Ryerson University and St. Lawrence College were named regional champions in Central Canada in a competition promoting financial education on Friday.

The HSBC SIFE Financial Education Challenge, presented by organizations Students in Free Enterprise and Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship, involves teams of students from more than 50 Canadian universities and colleges. The teams develop and implement projects to help young people and women entrepreneurs in their community develop the personal financial management skills necessary to achieve financial independence.

At Central Canada’s regional championship in Toronto, Toronto-based Ryerson University won for promoting financial education in the community by helping current Ryerson students and alumni start and operate their own ventures. Through the StartMeUp Ryerson program, participants receive mentorship, funding, and valuable networking opportunities.

St. Lawrence College, with campuses in cities in eastern Ontario, was recognized for a four-week mentorship program it created, which helps students with financial planning and debt as well as finding available funding sources while they are in school.

The regional champions will compete at the national level at the 2009 ACE National Exposition in Toronto in early May. Their accomplishments will be showcased before panels of top executives and CEOs.

HSBC funded the competition with a donation of $100,000 to Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship to help students promote financial education in communities across Canada.

“As one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations, the HSBC Group believes that financial education is an essential skill for a successful future,” said Lindsay Gordon, president and CEO of HSBC Bank Canada. “The HSBC SIFE Financial Education Challenge gives students the opportunity to strengthen their leadership skills and experience by teaching others about financial matters.”

Other student-led projects that have emerged from the HSBC SIFE Financial Education Challenge include leading public workshops on how to manage family finances and teaching seniors how to protect themselves from fraud.

Last year, Memorial University of Newfoundland won the national challenge for various projects dedicated to financial literacy amongst youth, high school students and seniors. One project was Business Education Growing In Newfoundland and Labrador, which was designed to teach high school students financial literacy through weekly spending diaries and interactive sessions.

“In today’s economic climate, it is more important than ever to ensure that Canadians have the basic skills required to achieve financial independence,” said Amy Harder, president of Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship. “We thank HSBC Bank Canada for this generous gift, which will ensure our students are equipped to tackle this challenge and ultimately, build a more prosperous Canada.”

IE