Financial education – Prosper Canada Learning Hub

Invest smart: Taxes and Investing

Glossary of Common Investing Terms

Money Smarts: My Financial Journey

Empowering Futures: Boosting Girls’ Financial Confidence Through Gamified Learning – A Gender Equality Research Brief

Money and Youth: A guide to financial literacy

Dollars Seen Differently Podcast

Financial Planners and Financial Advisors

Investor’s guide: cryptocurrencies

Financial abuse – it’s not your fault

Fraud prevention toolkit for older adults

Insights summary: Building financial wellness in First Nations

Choosing a financial institution

The many faces of financial elder abuse

The Value of Behaviorally-Informed Financial Advice Study

Prosper Canada Learning Hub Digest

Focus groups –Understanding Canadian investors

The Gig Economy: What You Need to Know When Filing Taxes For Your Side Hustle

Dollars and sense: Achieving better financial literacy in 2024

Online employment and job scams – how to recognize the red flags

Smart steps for sidestepping the latest QR code tricks

Check up on your financial health

Building Credit From the Ground Up: A Program for Newcomers to Canada.

How volatility affects your investments

Protect yourself and your family: spotting the signs of financial abuse

Empowering Women and Communities Through Financial Literacy

Financial literacy courses for Canadian students

Teachers may incorporate two gamified financial literacy courses that are currently freely available into their lessons.

Students can now access two age-appropriate courses designed to help boost students' financial knowledge and confidence at any stage of their financial journey.

Course titles:

Money Management Foundations* (Grades 6 - 12)
- Money Management and Budgeting
Money Management After High School* (Grades 9 - 12)
- Managing My Money After High School

Students will explore resources and tools on the FCAC website that they will be able to use well beyond high school.

*Students can earn a completion certificate issued by the FCAC and ChatterHigh!

Banking for newcomers to Canada

Banks offer extensive information on how newcomers to Canada can get started in their new country, including checklists, information, financial services and advice. Here is some basic information to get you started. A list of bank resources at the end of this article may also help with the financial transition to Canada.

The impact of COVID-19 on financial capability and asset building services.

The forced transition from in-person to online activities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on how families and communities buy groceries, acquire medical care, and utilize social services. This rapid shift has raised important questions about how to address access and equity. AFN and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Financial Security (CFS) conducted this study to better understand the transition to remote services among financial capability and asset building (FCAB) programs, which includes financial education, counseling, coaching, emergency assistance, benefits navigation, housing supports, workforce development, and other related services. The insights from this study can inform strategies for FCAB services going forward.

This brief reviews recommendations for funders and organizations seeking to learn from the financial capability service delivery models employed in the COVID-19 pandemic, especially related to replication of findings that lead to more equitable delivery practices, improved accessibility of services, and greater financial improvements for clients. Six region-specific briefs complement the national findings - Indiana, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

This brief is generously supported by JPMorgan Chase & Co., MetLife Foundation, and Wells Fargo.

If you missed the live webinar, watch the recording here.

OSC study finds many investors overestimate their knowledge

Crypto Quiz

Are you considering investing in crypto assets, but aren’t sure whether it’s right for you, legal or just a scam? Test your crypto knowledge and learn how to spot the warning signs of fraud using OSC's quiz.

Investment knowledge quiz

Most people know a little about investing, but they need to know more to be able to manage their investments to meet their goals. Try this quiz by the FCAC to see if your knowledge is basic or more advanced.

Start Your Investment Journey

Before you start investing, it is important to consider your budget and financial goals, and how much risk you are comfortable taking on. Like many things in life, investing comes with its own share of risks and rewards. You can do this on your own or with the help of an advisor.

Financial literacy around the world: insights from the S&P’s rating services global financial literacy survey

The Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Global Financial Literacy Survey is the world’s largest, most comprehensive global measurement of financial literacy. It probes knowledge of four basic financial concepts: risk diversification, inflation, numeracy, and interest compounding.

The survey is based on interviews with more than 150,000 adults in over 140 countries. In 2014 McGraw Hill Financial worked with Gallup, Inc., the World Bank Development Research Group, and GFLEC on the S&P Global FinLit Survey.

Empower U Evaluation Report

For a family living in poverty, every day is about making tough choices – to pay rent or buy groceries? Having the means to attain the basic necessities, is one thing. Having the skills, confidence and access to resources to manage finances in ways that build pathways out of poverty is something far different.

Thanks to the generosity of partners, supporters and donors of Empower U, families can move beyond just managing the day-to-day challenges of poverty. Participants in the program learn valuable money management skills and are given the means to build savings and assets to create financial stability. A future where they and their families can thrive.

Checking registration

Checking registration helps protect you from unqualified or fraudulent individuals. Always check the registration of any person or business trying to sell you an investment or give you investment advice by using the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Registration Search.

Titles like financial advisor, financial planner, investment consultant, and investment specialist aren’t legally defined terms or official registration categories. Some advisers or dealers may have designations that allow them to use specific titles, such as Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Checking registration tells you what specific products and services they are (and aren’t) qualified to offer you, regardless of title.

Guidance on digital delivery of financial education

Innovative uses of digital technologies in the delivery of financial education can serve multiple complementary objectives and effectively support the building blocks of financial education. This Guidance was developed to assist policy makers in deciding when to adopt digital delivery, and how to effectively design and implement digital financial education initiatives, by offering non-binding actionable directions. It builds on the work undertaken by the OECD and its International Network on Financial Education, including the G20/OECD-INFE Policy Guidance Note on Digitalisation and Financial Literacy and international comparative analyses on how public authorities design, deliver and evaluate digital financial education initiatives, notably in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report on digital delivery of financial education design and practice builds on over 70 case studies from members of the OECD International Network on Financial Education, contributes to a better understanding of how public authorities worldwide are designing, delivering and evaluating digital financial education initiatives, and prepares forthcoming work on the development of high-level international guidance on the digital delivery of financial education.

Financial wellness tools

The National Disability Institute's Financial Wellness Toolkit is full of free resources for disability service providers, nonprofits, financial professionals and municipalities, including Financial Education Handouts and Quick Reference Guides.

This infographic highlights income, banking and credit inequality based on disability, race and ethnicity.

Behavioural bias checker

Being aware of potential biases can help you become a better decision-maker. Use this tool to improve your awareness of different behavioural biases or “blind spots” that may influence your decisions.

Municipal Toolkit: A toolkit for embedding financial empowerment supports into municipal services

English

For frontline staff - Quick tools you can use with clients

Starting the conversation

Here are 7 questions to help you start a conversation about money with your client. Based on what you learn about your clients’ needs, the remaining links on this page to help you find answers and next steps.

Try this coaching readiness checklist to help your client ascertain if they have the time and are interested in receiving financial coaching.

Worksheets & tip sheets

Here are some “go to” worksheets and tip sheets that frontline staff have found very helpful with their clients. They focus on budgeting, saving, and debt management – common FE needs that come up. Try them out for yourself first and see which ones might work for your clients.

