Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) today announced that it is developing Canada’s first Centre for Financial Literacy. The centre will help build and develop a national strategy for financial literacy in Canada.

“It’s time for Canada to make financial literacy a national priority,” says Peter Nares, SEDI’s founding executive director. “SEDI’s Centre for Financial Literacy will be a hub of knowledge and action where government, private and citizen sector organizations will work together to find innovative solutions to the challenges of money management and how it relates to poverty.”

Supported by a multi-sector Steering Committee on Financial Literacy, the centre will be formally launched this fall. In its first stage, the centre will bring together financial literacy networks, offer training for front-line nonprofits throughout Canada, and promote cutting-edge research that will help shape more effective financial literacy programs and public policies.

Two corporate-funded projects are currently being designed and implemented by the Centre for Financial Literacy. One offers financial literacy training for youth-focused organizations, the other will teach Aboriginal Canadians and newcomers how to better manage money.

“The centre is an extension of the successful work SEDI has been doing in financial literacy for the past 20 years,” says Casey Cosgrove, SEDI’s director of financial literacy Iinitiatives. “We work with community-based organizations nationwide to identify the needs of populations at-risk and help them gain basic financial skills such as budgeting, saving, opening a bank account, managing credit and debt and avoiding predatory lenders. This way, low-income Canadians can make informed financial decisions, invest in long-term assets and hopefully break the cycle of poverty.”

SEDI is a national non-profit organization that uses innovative approaches to help low-income Canadians reach self-sufficiency. The organization’s initiatives focus on three areas: financial literacy, asset-building and entrepreneurship.