Credential Financial Inc. is teaming up with a select group of partner credit unions and Gail Vaz-Oxlade, the host of TV show Til Debt Do Us Part, to launch a cross-country seminar series designed to help Canadians improve their financial planning.

“Every Canadian can better achieve their financial goals with a formal plan in place, but it is making that first step that can often seem the most challenging,” says Elaine McHarg, senior vp, marketing and chief marketing officer of Credential. “Our goal is to host a series of informative and engaging evenings, with Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s no-nonsense approach and vibrant and irreverent style, to motivate Canadians to start thinking about building a financial plan — and sooner rather than later.”

Credential will kick-off the Master your Finances seminars in Vancouver on September 25, before stops in Edmonton on October 1 and Ottawa on October 23. Three more sessions are scheduled for other cities across Canada in January.

Master your Finances will give solid financial planning basics, tips on how to get started on a financial plan, and questions to ask a financial advisor. Each evening will include a pre-session for financial advisors, followed by Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s lively public presentation and a closing reception.

“Every Canadian, whether a student or heading into retirement, should have, and is capable of having, a financial plan,” says Vaz-Oxlade. “This series of evening events will focus on demystifying financial planning — it does not have anything to do with how much money you make, but how you use what you have to make the life you want. You can spend, save and invest, all at the same time.”

On her TV show, Til Debt Do Us Part, Vaz-Oxlade helps debt-burdened couples get to the root of their destructive spending habits.