The Budget Spreadsheet is an excellent tool for capturing the full picture of an individual’s financial picture. The individual inputs information according to different categories and the tool calculates totals in a summary page to show how much money is left over at the end of the month. [Thunder Bay Counselling]

The Simple budget template is an alternative monthly budget tool clients can use. It includes links to an Income tracking worksheet and Expenses tracking worksheet. [Prosper Canada / Trove]

The Urgent vs Important worksheet can help clients prioritize their spending. This, in turn, can help them save or “find money” for necessary expenses. [Prosper Canada / Trove]

Knowing how to set a SMART goal is important for planning and achieving targets. In the Set a SMART financial goal, clients learn what a SMART goal is and write SMART financial goals that are important to them. [Prosper Canada / Trove]

Making a spending plan is a worksheet clients can use to create a spending plan for each week based on money coming in and out each month. [Prosper Canada / Trove]

Making a debt action plan is a worksheet to help your clients get a handle on their debt. [Prosper Canada / Trove]

Tips for Managing Debt and Bills is a reference sheet you can give clients during tough times when managing cash flow is a challenge.

Prioritizing bills helps clients prioritize what bills to pay when it’s not possible to pay for everything. Note that this tool is from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an American government agency and includes a link to their website. Let clients know the information on the website is geared to the US context. [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]

Online sites and tools

Here are great online tools you can also share and use in your FE work with clients.

Benefits wayfinder [benefitswayfinder.org]

Support with access to benefits is another powerful FE intervention. The Benefits wayfinder is a simple, easy to use, plain language tool that helps people on low and modest incomes find and track benefits they could get. Clients can use it on their own or with your support.

Read the Benefits wayfinder fact sheet to learn more.

Then watch the How to use this tool video. It highlights and demonstrates how to navigate through the key features of the tool.

If you would like additional training on how to support your clients with access to benefits and use the Benefits wayfinder tool in your money conversations, you can sign up for Prosper Canada’s self-directed online course and/or live workshop.

Trove [yourtrove.org]

Trove is a free bilingual website that clients can visit on their own or with your support. Many of the tools you were introduced to above can be found on Trove, along with a wealth of other user-friendly financial tools, worksheets, and education information to help clients take charge of their spending, learn about tax filing and benefits, and manage debt.

Along with a link to the Benefits wayfinder, you can also find these online tools:

My money in Canada is a website that can help clients build healthy money habits with simple, easy to use learning modules on a range of money topics. The site also includes videos and a financial wellness checklist for clients.
The RDSP Calculator for Canadians can be used to assess the potential of opening and contributing to a Registered Disability Savings Plan.

For managers - Tools for getting started with financial empowerment

The resources below focus on starting steps and tools to assist in the initial planning and implementation stages for embedding FE. Future phases of the toolkit will share resources for later stage efforts, as well as non-municipal efforts, such as public libraries and health care systems.

Tool 1. Making the case for financial empowerment

For FE to be successful, it’s critical to get buy-in from staff and stakeholders.

Below are great resources to share with key players who are new to FE. They can help you get others quickly up to speed on what FE is and the value of embedding FE as you onboard them or work to build interest in FE in your municipality.

Prosperity Gateways Primer gives a quick overview of the “what” and “why” of embedding FE into municipal services.
FE Brochure provides a more detailed introduction to FE and embedding FE.
Here are three case examples you can use to show the powerful impact embedding FE into municipal services can have:

Case example: York region
Case example: TESS
Case example: Edmonton

Tool 2. Getting started: the internal scan

Take the time to learn about common FE interventions. Then, assess conditions, capacity and considerations in your municipality for providing these kinds of financial help to your clients.

This tool guides you through an internal scan as you envision what embedding FE might look like in your service delivery context. Consider Tool 2: Getting started: the internal scan a starting point that will continue to evolve as you move through the process.

Tool 3. Exploring partnerships: the external scan

Municipalities do not have to deliver FE supports themselves to turn their services into Prosperity Gateways. In many cases, especially at the outset, it may be more cost-effective and less resource intensive to establish referral pathways to other local service providers or to partner with non-profit organizations, foundations, or financial service providers to deliver the financial help to meet your clients’ needs.

Use Tool 3: Exploring collaborations and partnerships to perform a scan of FE services in your local community and identify potential collaborations and partnerships.

Two additional partnership resources are ‘Elements of Integration‘ and ‘Partnership Tip Sheet‘

Tool 4. Designing the initiative: the service blueprint

Having completed an internal and external scan of barriers and opportunities, you are now ready to design an FE initiative to suit your municipality’s context. Designing the initiative is an important phase where you work out the service model, clarify partnerships, and imagine the ideal client experience.

Tool 4: Designing the initiative guides you through choosing the best service delivery model for your context and designing the client and staff journey.

We hope this toolkit will grow and improve with use and feedback. Current ideas for upcoming tools include:

Understanding your clients’ financial capability
Building a successful team
Supporting staff for success
Setting up effective data collection and evaluation processes

Tool 5. Designing the initiative: a shadowing guide

Tool 5: A shadowing guide can help frontline staff understand the process from intake to service delivery.

Feedback / Suggestions

We’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions for tools that you would find useful. Please email: [email protected].

Learn more about FE

Canadian Publications

Prosperity Gateways: Cities for financial empowerment – Building the case outlines evidence for embedding FE.

Read the report How financial empowerment services are helping Ontarians build financial health for more supporting evidence and personal stories.

Financial Empowerment – What is it and how it helps reduce poverty [national] suggests that FE is a critical missing piece of federal government policy that can significantly boost client outcomes when it is embedded into other programs and services.

Financial Empowerment – What is it and how it helps reduce poverty [Alberta] provides an overview of provincial government action on FE in Alberta. The Alberta government adapted the national document (by the same name) to use in their internal discussions with municipal decision-makers. Create a document that you can use for your internal discussions using this as an example.

U.S. Publications

The municipal integration of FE in Canada is grounded in influential work in the US by the Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund. Launched in 2012 in New York the CFE Fund showed that embedding FE strategies into local government infrastructure can have a “supervitamin effect” on public programs, increasing the financial stability of low to moderate income households.

Read the pioneering article: “Municipal Financial Empowerment: A Supervitamin for Public Programs”
Learn more about their Financial Empowerment Centers model in this 4-minute video
Visit their website to see resources and sign up for their quarterly newsletter
See a three-year evaluation of the model in 5 cities across the US. “An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers – Building People’s Financial Stability as a Public Service”

The Urban Institute examined the cost of residents’ financial insecurity to city budgets in 10 American cities in this 2017 research. Across these cities, the costs range from the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, suggesting that cities have an economic interest in improving their residents’ financial health.

A report by JP Morgan Chase reviews municipal efforts to integrate financial capability into public services in several US locations in “A Scan of Municipal Financial Capability Efforts.”

French

Pour le personnel de première ligne — Outils rapides que vous pouvez utiliser avec les clients

Amorcer la conversation

Voici sept questions qui vous aideront à entamer une conversation à propos de l’argent avec votre client. En fonction de ce que vous avez appris sur les besoins de vos clients, les autres liens de cette page vous aideront à trouver des réponses et à connaître les prochaines étapes.

Utilisez cette liste de vérification pour aider votre client à décider s’il a le temps et s’il souhaite recevoir un accompagnement financier.

Fiches de travail et fiches de conseils

Voici quelques feuilles de travail et des feuilles de conseils que le personnel de première ligne a trouvé très utiles pour ses clients. Elles portent principalement sur la planification budgétaire, l’épargne et la gestion des dettes — les besoins courants en matière d’AF qui se présentent. Essayez-les d’abord pour vous-même et voyez ceux qui pourraient convenir à vos clients.

