAMs), including in surveys, webinar polls, mobile apps, focus groups, and any other creative initiative that may ultimately prove successful and scalable.

Step 2: Include Key Demographic and Vulnerability Questions

The National Strategy emphasizes financial vulnerability as a cross-cutting dimension. Anyone can become financially vulnerable, for example, due to a change in relationship status or an unanticipated event such as a loss of employment. While vulnerability is not limited to certain groups or demographics, systemic barriers have led to certain groups being more likely to face financial vulnerability, including: women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized Canadians, older Canadians, newcomers, linguistic minorities, and those with disabilities or cognitive challenges.

Almost no one is “average”—so focusing on the “average Canadian” is not as effective as meeting people where they are. Using tailored approaches will help to better serve the financial needs of diverse groups of people. As such, collecting demographic and vulnerability information is key to assessing whether we are moving forward in an inclusive and equitable manner, removing barriers, and enabling positive changes to see progress for all Canadians.

The following recommended questions are not, on their own, SAMs. However, they allow for a deeper analysis of SAMs by helping to disaggregate the results and so should be included whenever possible.

BOX 2 includes a non-exhaustive list of questions that you should consider including within your initiatives. You may tailor the list so that the questions are relevant to the audience of a given initiative.

Although these questions are not, on their own, SAMs, they allow for a deeper analysis of SAMs by helping to disaggregate the results and so should be included whenever possible. The use of these core demographic questions will collectively result in a better understanding of what different groups of Canadians need—and can therefore lead to improved and tailored financial products and services that better serve the needs of diverse Canadians.

Step 3: Share your Organization’s Results

Once your organization has collected the data from your initiatives using SAMs, share the results for inclusion in the National Strategy Dashboard^{Footnote 2}  (see Figure 2 for illustration). The Intake Form will guide you through the process of identifying and submitting your relevant results.

The most up-to-date list of SAMs and stakeholder initiatives (see Annex I for examples) is available to you in the Measures Library—see What is the Measures Library? sidebar.

Intake Form submissions that meet the requirements for being Strategy-Aligned will be included in the National Strategy Dashboard^{Footnote 2} .

Figure 2 illustrates an interactive dashboard that will display several High-Level Indicators for each target outcome related to stakeholder engagement (e.g., number of stakeholders using SAMs and total number of SAMs for each target outcome) as well as key topic areas (e.g., homebuying). Although the topic area example included in Figure 2 is focused on homebuying, many others will be included from the curated SAMs (e.g., understanding key facts about credit, loan products, etc.).

The SAMs themselves can be either consumer- or stakeholder-facing and can be embedded in any type of initiative. Results can come directly from consumer feedback (e.g., via surveys, focus groups), behaviour (e.g., via apps), or by monitoring the ecosystem itself (e.g., counting how many fintech apps are tailored to vulnerable consumers).

Figure 2: Illustration of National Strategy Dashboard

^{Footnote 3}

Step 4: Still Unsure? Get the Support You Need!

Reach out to FCAC if, after reading the steps above, you:

• Want to share your plans for a new initiative, but do not know which SAMs to use
• Are looking for a collaborator to help advance your initiative and choose the right SAMs
• Are still unsure of what to do next

Even after reading through the next section on How to Make a Strategy-Aligned Measure, it is optimal to check that the SAMs your organization intends to use will measure the intended impact and avoid common research and measurement pitfalls (see BOX 4: Avoiding Common Pitfalls! below).

Beyond using this Measurement Plan as a guide, reaching out to other experienced stakeholders for assistance in making, choosing, or validating SAMs to embed within initiatives, can be especially useful.

How to Make a Strategy-Aligned Measure (SAM)

The financial ecosystem is a rapidly and continuously evolving space. With so much ground to cover, and new products and services emerging all the time, it is important to validate existing SAMs for new purposes or create new SAMs when needed.

You can use this section to:

1. Make a new SAM^{Footnote 4}  —for example, when no SAMs exist and/or there is a gap in knowledge
2. Check if your measures qualify for inclusion as a SAM in the Measures Library

Before creating a SAM, you should read the What Should We Be Measuring? section above and have an initiative with a clear set of objectives in mind.

