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June 3, 2015
Montréal, Quebec
Hello everyone. I am delighted to be here with you today for this Journée éducation financière. It was at this very event last year that I gave my first address as Canada’s Financial Literacy Leader.
Much has happened since then. It’s been a busy year, and I will tell you about some of what has been accomplished since I took on this role.
First of all though, I want to stress how important and complementary the Stratégie québécoise en éducation financière is to the federal strategy that we will soon launch. The two strategies share the same goal: ensuring that Canadians have the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to make responsible financial decisions. Also, both strategies are based on the same principles: working together collaboratively and in a cohesive manner, and motivating people to adopt new behaviours to improve their financial well-being.
Since I started working for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, I have been pleased to see interest in financial literacy increasing. This year, more than ever, has been particularly good in that regard, with more and more organizations wanting to get involved.
Participation in Financial Literacy Month in November is continuing to grow across the country. Last year, more than 1,200 events took place during the month-long event, with more and more social media discussion on the topic breaking records.
We recently launched on our website, the Financial Literacy Database. This database provides a list of resources, events and tools aimed at helping people better understand and manage their finances. The idea is to help people find what they need and to promote the great work that is being done across Canada. It is also a way to facilitate information sharing, foster collaboration and reduce duplication. Already, 75 agencies have included about 900 resources in the database.
I invite you to add your material to the database and to consult and use the material in it.
I’m also delighted to say that more and more organizations want to get on board and support us in our efforts. Every day I receive all kinds of requests from different sectors.
This interest is encouraging, especially since statistics show that there is a real need for us to keep up our efforts. Last year, we again fielded the Canadian Financial Capability Survey, which was first conducted in 2009, to assess progress on financial literacy. The results show that Canadians still have a great deal of difficulty in this area. For example:
- Only 45% of Canadians have a budget.
- Nearly 30% have trouble paying their bills.
- 60% don’t know how much money they need to set aside maintain the quality of life in retirement.
And those are just a few examples.
So, we have to roll up our sleeves and work together toward the same objectives. That’s why we are developing these strategies—so we can have a clear plan to guide the many stakeholders who want to participate.
Developing a national strategy on financial literacy has therefore been my top priority for the first year of my mandate. To support me in this task, we formed a national steering committee. This committee is made up of 15 experts in financial issues who work in various sectors, including the financial industry, education, community, and government sectors. Camille Beaudoin, director of financial education for the Autorité, sits on this committee. Thank you, Camille, for all your help and support.
When the strategy is launched, the steering committee members will also serve as champions to help me promote it and mobilize stakeholders.
To ensure that we come up with a strategy that really meets people’s needs, we conducted a series of public and online consultations. We learned some new things, and we confirmed some things we already knew. The strategy we will be launching soon takes into account the particular needs of various groups.
Last fall, we launched a national strategy to strengthen seniors’ financial literacy. The consultations focussed on this clientele revealed that seniors have urgent needs. Since then, a number of initiatives have been undertaken to meet those needs, and we are continuing to implement that strategy.
Other groups, such as newcomers, low‑income earners, Aboriginal people and young people also have some specific needs. The strategy we will soon launch will respond to their needs as well.
Once the strategy is launched, we will work to engage all stakeholders. Financial literacy is everyone’s responsibility, and collaboration is key to progress. It is only by working together that we will motivate Canadians to change their behaviour to improve their financial well‑being.
Some good news is that the private sector is showing interest in getting involved by offering its support to community agencies. In its 2015 Economic Action Plan, the government highlighted a commitment from Canada’s banks to establish a five‑year financial literacy fund of $10 million to provide grants to eligible community organizations for projects to improve the financial literacy of Canadians. We will know more about how this fund will work later this year. I am pleased about this announcement because we know that funding is often a challenge for agencies that are already working so hard in this area.
Without further ado, I will turn things over to the panellists, who will tell you more about Quebec’s financial education strategy. I am delighted to be working with the Réseau d’éducation financière du Québec to coordinate our efforts, and I want to congratulate you on the excellent work that is being done here in Quebec. I’m sure that, with this strategy, that work will have even more impact.
Thank you.