La feuille de calcul du budget (anglais seulement) est un excellent outil pour saisir le portrait complet de la situation financière d’un individu. La personne saisit les données selon différentes catégories et l’outil calcule les totaux dans une page de synthèse pour montrer combien d’argent il reste à la fin du mois. [Thunder Bay Counselling]

Le modèle de budget simple est un outil alternatif de budget mensuel que les clients peuvent utiliser. Il comprend des liens vers une feuille de calcul de suivi des revenus et une feuille de calcul de suivi des dépenses. [Prospérité Canada/Trove]

La feuille de calcul Urgent versus Important peut aider les clients à établir des priorités dans leurs dépenses. Cela peut ensuite les aider à économiser ou à « trouver de l’argent » pour les dépenses nécessaires. [Prospérité Canada/Trove]

Il est important de savoir comment établir un objectif INTELLIGENT pour mettre en place et atteindre des objectifs. Avec l’outil Comment établir des objectifs financiers INTELLIGENTS, les clients apprennent ce qu’est un objectif INTELLIGENT et choisissent des objectifs financiers INTELLIGENTS qui sont importants pour eux. [Prospérité Canada/Trove]

La feuille de calcul Comment établir un plan de dépenses est un outil que les clients peuvent utiliser pour créer un plan de dépenses pour chaque semaine en fonction des entrées et sorties d’argent du mois. [Prospérité Canada/Trove]

La feuille de calcul Élaboration d’un plan d’action en matière de dettes est un outil pour aider vos clients à prendre le contrôle sur leurs dettes. [Prospérité Canada/Trove]

Conseils pour la gestion des dettes et des factures est une feuille de référence que vous pouvez donner à vos clients dans les moments difficiles où la gestion des fonds est un défi.

Le classement des factures par ordre de priorité (anglais seulement) aide les clients à déterminer les factures à payer en premier lorsqu’il n’est pas possible de tout payer. Notez que cet outil provient du Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), une agence gouvernementale américaine, et comprend un lien vers son site Web. Expliquez aux clients que les renseignements figurant sur le site Web sont adaptés au contexte américain. [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]

Sites et outils en ligne

Voici d’excellents outils en ligne que vous pouvez également faire connaître et utiliser dans votre travail en matière d’AF avec les clients.

Orienteur en mesures d’aide [benefitswayfinder.org/fr]

L’aide à l’accès aux mesures d’aide est une autre façon puissante d’intervenir en matière d’AF. L’Orienteur en mesures d’aide est un outil simple, facile à utiliser et rédigé en langage clair qui aide les personnes à revenus faibles ou modestes à trouver et à répertorier les mesures d’aide auxquelles elles peuvent prétendre. Les clients peuvent l’utiliser seuls ou avec votre aide.

Pour en savoir plus, lisez la fiche d’information sur l’Orienteur en mesures d’aide. (anglais seulement)

Ensuite, regardez la vidéo Comment utiliser cet outil (anglais seulement). Elle explique et démontre comment naviguer à travers les principales caractéristiques de l’outil.

Si vous souhaitez obtenir une formation supplémentaire sur la façon d’aider vos clients à accéder aux mesures d’aide et d’utiliser l’Orienteur en mesures d’aide dans vos conversations au sujet de l’argent, vous pouvez vous inscrire au cours autodidacte en ligne ou à l’atelier en direct de Prospérité Canada.

Trove [yourtrove.org/fr]

Trove est un site Web bilingue gratuit que les clients peuvent visiter par eux-mêmes ou avec votre aide. La plupart des outils qui vous ont été présentés ci-dessus se trouvent sur Trove, ainsi qu’une multitude d’autres outils financiers conviviaux, des feuilles de calcul et des renseignements éducatifs pour aider les clients à prendre en charge leurs dépenses, à se renseigner sur la déclaration et les avantages fiscaux et à gérer leurs dettes.

En plus d’un lien vers l’Orienteur en mesures d’aide, vous trouverez également ces outils en ligne :

Mon argent au Canada est un site Web qui peut aider les clients à acquérir de bonnes habitudes en matière de gestion de l’argent grâce à des modules d’apprentissage simples et faciles à utiliser sur toute une série de sujets liés à l’argent. Le site comprend également des vidéos (anglais seulement) et un questionnaire relatif au bien-être financier pour les clients.
La calculatrice du REEI pour les Canadiens peut être utilisée pour évaluer la possibilité d’ouvrir et de cotiser à un régime enregistré d’épargne-invalidité.

Pour les gestionnaires — Outils pour démarrer avec l’autonomisation financière

The resources below focus on starting steps and tools to assist in the initial planning and implementation stages for embedding FE. Future phases of the toolkit will share resources for later stage efforts, as well as non-municipal efforts, such as public libraries and health care systems.

Outil 1. Argumenter en faveur de l’autonomisation financière.

Pour que l’AF soit un succès, il est essentiel d’obtenir l’adhésion du personnel et des intervenants.

Vous trouverez ci-dessous d’excellentes ressources à faire connaître aux acteurs clés qui ne connaissent pas encore l’AF. Elles peuvent vous aider à faire comprendre rapidement aux autres ce qu’est l’AF et la pertinence d’intégrer l’AF lorsque vous les accueillez ou lorsque vous travaillez à susciter l’intérêt pour l’AF dans votre municipalité.

● L’abécédaire des passerelles pour la prospérité (anglais seulement) donne un aperçu de « qu’est-ce que c’est » et du « pourquoi » au sujet de l’intégration de l’AF dans les services municipaux.

● La brochure de l’AF (anglais seulement) fournit une introduction plus détaillée à l’AF et à l’intégration de l’AF.

● Voici trois exemples de cas que vous pouvez utiliser pour montrer l’impact puissant que peut avoir l’intégration de l’AF dans les services municipaux :

o Exemple de cas : Région de York

o Exemple de cas : Services sociaux et d’emploi de Toronto

o Exemple de cas : Edmonton

Outil 2. Commencer : l’analyse interne

Prenez le temps de vous renseigner sur les types d’interventions courantes en matière d’AF. Ensuite, évaluez les conditions, la capacité et les considérations dans votre municipalité pour fournir ces types d’aide financière à vos clients.

Cet outil vous guide à travers une analyse interne qui vous permet d’envisager ce que pourrait être l’intégration de l’AF dans votre contexte de prestation de services.

Considérez l’outil 2 : Commencer : l’analyse interne un point de départ qui continuera à évoluer à mesure que vous avancerez dans le processus.

Outil 3. Explorer les partenariats : l’analyse externe

Les municipalités ne sont pas obligées de fournir elles-mêmes des mesures d’aides en matière d’AF pour transformer leurs services en passerelles pour la prospérité. Dans de nombreux cas, surtout au début, il peut être plus rentable et moins exigeant sur le plan des ressources d’établir des liens de référence vers d’autres prestataires de services locaux ou de s’associer à des organismes à but non lucratif, des fondations ou des prestataires de services financiers pour fournir l’aide financière répondant aux besoins de vos clients.

Utilisez l’outil 3 : Explorer les collaborations et les partenariats pour effectuer une analyse des services en matière d’AF dans votre communauté locale et identifier les collaborations et partenariats potentiels.

Deux autres ressources à propos du partenariat sont les « Éléments de l’intégration » et les « Conseils pour le partenariat » .

Outil 4. Concevoir l’initiative : le plan de service

Après avoir effectué une analyse interne et externe des obstacles et des opportunités, vous êtes maintenant prêt à concevoir une initiative d’AF adaptée au contexte de votre municipalité. La conception de l’initiative est une phase importante où vous élaborez le modèle de service, clarifiez les partenariats et imaginez l’expérience client idéale.