Figure 3: How to Make a SAM

Strategy-Aligned Measures for all 6 priorities are created using a Basic-4-Phase-Approach. All phases are necessary, but the order in which they are used is context dependent.

Table 1: How to Make a SAM using a Basic-4-Phase-Approach

Table 2: How SAMs measure priorities provides additional examples of SAMs that are aligned with a target outcome.

Once the new SAM is built, you should go to the Checklist: How Can I Contribute to the National Strategy? section to ensure that you have completed all the available steps.

Table 2: How SAMs Measure Priorities

This Table illustrates how SAMs measure progress made on priorities and sample target outcomes (see Annex II for complete wording of outcomes) and provides examples of SAMs from ecosystem stakeholders. For a recent list of SAMs, go to the Measures Library. To submit a measure for consideration as a SAM, go to the Intake Form.

Tracking Key Consumer Building Blocks as Measures of Impact

The National Strategy identifies 5 key consumer building blocks that have been proven to help consumers develop the skills, capacity, and behaviours that lead to financial resilience. They are:

1. Skills: Navigating the Financial Marketplace
2. Capacity: Build Just-In-Time Financial Knowledge and Confidence
3. Behaviour: Managing Expenses
4. Behaviour: Managing Debt
5. Behaviour: Managing Savings

These Building Blocks cut across the Strategy’s priorities and should be built into your initiatives, where possible, to help achieve the Strategy’s target outcomes.

When your organization is ready to report SAM-related results, propose a new SAM, or to signal the creation of a new initiative that uses SAMs, you will be asked to identify which key consumer building blocks are addressed. This will provide an additional way to track the actions and impact made by all ecosystem stakeholders.

A great advantage of SAMs is that they are capable of tracking progress on different priorities and key consumer building blocks—sometimes simultaneously. As mentioned in What Should We Be Measuring, a given SAM can help track progress on multiple priorities and key consumer building blocks. For example, the SAM “Which of the following will help lower the costs of a house?” (see Table 1) would apply most directly to “managing expenses” and “managing debt”, but could also apply to “build just-in-time financial knowledge” if respondents have identified homebuying as a personal goal.

To help Canadians take individual action toward building financial resilience, you can target one or more of these key building blocks in your initiatives. To measure your impact, you should use SAMs that include direct measures where possible. Testing different strategies, educational approaches, and engagement tactics, will help to zero in on the initiatives that help the most.

Checklist: How Can I Contribute to the National Strategy?

This checklist summarizes the questions to consider to help advance the priorities of the National Financial Literacy Strategy 2021-2026.

It also serves as a reference to the relevant sections within this document (e.g., How to Make a Strategy-Aligned Measure), the tools needed to act (e.g., Measures Library, National Strategy Dashboard, Intake Form), and other helpful resources (e.g., Behavioural Finance Lab contact information, References).

Working Definitions

Accessible

Easy for consumers to locate, navigate and understand.

Source: Guideline on Complaint-Handling Procedures for Banks and Authorized Foreign Banks - Canada.ca

Affordable Financial Help

Help or advice that takes consumers’ finances into consideration. This includes products and services that are available at low- or no-cost to consumers, particularly for consumers who have financial challenges and few resources with which to meet those challenges.

Appropriate products and services

Financial products and services that have regard for consumers’ circumstances, including their financial needs. FCAC has developed a Guideline on Appropriate Products and Services for Banks and Authorized Foreign Banks, which sets out its expectations with respect to implementation of the appropriate product or service provisions in the Bank Act and the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations.

Source: Guideline on Appropriate Products and Services for Banks and Authorized Foreign Banks - Canada.ca

Barrier

“Anything—including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice—that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.” 

Source: Accessible Canada Act

Fair treatment

The Bank Act prohibits specific practices such as coercive tied selling or charging for products or services without the consumer’s express consent. However, there are currently no provisions requiring fair treatment of consumers or prohibiting unfair treatment. Best practices include, but are not limited to: the fair treatment of financial consumers at all stages of their relationship with the financial service provider; the disclosure of key information; and the prohibition of misleading practices, such as misleading advertising.

