I think most Canadians would agree that financial literacy is an important life skill. Learning the basics of money management should, in theory, lead to behaviours that help people make informed financial and spending decisions that foster positive financial outcomes. At the same time, having well-educated investors helps strengthen the Canadian economy and reduces the burden on government for support and finances.
I say “in theory” because we all know that taking a course doesn’t necessarily mean you can translate the new-found knowledge into action. In a recent Globe and Mail column, Preet Banerjee wrote about the psychology of money: “By teaching students not just the mechanics of money management but also the psychological pitfalls that can derail good intentions, we can equip them with more effective tools to navigate real-world financial decisions.”
Further, there are many aspects to financial literacy, including saving and investing, budgeting, credit and mortgages, retirement planning, and taxes. In today’s digital world, there is much more to understand, including password protection, multifactor authentication, credit scores, avoiding scams, and on and on.
A few years ago, the federal government introduced the National Financial Literacy Strategy 2021–2026, which aims for financial resilience and creating “a more accessible, inclusive, and effective financial ecosystem that supports diverse Canadians in meaningful ways.” I am pleased there is such a strategy and look forward to hearing about any meaningful progress toward the goals; however, the federal plan doesn’t address financial literacy for young people. That’s where we need to focus our efforts for the greatest impact.
Teaching children about money can start early. For example, you can give a young child a piggy bank and teach them about putting money in it. The next step could be opening a bank account for the child and showing them how to deposit and save for something they want. As children grow up, parents can continue to build on the basic principles, introducing concepts like borrowing and budgeting.
Not all parents are comfortable or feel knowledgeable enough to talk to their kids about managing money. And in some families, the entire subject of money is taboo. That’s where schools can play a role.
At the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, we found ourselves wondering to what degree financial literacy has made its way into the school curriculum. And so, we undertook a data-gathering project to find out what is being taught in schools across the country.
We discovered a patchwork. Most Canadian provinces and territories have incorporated some degree of financial education into their school curricula, but the extent and type of education varies significantly across regions. While all regions except Manitoba, Nunavut and Quebec introduce some form of financial education in the junior grades, not all the content is compulsory.
Four provinces and one territory (B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Ontario and P.E.I.) stand out for their relatively comprehensive approach, starting in the primary grades and moving into the high school years. In these regions, students are taught the basics early on, including how to count, save, purchase and trade items. By their final year of high school, students have been taught essential financial skills such as budgeting, paying bills, handling loans and managing credit cards.
Interestingly, the Manitoba government undertook a pilot project in 2023/24, in partnership with a B.C. company, to deliver elective virtual financial literacy content to high school students as a supplement to the regular curriculum. Other provinces and school boards have similar pilots in place. Maybe such public-private partnerships are the way to go, given that financial literacy is a specialized topic and school boards with tight budgets may not have staff qualified to teach it.
Some provinces are overhauling the way they deliver financial literacy education, including making the content compulsory. Earlier this year, the Ontario government announced the 2025 launch of a mandatory financial literacy component of the existing Grade 10 math course. This sounds like a sensible approach, and we look forward to seeing whether other provinces will do something similar.
No matter how financial education is delivered to Canada’s young people, it must keep up with the rapidly changing times. Our research found that many provinces are teaching outdated material with little or no mention of timely and relevant topics, such as e-transfers, mobile apps, and identity theft prevention.
My own two children are young adults, and their generation faces a host of online challenges and temptations that I never could have imagined — everything from online gambling to investing in “sure things” like cryptocurrency to determining whether the many “finfluencers” peddling advice on social media have any financial expertise at all.
Given that education is the responsibility of the provinces and territories and not the federal government, it would be difficult to ensure that financial literacy courses are uniform across the country. But it seems clear there is a need for more comprehensive and up-to-date financial education. Enhancing the availability and relevance of these courses would better prepare young people for the financial realities of the modern world.
Andy Mitchell is president and CEO of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.