L’outil 4 : Conception de l’initiative vous guide dans le choix du meilleur modèle de prestation de services pour votre contexte et dans la conception du parcours du client et du personnel.

Nous espérons que cette boîte à outils se développera et s’améliorera avec l’utilisation et les commentaires. Les idées actuelles pour les outils à venir incluent :

Comprendrela capacité financière de vos clients
Mettresur pied une équipe performante
Soutenirle personnel pour qu’il réussisse
Mettreen place des processus efficaces de collecte de données et d’évaluation

Outil 5. Concevoir l’initiative : un guide d’observation

L’outil 5 : Un guide d’observation peut aider le personnel de première ligne à comprendre le processus, de l’accueil à la mise en œuvre du service.

Commentaires et suggestions

Nous serions ravis d’entendre vos commentaires et vos suggestions d’outils que vous trouveriez utiles. Veuillez nous envoyer un courriel : [email protected].

En savoir plus en matière d’AF

Publications canadiennes

Passerelles de prospérité : Les villes pour l’autonomisation financière — établir le dossier (anglais seulement) décrit les preuves qui sont pour l’intégration de l’AF.

Lisez le rapport intitulé Comment les services d’autonomisation financière aident les Ontariens à renforcer leur santé financière (anglais seulement) pour obtenir plus de preuves et de récits personnels.

Le document Autonomisation financière — qu’est-ce que c’est et comment cela aide à réduire la pauvreté [national] (anglais seulement) suggère que l’autonomisation financière est une pièce manquante essentielle de la politique du gouvernement fédéral qui peut considérablement améliorer les conditions de vie des clients lorsqu’elle est intégrée à d’autres programmes et services.

Le document Autonomisation financière — qu’est-ce que c’est et comment cela aide à réduire la pauvreté [Alberta] (anglais seulement) donne un aperçu de la démarche du gouvernement provincial en matière d’AF en Alberta. Le gouvernement de l’Alberta a adapté le document national (du même nom) pour l’utiliser dans ses discussions internes avec les décideurs municipaux. Créez un document que vous pourrez utiliser pour vos discussions internes en utilisant cet exemple.

Publications américaines

L’intégration municipale de l’AF au Canada est fondée sur les travaux influents réalisés aux États-Unis par le Fonds Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE). Lancé en 2012 à New York, le Fonds CFE Fund a montré que l’intégration de stratégies d’AF dans l’infrastructure des gouvernements locaux peut avoir un « effet super vitaminé » sur les programmes publics, en augmentant la stabilité financière des ménages à revenu faible ou modéré.

Lisez l’article pionnier : « Municipal Financial Empowerment: A Supervitamin for Public Programs » (anglais seulement)
Apprenez-en davantage sur leur modèle de centres d’autonomisation financière (anglais seulement) dans cette vidéo de quatre minutes.
Visitez leur site Web (anglais seulement) pour voir les ressources et vous inscrire à leur infolettre trimestrielle.
Découvrez une évaluation de trois ans du modèle dans cinq villes des États-Unis. « An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers – Building People’s Financial Stability as a Public Service » (anglais seulement)

L’Urban Institute a examiné le coût de l’insécurité financière des résidents sur les budgets municipaux de dix villes américaines dans cette recherche de 2017 (anglais seulement). Dans ces villes, les coûts vont de dizaines à des centaines de millions de dollars, ce qui suggère que les villes ont un intérêt économique à améliorer la santé financière de leurs résidents.

Un rapport de JP Morgan Chase passe en revue les efforts déployés par les municipalités pour intégrer la capacité financière dans les services publics dans plusieurs villes américaines dans « A Scan of Municipal Financial Capability Efforts » (anglais seulement).

Translated financial terms

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has developed resources to help multilingual communities and newcomers in a selection of languages. The translated financial terms are available in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean and Tagalog.

This website has many other multi-lingual resources, covering a range of topics from opening a bank account, money transfers, money management, debt collection and many others. Some terms are US based but most are universal.

Scam spotter tool

Are you considering a new investment?

Use this tool to learn how to spot the warning signs of fraud, and to learn how to protect yourself from suspected scams.

Investor readiness quiz

Investing is an important part of planning for a financially secure future. It can battle the effects of inflation on your savings, grow your wealth, and provide sources of income in retirement. The sooner you invest, the longer compound interest can work to grow your savings exponentially. However, there are some important milestones to achieve and questions to consider before you start investing.

Are you ready to invest? Take this quiz to find out!

It’s time to get ready for taxes!

Intuit is committed to helping students across the country work towards a more prosperous financial future by equipping them with the education they need to feel confident about their taxes.

Through the Intuit TurboTax Simulation, we are helping students overcome the fear of Tax Day. You do not need to be an expert to teach taxes, and we recommend teaching to grade levels 9-12.

Helping low-income clients retire successfully- Free Course

Learn about your taxes (free CRA online course)

A free online course to learn about personal income taxes in Canada, developed by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Contents include:

Starting to work: Why you need a social insurance number (SIN), when to fill out a TD1 form, and what’s on your pay stub and T4 slip.
Preparing to do your taxes: Find out what you’ll need to know before doing your taxes and the different ways to do them.
Completing a basic tax return: An introduction to a basic income tax and benefit return. What you need to report, how to claim deductions and tax credits, and finding out whether you will get a refund or owe tax.

Additional resources for teachers and facilitators are available.

Financial Coaching Initiative: Results and Lessons Learned

In 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched the Financial Coaching Initiative, a pilot program that provided financial coaching services to veterans and economically vulnerable consumers. Professional coaches were embedded into 60 host sites across the country, where they provided free, one-on-one help to consumers to address their personal financial goals. A range of organizations served as host sites, such as one-stop career centers, social services organizations, and legal aid groups.

Over four years, the Financial Coaching Initiative served over 23,000 consumers, demonstrating that financial coaching can be successfully implemented at scale in many different settings for a wide range of consumers.

This report and summary brief describe the basic structure of the Initiative, present data about the program’s results, and summarize key lessons learned for practitioners and organizations interested in coaching.

Practitioner tools for navigating financial exchanges with family and friends

Financial educators are particularly aware of the prevalence of these types of financial arrangements – otherwise known as family financial exchanges (FFEs). To support practitioners helping clients through these often sensitive conversations about these arrangements, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the Friends and Family Exchanges Toolkit , a four-part guide for coaching clients in asking for financial help or changing an existing agreement due to their own financial hardship.

CFPB Consumer Education Resources

Resources to provide consumers up-to-date information to protect and manage their finances during the coronavirus pandemic. Resources include:

mortgage and housing assistance
managing your finances
student loans
avoiding scams

And resources for specific audiences, including:

older adults & their families
parents & kids
people experiencing homelessness

Momentum’s Money Management Courses

The money management courses are offered online, on demand, for free. Learn at your own pace and on your own schedule on a variety of topics, including:

budgeting
credit
assets
banking
consumerism
education savings

Financial Education Affects Financial Knowledge and Downstream Behaviors

This study covers the rapidly growing literature on the causal effects of financial education programs in a meta-analysis of 76 randomized experiments with a total sample size of over 160,000 individuals. The evidence shows that financial education programs have, on average, positive causal treatment effects on financial knowledge and downstream financial behaviors. Treatment effects are economically meaningful in size, similar to those realized by educational interventions in other domains and are at least three times as large as the average effect documented in earlier work. These results are robust to the method used, restricting the sample to papers published in top economics journals, including only studies with adequate power, and accounting for publication selection bias in the literature. The study concludes with a discussion of the cost-effectiveness of financial education interventions.