Source: Report on Best Practices in Financial Consumer Protection - Canada.ca

Financial Resilience

Financial resilience is the ability to adapt or persevere through both predictable and unpredictable financial choices, difficulties, and shocks in life. Just as psychological resilience allows people to recover and get past negative life events, financial resilience allows people to recover and get past negative financial events.

Initiative

The term initiative is used to reflect any activities that stakeholders use to interact with consumers or other stakeholders. These can include, but are not limited to: surveys, webinar polls, mobile Apps, focus groups, experiments, interventions, workshops, or ethnographic studies. Stakeholders are the true experts of their domain and their clientele, and so are encouraged to engage in any creative initiatives that may ultimately prove successful and scalable. 

Initiatives using SAMs come broadly in two forms: 1) Those that result in reference measures, to track consumers’ beliefs, knowledge, and/or behaviours at a single moment in time, 2) Those that result in intervention-related measures, to track changes in consumers’ beliefs, knowledge, and/or behaviours before and after a targeted intervention.  

High-Level Indicator

High-Level Indicators will be used to monitor and evaluate our collective progress toward achieving the Strategy’s priorities and outcomes (e.g., X number of stakeholders are using SAMs for outcome 1”, “According to the SAMs, between X-Y% of Canadians understand the costs associated with homebuying.”) As FCAC works to create High-Level Indicators to track our collective progress– both quantitative and qualitative – we will draw on ethnographic research, surveys, experiments, interventions, and the advice of experts. See BOX 3: High-Level Indicators for more details. 

Key facts about products and services

Key facts about products and services are the characteristics of a product or service that financial consumers need to understand to determine which financial products and services are appropriate for their own situation. These facts include, but are not limited to: costs, risks, benefits, and limitations.

Measure

A measure is the standard, system, or unit, used in the process of observing and recording the observations that are collected as part of a research effort. There are different types of measures including, but not limited to: survey questions, interview questions, or constructed situations. Measures help us to define the current landscape, identify and anticipate challenges, and set clear goals for the future.

Strategy-Aligned Measures (SAMs)

Measures that are aligned to the National Financial Literacy Strategy’s (2021-2026) priorities and outcomes and are, at their core, questions posed under ideal conditions—e.g., embedded within initiatives that are directed at the right group of people at just the right time. See Table 2 for some examples and the How to Make a SAM section for more details.

Outcomes-Based Approach

An outcomes-based approach focuses on characterising and quantifying (where possible) the results from an ideal end-goal perspective. In the National Strategy, 18 target outcomes (three for each of the six priorities) have been identified. The five key consumer building blocks are representative of additional consumer-focused outcomes. The ultimate vision of the Strategy is a “Canada where everyone can build financial resilience in an increasingly digital world.”

Trustworthy Financial Help

Relevant and unbiased financial help or advice that can be an important catalyst for good financial decisions, which result in positive outcomes and improved financial resilience. 

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability is the susceptibility to negative financial outcomes. There are many reasons that consumers may experience financial vulnerability, which broadly consist of: the financial circumstances of consumers, including life-changing events, psychological and physical characteristics, and social barriers that increase the risk of poor financial outcomes.

References and Resources

FCAC Publications

• For a complete list, see Research reports and studies - Canada.ca
• Make Change that Counts: National Financial Literacy Strategy 2021-2026 - Canada.ca
• Guideline on Appropriate Products and Services for Banks and Authorized Foreign Banks - Canada.ca
• Guideline on Complaint-Handling Procedures for Banks and Authorized Foreign Banks - Canada.ca
• Annual bank reports on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for the Delivery of Banking Services to Seniors - Canada.ca
• Summary of findings COVID-19 surveys: Financial impact of the pandemic on Canadians
• Highlights: Key findings from the Survey on Banking of Canadians - Canada.ca
• Canadians and their Money: Key Findings from the 2019 Canadian Financial Capability Survey, the full questionnaire is available in the methodologies report
• Financial Consumers’ Rights and Responsibilities Survey – 2016 - Canada.ca
• Survey of Consumers’ Awareness of their Financial Rights and Responsibilities
• Financial well-being in Canada: Survey results

FCAC Tools

• Financial tools and calculators - Canada.ca
• Summary of findings COVID-19 surveys: Financial impact of the pandemic on Canadians - Canada.ca
• Self-assessment quiz - Canada.ca (fcac-acfc.gc.ca)
• Canadian Financial Literacy Database - Canada.ca (fcac-acfc.gc.ca)
• Your Financial Toolkit - Canada.ca
• Financial wellness in the workplace - Canada.ca

