A new partnership between two of Canada’s financial literacy leaders is providing parents with an unbiased and free online resource to help them teach their kids about money.

Investor Education Fund (IEF), founded and supported by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), and CPA Canada, the national body representing the new Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation, are announcing the joint effort as part of Financial Literacy Month.

“Partnering with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada underscores IEF’s goal of finding the most innovative ways of sharing high-quality financial literacy resources with Canadians,” says Tom Hamza, president, IEF. “We feel that CPA Canada has great expertise and a perspective that our audiences can benefit from.”

CPA Canada resources are part of an expanded IEF InspireFinancialLearning.ca website that helps teachers and parents teach kids about money. The new resources include a series of articles and activities for parents of children aged five and up that cover various facets of personal finances — such as learning how to save money, track spending, set goals, make charitable decisions and even invest.

Robin Taub, author of CPA Canada’s A Parent’s Guide to Raising Money-Smart Kids and a regular contributor to IEF’s Masters of Money blog, is the lead writer and researcher on the project.

The new content responds to the keen interest expressed by many Canadian parents in helping their kids develop money and investments skills. A September 2013 study by IEF showed that:

> 92 per cent of parents think it’s essential for their children to know how to manage money;

> only 44 per cent of parents believe their teens are ready to manage money; and

> 81 per cent of parents are unsure or don’t think that their kids are being taught financial skills in high school.

CPA Canada’s Nicholas Cheung says his organization welcomes the opportunity to work collectively with IEF.

“It is important that we find ways to put parents more at ease when they are talking money with their children,” explains Cheung, who is a director with CPA Canada. “Our organization’s research revealed that parents who are most successful at teaching money management skills familiarize their children with the family’s financial situation.”