GFLEC – Finlit Talks

This video series offers concise summaries of in-depth academic and practitioner presentations, in plain English, for dissemination to a worldwide audience. For convenient viewing, most videos are between three and six minutes long.

Financial Well-being among Black and Hispanic Women

This paper provides an in-depth examination of the financial well-being of Black and Hispanic women and the factors contributing to it, using the 2018 wave of the National Financial Capability Study. Differences between Black and Hispanic women versus White women are documented, in that the former are more likely to face economic challenges that depress financial well-being. Controlling for differences in socio-demographic characteristics, there are important differences in the factors that contribute to financial well-being for Black and Hispanic women compared to White women. This includes distinct impacts of education, family structure, employment, and financial literacy. Results imply that extant financial education programs inadequately address the needs of Black and Hispanic women.

Testing the use of the Mint app in an interactive personal finance module

To advance understanding of effective financial education methods, the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) conducted an experiment using Mint, a financial improvement tool offered by Intuit, whose financial products include TurboTax and QuickBooks. This study measures Mint’s effectiveness at improving students’ financial knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Students at the George Washington University participated in a half-day budgeting workshop and were exposed to either Mint, which is a real-time, automated platform, or Excel, which is an offline, static tool.

The authors found that participation in both workshops was associated with improved preparedness to have conversations about money matters with parents, a greater sense of financial autonomy, and an increased awareness of the importance of budgeting, but that participants in the Mint workshop were more likely to have a positive experience using the budgeting tool, to feel confident that they could achieve a financial goal, and to be engaged in budgeting one month after the workshop. Results show that even short financial education interventions can meaningfully influence students’ financial attitudes and behavior and that an interactive tool like Mint may have advantages over a more static tool like Excel.

2019 Financial Literacy Annual Report

The 2019 Financial Literacy Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights the Bureau’s Start Small, Save Up campaign, the Office of Financial Education’s foundational research, in conjunction with the Office of Older Americans, to understand the pathways to financial well-being, the Office of Servicemembers Affairs’ Misadventures in Money Management online training program, the Office of Older Americans’ Managing Someone Else’s Money guides, and the Office of Community Affairs’ Your Money, Your Goals toolkit, along with other direct to consumer tools, community outreach channels, and areas of research.

Connecting to Reimagine: Money & COVID-19 webinar series

This webinar series released by the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) features speakers from the public, private, and academic sectors.

Past and upcoming webinar topics include:

Navigating Retirement Security Through a Pandemic
Financial Literacy and Wellness Among Women
Financial Fragility During the Pandemic: The Path Forward
Optimizing National Strategies for Financial Education
Crafting Policies that Address Inequality in Saving, Wealth, and Economic Opportunities
Investor Knowledge and Behaviors in Times of Crisis
Increasing Financial Knowledge for Better Rebuilding
Designing an Inclusive Recovery
Millennials: Buttressing a Generation at Risk

National Strategies for Financial Education: OECD/INFE Policy Handbook

Financial education has become an important complement to market conduct and prudential regulation and improving individual financial behaviours a long-term policy priority in many countries. The OECD and its International Network on Financial Education (INFE) conducts research and develops tools to support policy makers and public authorities to design and implement national strategies for financial education.

This handbook provides an overview of the status of national strategies worldwide, an analysis of relevant practices and case studies and identifies key lessons learnt. The policy handbook also includes a checklist for action, intended as a self-assessment tool for governments and public authorities.

G20/OECD INFE Core Competencies Framework on financial literacy for Adults (aged 18+)

This document describes the types of knowledge that adults aged 18 or over could benefit from, what they should be capable of doing and the behaviours that may help them to achieve financial well-being, as well as the attitudes and confidence that will support this process. It can be used to inform the development of a national strategy on financial education, improve programme design, identify gaps in provision, and create assessment, measurement and evaluation tools.

How to really build financial capability

Recent years have seen an explosion in interventions designed to improve financial outcomes of participants. Yet on-the-ground evidence suggests that not all financial education programs are equally successful at achieving this aim.

This paper examines the difference between interventions that work, and those than do not. It attempts to answer the question: “How do you actually build financial capability?” In doing so, we aim to help interested parties enhance the effectiveness of their programs and policies by providing them with evidence-based recommendations to drive positive outcomes in participants.

Wealth and Health Equity: Investing in Structural Change

Building on the Asset Funders Network’s the Health and Wealth Connection: Investment Opportunities Across the Life Course brief, this paper details:

What we know about the health-wealth connection for adults.
Why investment in integration is important.
How philanthropy can contribute to improving health-wealth outcomes for adults.

On September 29th, AFN hosted a webinar to release the paper with featured speakers:

Dr. Annie Harper, Ph.D., Program for Recovery and Community Health, Yale School of Medicine
Joelle-Jude Fontaine, Sr. Program Officer, Human Services, The Kresge Foundation
Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chief of Race, Wealth, and Community, National Community Reinvestment Coalition

The Impact of Matched Savings Programs: Building Assets & Lasting Habits

Matched Savings programs, or Individual Development Accounts, are a financial empowerment strategy that aim to build financial stability and reduce poverty. These programs build sustainable livelihoods by working with participants to earn savings while learning about money management, build regular savings habits, self-confidence, and hope for the future. Matching
funds act as a power boost to the participants’ own savings, allowing them to purchase productive assets to move their lives forward.

This brief presents key findings from Momentum's Matched Saving programs and the impact on program graduates' saving habits, establishment of emergency savings, and contribution to registered savings.

How to deliver virtual financial education workshops

Resources

Handouts, slides, and time-stamps

Read the presentation slides for this webinar.

Handouts for this webinar:
Online financial tools and calculators (Prosper Canada)
Virtual tools for participant engagement (Prosper Canada)
Online delivery check-list (Momentum)
Jeopardy game template (SEED)

Time-stamps for the video recording:
3:26 – Agenda and introductions
5:10 – Audience polls
8:19 – Virtual delivery considerations (Speaker: Glenna Harris, Prosper Canada)

12:39 – Virtual workshops best practices (Speaker: Fatima Esmail, Momentum)
33:12 – Online money management training (Speaker: Millie Acuna, SEED)
49:07 – Q&A

Measuring financial health: What policymakers need to know

This report provides an overview of financial health and the policy responses around the world. Based on this, and the key questions of whether financial health measure more than income and if financial inclusion supports financial health, the report offers recommendations to policy makers on strategies for measuring the financial health of their population.

Credit Characteristics, Credit Engagement Tools, and Financial Well-Being

This report presents results from a joint research study between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Credit Karma. The purpose of the study is to examine how consumers’ subjective financial well-being relates to objective measures of consumers’ financial health, specifically, consumers’ credit report characteristics. The study also seeks to relate consumers’ subjective financial well-being to consumers’ engagement with financial information through educational tools.

Understanding the Pathways to Financial Well-Being

The National Financial Well-Being Survey Report is the second report in a series from the Understanding the Pathways to Financial Well-Being project.

In order to measure and study the factors that support consumer financial well-being, in 2015, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the Bureau) contracted with Abt Associates to field a large, national survey to collect information on the financial well-being of U.S. adults. The present report uses data collected from that survey to answer a series of questions on the relationship among financial well-being and four key factors: objective financial situation, financial behavior, financial skill, and financial knowledge. In this study, we aim to enhance understanding of financial well-being and the factors that may support it by exploring these relationships.