Government of Canada Resources

• Measuring impact by design: A guide to methods for impact measurement (Impact and Innovation Unit)
• Experimentation Works - Canada.ca
• Experimentation Works – Medium
• Data literacy training (statcan.gc.ca)
  • Gathering Data: Things to consider before gathering data (statcan.gc.ca)
  • Workshop – Surveys from Start to Finish (3 Days) 10H0085 (statcan.gc.ca)
• Gender, diversity and inclusion statistics (statcan.gc.ca)
• 2021 Census questionnaires (statcan.gc.ca)

External research references

• OECD / INFE National Strategies for Financial Education Resources: National Strategies for Financial Education - OECD
• OECD / INFE Evaluation of National Strategies for Financial Literacy Report International Gateway for Financial Education - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd.org)

Annex I: Examples of Initiatives to Drive and Measure the Priorities

There are many types of initiatives that can be used to drive and measure the priorities of the National Strategy—from surveys, interventions, experiments, programs, and conferences to stand-alone speaking events, focus groups, and courses—and stakeholders like you have been, and continue to be, the real experts when it comes to developing and delivering them!

The key to monitoring the impact of your initiatives is to take measurements, where possible, that are in direct alignment with the National Strategy. By selecting from, or helping to co-create, Strategy-Aligned Measures (SAMs), and incorporating them into initiatives, stakeholders work together to ensure that the target outcomes of the National Strategy are being achieved.

During our discussions with stakeholders, FCAC put out a broad call for Early Adopters—i.e., organizations interested in helping to advance the goals of the National Financial Literacy Strategy, at the earliest implementation phase of the Measurement Plan, through some of the following activities:

• Helping to identify and/or make new SAMs
• Sharing measures and results
• Incorporating and testing SAMs
• Advising on how to best collect results
• Participating in stakeholder surveys

The following are vignettes of current or future stakeholder initiatives that Early Adopters shared with FCAC. Ideal initiatives include SAMs and enough demographic and vulnerability-related information to interpret the results in context.

For more details, we encourage you to contact the initiative leader directly.

(*Note: The following examples are not meant as templates, or as alternatives to a comprehensive program evaluation.)

Priority 1—Communicate in Ways People Understand

West Neighbourhood House and Prosper Canada have partnered to implement the use of a financial coaching/counselling platform. The goal is to develop a platform that seamlessly integrates all functions, from the first point of consumer contact to the financial coach’s/counsellor’s ongoing support of their client. Assessing and monitoring clients’ financial wellbeing is of key significance, and will help tailor support to consumers’ needs and understanding of key facts (e.g., how much they spend on fees). The focus will be primarily on low-income Canadians and aims to track knowledge changes over the course of the client-coach/counsellor relationship. This example also includes elements from each of the five consumer building blocks.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) monitors mortgage and consumer trends using its Mortgage Consumer Survey. Surveying around 3,500 Canadians, this tool has helped monitor consumers’ understanding of housing and mortgages. Questions associated with the costs of homebuying, knowledge of the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, and actions people have taken to further understand the appropriateness of products and services to meet their needs, are all in alignment with this priority.

PennyDrops is a student-led non-profit organization that aims to equip youth with the knowledge and confidence to make informed financial decisions. Through peer-to-peer mentoring, PennyDrops has reached more than 17,000 high school students and 6,500 university students across Canada by delivering workshop-based sessions by trained university students. PennyDrops has also partnered with Indigenous empowerment organizations to develop programs that deliver financial literacy lessons to Indigenous youth. To track their impact, PennyDrops uses pre- and post-training surveys to assess the change in participants’ knowledge.

Priority 2—Build and Provide for Diverse Needs

Families Canada is working to connect women living on low incomes with financial literacy programs that meet their needs. Through national research and consultations, they have identified gender-specific barriers that prevent women living on low incomes (particularly those that have experienced trauma and violence) from accessing financial literacy information and financial products and services. They will use the insights gained to promote trauma and violence-informed approaches in financial literacy programming, incorporate more SAMs and to develop future projects—for instance, helping financial literacy program facilitators incorporate trauma and violence-informed approaches into their work.