Identity theft

Identity thieves try to use your personal information to take money from your bank account, shop with your credit card, or even commit crimes in your name. This publication explains how to spot the warning signs of identity theft, how to protect yourself, and what you can do if it happens to you.

New Risks and Emerging Technologies: 2019 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report

The Better Business Bureau Institute for Marketplace Trust (BBB Institute) is the 501(c)(3) educational foundation of the Better Business Bureau (BBB). BBB Institute works with local BBBs across North America.

This report uses data submitted by consumers to BBB Scam Tracker to shed light on how scams are being perpetrated, who is being targeted, which scams have the greatest impact, and much more. The BBB Risk Index helps consumers better understand which scams pose the highest risk by looking at three factors—exposure, susceptibility, and monetary loss. The 2019 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report is a critical part of BBB’s ongoing work to contribute new, useful data and analysis to further the efforts of all who are engaged in combating marketplace fraud.

Update February 24, 2022: BBB Scam Tracker- Risk Report 2020

Infographic: An overview of Canadian financial programs for people with disabilities

One in five Canadians are currently living with a disability. This infographic provides an overview of financial programs for people with disabilities in Canada based on findings in Morris et al. (2018) "A demographic, employment and income profile of Canadians with disabilities aged 15 years and over, 2017".

disability financial programs infographic

Building financial capability through financial coaching: A guide for community colleges

This guide was created to be a resource for community college educators, staff, and administrators interested in implementing financial coaching as a way to empower students to build money management skills and make healthy financial decisions. Strategies for integrating financial coaching into a variety of services that can be offered to students in a community college setting are offered. A step-by-step toolkit for implementing financial coaching services, along with recommendations, best practices, and resources is also provided.

Supporting Financial Health Fintechs in Canada: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities

COVID-19: Managing financial health in challenging times

This guide from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada shares guidelines and financial tips to help Canadians during COVID-19. The topics include: getting through a financial emergency, where to ask questions or voice concerns, what to do if your branch closes, and more.

Budgeting and Saving Toolkit

English

Getting started

My values and money
Set a SMART financial goal

Budgeting

The five Ws and H of budgeting
How to make a budget step by step
Income tracking sheet – PDF
Income tracking sheet – fillable PDF
Expenses tracking sheet – PDF
Expenses tracking sheet – fillable PDF
Simple budget template- PDF
Simple budget template – fillable PDF
Five different budgeting methods
Cashflow budget template – PDF
Cashflow budget template – fillable PDF
Ten ways to trim expenses

Saving

Let compound interest work for you
Ten savings tips

Resources

Budgeting and saving resources (as a printable handout)

Online budgeting tools and calculators:
Budget calculator – Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)
Financial tools and calculators – Government of Canada
Get smarter about money: calculators & tools – Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)
My expenses calculator – Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)
Tools to help when you can’t pay your bills – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Compound interest – Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO)

Information on budgeting and saving:
An essential guide to building an emergency fund – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
COVID-19: managing financial health during challenging times – Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)
Get smarter about money: budgeting – Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)
Glossary of budgeting and saving terms – Prosper Canada
Managing your money – Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)
My money in Canada – Prosper Canada
Setting up an emergency fund – Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)
Preparing for financial emergencies – Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)
Planning for retirement – Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)
How to prepare for a financial emergency – Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)

Resources to help clients with money management:
Connecting families – Government of Canada
Managing your money booklet – Prosper Canada
Start small, save up – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Resources to help clients with budgeting at the grocery store:

Food sense, healthy cooking on a budget – Family Services of Greater Vancouver (FSGV)
Beating the grocery store blues – Family Services of Greater Vancouver (FSGV)

French

OECD/INFE Report on Financial Education in APEC Economies: Policy and practice in a digital world

This report responds to a call made by APEC Finance Ministers at their 23rd Ministerial Meeting in Lima in 2016 to advance “the design and implementation of financial literacy policies building on the expertise and standards developed by the OECD International Network on Financial Education”.

The findings illustrate that the majority of APEC economies are well-advanced in their efforts to collect relevant data, implement appropriate financial education policies, and address the remaining issues related to financial literacy, inclusion and consumer
protection. They are applying international best practices and making good use of available tools and resources to develop and refine strategic approaches and specific initiatives. However, there is still some way to go in ensuring that everyone living in an APEC
economy has the financial literacy that they need and concerns about financial fraud or abuse, the high complexity of financial services and the low financial literacy of specific population groups are driving policy interest in improving financial education.

Smarter Financial Education: Key lessons from behavioural insights for financial literacy initiatives

This publication presents key findings for financial education, drawn from the IOSCO/OECD joint report “The Application of Behavioural Insights to Financial Literacy and Investor Education Programmes and Initiatives”. It gives a short overview of the ways in which behavioural insights are relevant for financial education and then summarises five key lessons that policy makers can follow, illustrated with the experiences of OECD/INFE members.

Using Research to Improve the Financial Well-being of Canadians: Post-symposium Report

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) co-hosted the 2018 National Research Symposium on Financial Literacy on November 26 and 27, 2018 at the University of Toronto, in partnership with Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR).

This report presents the key ideas and takeaways from the event, while shining a light on the research shaping new solutions designed to enhance financial well-being in Canada and around the world.

Retirement Literacy Website

The ACPM Retirement Literacy Program complements the financial literacy education efforts by the federal and provincial governments, and other organizations.

The website contains a series of quizzes to help improve your knowledge of pensions and retirement savings plans as well as links to financial literacy resources.

Blended programs: Boosting financial education and participant outcomes

Resources

Handouts, slides, and time-stamps

Read the presentation slides for this webinar.

Handouts for this webinar:
How Savings Circles Works
Information about the Strive program

Time-stamps for the video recording:
3:35 – Agenda and introductions
6:00 – Audience polls
10:58 – Financial empowerment interventions (Speaker: Glenna Harris)
14:00 – Savings Circles program at Momentum (Speaker: Anna Jordan)
33:18 – Strive program (Speaker: Monica daPonte)
55:50 – Q&A

Investor Protection Clinic and Living Lab: 2019 Annual Report

The Investor Protection Clinic, the first clinic of its kind in Canada, provides free legal advice to people who believe their investments were mishandled and who cannot afford a lawyer. The Clinic was founded together with the Canadian Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights (FAIR Canada), an organization that aims to enhance the rights of Canadian shareholders and individual investors.

The 2019 Annual Report summarizes the work of The Clinic, including description of the work and types of cases, example case scenarios of the clients who benefited from The Clinic's services, client data and demographics, and recommendations.

Budget Planner

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)'s online tool helps you create a customized budget.

The shared path: First Nations financial wellness

English

Download in English

The shared path: First Nations financial wellness

French

Download in French

Un parcours commun : Le bien-être financier des Premières Nations

Canadians and their money: Key findings from the 2019 Canadian Financial Capability Survey

This report provides results from the 2019 Canadian Financial Capability Survey (CFCS). It offers a first look at what Canadians are doing to take charge of their finances by budgeting, planning and saving for the future, and paying down debt. While the findings show that many Canadians are acting to improve their financial literacy and financial well-being, there are also emerging signs of financial stress for some Canadians. For example, about one third of Canadians feel they have too much debt, and a growing number are having trouble making bill, rent/mortgage and other payments on time.

Over the past 5 years, about 4 in 10 Canadians found ways to increase their financial knowledge, skills and confidence. They used a wide range of methods, such as reading books or other printed material on financial issues, using online resources, and pursuing financial education through work, school or community programs. Findings from the survey support evidence that financial literacy, resources and tools are helping Canadians manage their money. For example, those who have a budget have greater financial well-being based on a number of indicators, such as managing cashflow, making bill payments and paying down debt. Further, those with a
financial plan to save are more likely to feel better prepared and more confident about their retirement.

Money Circle toolkit

Financial decisions are influenced by our own personal feelings and attitudes around money, and by the feelings, attitudes, and actions by our family and friends. This CFPB toolkit offers financial education practitioners three tools (Money Choices, Money Styles, and Money Network), each with a brief, interactive exercise, to initiate conversations about the feelings and personal relationships that shape financial choices.

Money and Youth

The Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE) works collaboratively with funding partners, departments of education, school boards, schools, educators, and teacher associations to develop and provide free, non-commercial programs and resources for teachers and students – developed and reviewed by educators. The online version of their curriculum Money and Youth is organized into separate modules so that users can select individual topics that align with interests. An introduction to the topic, a teachers guide containing lesson plans, and parent resources are included within each module.

Managing spending: Ideas for financial educators

As financial educators know, making day-to-day decisions on spending money is one of the biggest challenges consumers face in keeping their financial lives in order. Many people find it difficult to manage their household finances on a daily basis, let alone over the long term.

This brief from the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection identifies a few ideas to explore causes of over-spending and ideas to help prevent it.

Effective financial education: Five principles and how to use them

Because of the key role that financial education can play in people’s lives, the CFPB has conducted research over its first five years into what makes financial education effective for consumers. What do we mean by “effective?” It does not just mean training that helps people perform better on a test of financial facts. It means equipping consumers to understand the financial marketplace and make sound financial choices in pursuit of their life goals.

Does State-Mandated Financial Education Affect High-Cost Borrowing?

Using pooled data from the 2012 and 2015 waves of the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), this research finds that young adults who were required to take personal finance courses in high school were significantly less likely to borrow payday loans than their peers who were not. These effects do not significantly differ by race/ethnicity or gender, suggesting that financial education may be useful regardless of demographics.

Tax Filing Toolkit

English

2024 Tax Resources: Canada Revenue Agency

Steps to get ready for 2024 taxes

Free tax clinics

Tax credits and benefits for individuals

Claiming deductions, credits and expenses

Taxology podcasts

Taxes and benefits for Indigenous peoples

UFile Overview

CVITP learning guide

2023 Tax Resources: Canada Revenue Agency

2022 Tax Resources: Canada Revenue Agency

Canada Dental Benefit
One-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit
Get your taxes done for free at a tax clinic
Canada workers benefit
Make sure you maximize the benefits you are entitled to if you are First Nations, Inuit, or Métis

2021 Tax Resources - Canada Revenue Agency

Last-minute tax tips (Canada Revenue Agency) – April 13, 2021
New Canada Recovery Benefits – What to Expect
Answers to your questions on paying back the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)

Benefits and credits fact sheet – Indigenous people living in Canada
Benefits and credits fact sheet – Modest income
Benefits and credits fact sheet – Newcomers
Benefits and credits fact sheet – Newcomers in Quebec
Benefits, credits, and deductions for Seniors
COVID-19 Measures for Persons with Disabilities
Benefits and credits – Persons with Disabilities

Canada Workers Benefit – Infographic
Canada Workers Benefit – promotion card
Get your taxes done for free – promotion card

Income tax basics

Why file? The benefits of tax filing (Tax toolkit)
Getting government payments by direct deposit
Income tax 101: What are tax deductions, benefits, credits, exemptions, and brackets? (Tax toolkit)
Considerations for Indigenous people at tax time (Tax toolkit)
Resources about tax filing in Canada (Tax toolkit)

Common tax deductions
Common sources of income and their tax slips
Notice of Assessment – how to read it

Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), OSC

Community tax clinic guides

About volunteer tax clinics: Help your community members file their taxes (Tax toolkit)
Getting started as a community tax clinic (Tax toolkit)
Tax clinic staff and volunteer roles (Tax toolkit)
Tax clinic preparation: Recommended timeline (Tax toolkit)
Insights on planning free tax clinics in Indigenous communities: Infographic (Tax toolkit)
Encouraging tax filing at virtual clinics (sample “active choice” email) – The Behavioural Insights Team *NEW*

Tax clinic resources for practitioners

The tax clinic resources below are from our community partner organizations. These are examples that may be adapted to your own community tax clinic needs. Whenever possible, we have credited the original author of each document and included contact information if you would like to find out more about using and adapting the resource.

Resources to support tax clinic delivery and tax filing
Simplified Intake Form 2019 (ACSA, Scarborough, ON)
Tax Clinic Host Checklist (The Working Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON)
Income tax checklist for participants (The Working Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON)
Intake form for Couples (E4C, Edmonton, AB)
Tax Prep Quick Reference Guide (E4C, Edmonton, AB)

Other resources to support participants at tax time
Income tax summary (The Working Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON)
Form for Missing Income Info for Revenue Canada (The Working Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON)
Forms for rental information (The Working Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON)
Referral to FEPS (The Working Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON)
Envelope checklist (E4C, Edmonton, AB)
Seniors Info Sheet – Federal and provincial benefits (E4C, Edmonton, AB)

Resources for outreach and promotion
Tax clinic flyer (ACSA, Scarborough, ON)
2019 tax clinic flyer (Jane Finch Centre, Toronto, ON)
2019 tax clinic flyer (North York Community House, Toronto, ON)

Resources to support tracking and evaluation
Tax data entry sheet – Tax toolkit (Sunrise Community Centre, Calgary, AB)
Anonymous tax tracking sheet (Aspire collective, Calgary, AB)

Additional information and resources on tax filing

Benefits, credits and financial support: CRA and COVID-19 – Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Covid-19: Free virtual tax clinics – Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Get ready to do your taxes – Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Taking care of your tax and benefit affairs can pay off (tax filing info sheet) – Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) *NEW
Slam the scam – Protect yourself against fraud – Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Virtual Tax Filing: Piloting a new way to file taxes for homebound seniors – Prosper Canada
Webinar Series on Taxes (May 2020) – Momentum
SimpleFile by Phone automated phone service (formerly called File my Return) – Prosper Canada Learning Hub
Tax season prep – Plan Institute
Demystifying the Disability Tax Credit – Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
What to do if your tax return is reviewed or audited – OSC

French

Ressources de déclaration de revenus 2024 - Agence du revenu du Canada

Préparez-vous à faire vos impôts

Comptoirs d’impôts gratuits

Crédits d’impôt et prestations pour les particuliers

Demander des déductions, des crédits et des dépenses – Impôt sur le revenu des particuliers

Balados

Impôts et prestations : peuples autochtones

Aperçu d’ImpôtExpert

Guide d’apprentissage du PCBMI

Ressources de déclaration de revenus 2023 - Agence du revenu du Canada

L’Agence du revenu du Canada lance la saison des impôts 2023

Ressources

Ressources de déclaration de revenus 2022 - Agence du revenu du Canada

Fiche descriptive : Étudiants
Fiche descriptive : Les personnes handicapées
Fiche descriptive : Les personnes à revenu modeste
Fiche descriptive : Les personnes en situation de logement précaire
Fiche descriptive : Les personnes âgées de 65 ans et plus
Fiche descriptive : Femmes dans les refuges
Fiche descriptive : Les personnes autochtones
Fiche descriptive : Les nouveaux arrivants