Black Moms Connection launched FinLitU in 2020. It is an 8-week financial literacy masterclass designed for Black mothers and is led by Black financial professionals. The program leaders consult with consumers and financial professionals from the Black community to ensure a highly tailored approach that aims to improve confidence and rates of inclusion in the financial system. They use qualitative and quantitative feedback to assess consumers’ access and use of financial products and services, as well as to get a sense of the kinds of negative experiences that Black consumers may face.

Equifax Canada Co.— a global data, analytics, and technology company — helps financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Equifax is currently focused on acquiring rental data in Canada to support the credit underserved. Canadians who rent their homes are often paying more than they would pay for a mortgage, but don’t get credit for consistently making those payments. Adding this to the mix can paint a more accurate picture for those who don’t have data traditionally used to describe financial health, helping them have more equitable access to credit.

Priority 3—Support Increased Digital Access and Digital Literacy

Fintech Cadence supports the financial literacy ecosystem—and, in turn, promotes increased digital access and digital literacy—by helping to build and sustain the Fintech community. They promote the education of Fintech talent, support early-stage start-ups, and develop collaborations with financial institutions to help solve industry challenges. They track the FinTechs in Canada, their areas of specialty, what kinds of products and services they provide, as well as details about their target audiences.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada runs the Digital Literacy Exchange Program. It supports initiatives that teach fundamental digital literacy skills and promotes inclusion for Canadians from underrepresented groups who lack the fundamental digital literacy skills to participate in the digital economy and society. The program tracks many SAMs, including the percentage of Canadians that are under-represented in the digital economy, and the percentage of program users that have increased their confidence and day-to-day use, as well as those who report not having the necessary skills and training to use the Internet.

Priority 4—Enhance Access to Trustworthy and Affordable Financial Help

Prosper Canada works with cross-sectoral stakeholders to support financial empowerment, particularly for the financially vulnerable. Their work touches upon all of the Strategy’s priorities, and often involves a focus on enhancing access to financial help. For example, their Financial Literacy Evaluation Resource Kit includes SAMs that gather information about the frequency and kinds of financial help opportunities that consumers engage in. Their Indicators for Financial Empowerment serve as a resource for ecosystem stakeholders to track progress in a systematic way. For example, community financial counselling services in many provinces use Prosper Canada's Indicators to regularly track the number of tax returns completed and the resulting tax refunds and credits received by their clients.

Monkiri is a mobile app focused on delivering free financial literacy to consumers. It uses modular gamified lessons that aim to improve both consumer knowledge and skills, using unbranded and neutral content, without offering or recommending specific financial products or services. They collect basic demographic information and track users' behavioural performance over time, including completion times and changes in confidence. Monkiri also empowers other organizations to create their own lessons which can be distributed and tracked through the mobile app. Given its focus on improving understanding and confidence using gamification techniques, this app also contributes to priorities 1 and 5.

FP Canada certifies and oversees professional financial planners and leads the advancement of financial planning in Canada. As part of its IMAGINE 2030 vision of financial wellness for all Canadians, FP Canada has committed to conducting an annual survey to measure Canadians’ financial health through indices tracking four areas: financial well-being; financial confidence; access to financial advice; and trust in financial professionals. The results of the inaugural survey were published in the IMAGINE 2030 Benchmark Report, released in May 2022. FP Canada will provide a progress report each year until 2030.

Priority 5—Use Behavioural Design to Simplify Financial Decisions

QUBER is a personal finance app that encourages saving through gamification. They use savings challenges, lotteries, and matched savings programs to nudge people to save more. Working with employers, they are able to capture key demographic and vulnerability-related information (e.g., people without emergency funds or those living paycheque-to-paycheque), as well as SAMs on the success, and number, of users completing challenges that track saving amounts, frequencies, fees paid, and confidence levels. They have also partnered with other organizations, such as Momentum, to provide tailored matched-saving programs to those at lower income levels.

Seedwell is also a personal finance app using behavioural insights to help consumers. Provided by employers, the app provides a central hub to help employees navigate the financial marketplace starting directly from their paycheque deposit. Consumers are provided with nudges (e.g., anticipating their pay and identifying ways they could use those funds), and access to financial literacy material and financial advisors, without being recommended specific products.

Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR) is an academic centre at the University of Toronto researching decision-making and behavioural change, including within the financial sector. They publish guides and reports for stakeholders on how to apply behavioural insights, as well as engage in financial consumer research—for example, collecting data on credit card choice and ways to effectively promote savings behaviours.

Priority 6—Strengthen Consumer Protection Measures

CanAge is a national seniors’ advocacy organization that also engages in activities related to consumer financial protection. For example, they work with government and financial service providers to identify challenges that frontline employees face when trying to provide optimal service for, and fair treatment of, seniors. This work is particularly relevant in supporting banks’ compliance with the Code of Conduct for the Delivery of Banking Services to Seniors.

The Canadian Center for Women's Empowerment (CCFWE) is developing tools and programs for customers who have experienced domestic economic abuse. For example, they are currently working with financial service providers, social service agencies, policymakers and family lawyers to build tools and resources that will help them identify and respond to signs of domestic economic abuse for victims of intimate partner violence.

Annex II: List of Ecosystem Priorities and Target Outcomes

Ecosystem priority 1: Communicate in Ways People Understand

• Target outcome 1: More Canadians understand the key facts (including costs, risks, benefits, and limitations) about the financial products and services that are available to them.
• Target outcome 2: More Canadians understand which financial products and services are appropriate for their own situation and goals.
• Target outcome 3: Fewer Canadians experience negative financial outcomes related to not understanding key facts (including costs, risks, benefits, and limitations) or an inability to determine which financial products and services are good for their own situation (including their needs, risk tolerance, and budget constraints).

Ecosystem priority 2: Build and Provide for Diverse Needs

• Target outcome 1: More Canadians have access to, and use, financial products and services that are tailored to their needs, vulnerabilities, and resource constraints.
• Target outcome 2: More Canadians, particularly those with diverse needs or one or more forms of vulnerability, are involved and consulted in the development and delivery of financial products and services, which in turn leads to higher levels of inclusion.
• Target outcome 3: Fewer Canadians experience a low quality of service (including disrespect or not being offered a product or service appropriate for their needs) when accessing financial products or services.

Ecosystem priority 3: Support Increased Digital Access and Digital Literacy

• Target outcome 1: More Canadians are equipped with the digital literacy and skills required to manage their finances online.
• Target outcome 2: More Canadians are aware of how to protect their financial information online and proactively take steps to keep their data safe.
• Target outcome 3: Fewer Canadians, especially those with one or more vulnerabilities, experience barriers to managing their finances as a result of lack of access to digital tools and technology.

Ecosystem priority 4: Enhance Access to Trustworthy and Affordable Financial Help

• Target outcome 1: More Canadians have access to, and use, relevant and unbiased financial advice that is affordable.
• Target outcome 2: More Canadians who access relevant and unbiased financial advice experience positive financial outcomes.
• Target outcome 3: Fewer Canadians receive financial advice that is inappropriate for their circumstances and financial needs.

Ecosystem priority 5: Use Behavioural Design to Simplify Financial Decisions

• Target outcome 1: More ecosystem stakeholders use behavioural insights and design research to test and deploy consumer-facing materials that demonstrably help Canadians make financial decisions that will lead to positive financial outcomes.
• Target outcome 2: More Canadians use tools that use behavioural insights in the design and presentation of financial decisions to facilitate and motivate choices leading to better outcomes.
• Target outcome 3: Fewer Canadians purchase or use financial products and services that are not in their own best interest due to the misuse of behavioural design elements.

Ecosystem priority 6: Strengthen Consumer Protection Measures

• Target outcome 1: More stakeholders in the financial services industry adopt concrete measures to prioritize financial consumer protection and the fair treatment of consumers, including the protection of consumer data, selling appropriate products and services, and effective complaint resolution.
• Target outcome 2: More Canadians benefit from an appropriate level of consumer protection and market conduct standards whether they deal with new or existing providers of digital products, services, or practices.
• Target outcome 3: More Canadians understand their rights and responsibilities when dealing with the financial services industry, and how and where to seek resolution when they experience a problem.