Prestation dentaire canadienne
Supplément unique à l’Allocation canadienne pour le logement
Faites faire vos impôts à un comptoir d’impôts gratuit
Allocation canadienne pour les travailleurs
Assurez-vous de maximiser les prestations auxquelles vous avez droit si vous êtes Autochtone, Inuit ou Métis

Ressources de déclaration de revenus 2021 - Agence du revenu du Canada

Nouvelles prestations canadiennes de la relance économique – À quoi s’attendre
Réponses à vos questions sur le remboursement de la Prestation canadienne d’urgence (PCU)

Recevez vos versements de prestations et de crédits! – Les les autochtones qui habitent au Canada
Prestations et crédits – Revenu modeste
Nouveaux arrivants, vous pourriez recevoir des prestations et des crédits!
Nouveaux arrivants, vous pourriez recevoir des prestations et des crédits! (Quebec)
Il y a des avantages à faire ses impôts! – Personnes agées
Mesures relatives à la COVID-19 à l’intention des personnes handicapées
Des prestations et des crédits pour vous! – Les personnes handicapées

Chaque dollar compte! – L’allocation canadienne pour les travailleurs (ACT)
Chaque dollar compte! Carte promotionnelle pour l’allocation canadienne pour les travailleurs (ACT)
Faites faire vos impôts gratuitement – Carte promotionnelle

Fondements de l’impôt sur le revenu

Pouruoi declarer? Les avantages de produire une declaration de revenus
Recevoir des paiements du gouvernement par dépôt direct
Que sont les déductions, les avantages fiscaux et les crédits d’impôt?
Considérations sur la période d’impôt pour lesautochtones qui habitent au Canada
Ressources pour en savoir plus

Avis de cotisation

REER

Que faire en case de vérification ou d’examen fiscaux

Comptoirs d’impôt bénévoles : Aidez les membres de votre communauté

Pourquoi ouvrir un comptoir d’impôt communautaire?
Comment s’établir comme organisme du PCBMI?
Rôles importants des bénévoles
Préparatifs pour le comptoir d’impôt: Calendrier recommandé

Ressources

S’occuper de ses impôts et de ses prestations peut être payant – Agence du revenu du Canada

Service automatisé Déclarer simplement par téléphone (anciennement Produire ma déclaration)– Agence du revenu du Canada

Démystifier le crédit d’impôt pour personnes handicapées – Agence du revenu du Canada

Tout Bien Calcule

Pour souligner leurs 50 ans d’histoire, les Associations de consommateurs du Québec s’unissent pour offrir à la population québécoise un portail qui rassemble toute une gamme d’informations et d’outils développés au fil des années grâce à leur expertise en finances personnelles.

Cette porte d’entrée donne accès à des services spécialisés en finances personnelles offerts par les associations, propose des outils adaptés, et à travers les différentes sections, offre une information claire, objective et critique afin de vous guider vers de meilleurs choix de consommation et une meilleure santé financière.

Saving on a low income: Programs and strategies

Resources

Handouts, slides, and time-stamps

Presentation slides for this webinar

Handouts for this webinar:
Brief: Matched Savings programs – webinar handout (Momentum)
Matched Savings programs chart – webinar handout (Momentum)
Budget Tracker – webinar handout (Credit Counselling Sudbury)
Monthly Budget – webinar handout (Credit Counselling Sudbury)

Time-stamps for the video-recording:
3:26 – Agenda and introduction
6:17 – Audience polls
9:41 – Reasons to save (Speaker: Glenna Harris)
12:08 – Effectiveness of Matched Savings (Speaker: Dean Estrella from Momentum)
32:10 – Savings strategies for clients on low incomes (Speaker: John Cockburn from Credit Counselling Sudbury)
47:50 – Q&A

Better Borrowing: How State-Mandated Financial Education Drives College Financing Behaviour

As student loan reform continues to dominate national discourse, a NEFE-funded study shows that financial education in states with state-mandated personal finance graduation requirements causes students to make better decisions about how to pay for college. It increases applications for aid, federal aid taken, and grants — all while decreasing credit card balances. Put simply, financial education makes better borrowers.

This study examines positive effects of state-mandated financial education graduation requirements. As of 2017, 25 states have implemented mandates for personal finance education prior to graduation.

Financial Literacy of Indigenous Secondary Students in the Atlantic Provinces

Research conducted by agencies such as AFOA, Native Women’s Association of Canada, and various other Canadian entities, has identified the need for improved financial literacy education in Indigenous communities, particularly among youth and Elders. Such research reports are often equipped with a list of recommendations for improving and addressing the gaps in education around financial literacy.

In the spirit of building upon this research into financial literacy and Indigenous peoples, the Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business Studies (PCC) proposed a project focused on Atlantic Canada’s 14-18 year old Indigenous population and their levels of financial literacy.

The results reveal that the majority of respondents would like to learn more about money. As well, they affirm that face-to-face learning from family members and in classroom settings remain the preferred way to learn about financial issues. Finally, based on the literature review, the environmental scan, survey data, and feedback from the community consultation process, a web application titled Seven Generations Financial Literacy was developed and is located at www.sevengenerationsfinancial.com.

Core competencies frameworks on financial literacy

Developed in response to a call from G20 Leaders in 2013, the core competencies frameworks on financial literacy highlight a range of financial literacy outcomes that may be considered to be universally relevant or important for the financial well-being in everyday life of adults and youth.

These documents describe the types of knowledge that youth aged 15 to 18, and adults aged 18 and up, could benefit from.

Perspectives on Evaluation in Financial Education: Landscape, Issues, and Studies

Financial education plays an important role in guiding individuals to achieve their financial goals and contribute to the economic well-being of society as a whole. While the examination on the effectiveness of financial education has many factors to consider, the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) has taken measures to improve evaluation studies—both for the practitioner and the researcher. These actions include the conception of two documents what will assist in guiding practitioners and researchers in planning high-quality evaluations. The first is the Financial Education Evaluation Manual that is designed to support the evaluation of financial education programs by helping educators to understand the purpose and goals of evaluation, and to provide a basic understanding of the evaluation process. This information is designed for program managers, educators, and decision-makers, in traditional school settings or community-based programs/non-profit organizations, who are implementing financial education programs

Financial Capability of Children, Young People and their Parents in the UK 2016

This new research study: the 2016 UK Children and Young People’s Financial Capability Survey, is the first of its kind: a nationally representative survey of the financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of 4- to 17-year-olds and their parents, living in the UK. A total of 4,958 children and young people aged 4–17, and their parents, were interviewed as part of this research. This report presents an initial analysis of the findings of this new survey and covers: ■ how children get money ■ how children spend and save money ■ children’s attitudes to spending, saving and debt ■ children’s confidence about managing their money ■ children’s understanding of the value of money and the need to make trade-offs ■ children’s knowledge and education about financial products, concepts, and terminology ■ parents’ beliefs and attitudes towards their own financial capability and the skills, abilities and attitudes of their children.

Financial well-being in America

There is wide variation in how people in the U.S. feel about their financial well-being. This report presents findings from a survey by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on the distribution of financial well-being scores for the U.S. adult population overall and for selected subgroups defined by these additional measures. These descriptive findings provide insight into which subgroups are faring relatively well and which ones are facing greater financial challenges.

Municipal Financial Empowerment: A Supervitamin for Public Programs. Strategy #4: Targeting Consumer Financial Protection Powers.

Summer Jobs Connect. More than a Job: Lessons from the First Year of Enhancing Municipal Summer Youth Employment Programs through Financial Empowerment