More Canadians are finding it difficult to meet food, shelter and other necessary expenses

In 2022, the Consumer Price Index rose 6.8%, the highest increase since 1982 (+10.9%). Prices for day-to-day goods and services such as transportation (+10.6%), food (+8.9%) and shelter (+6.9%) rose the most.

Canadians felt the impact of rising prices. Data from the Canadian Social Survey (CSS) show that the share of persons aged 15 and older living in a household experiencing difficulty meeting its necessary expenses trended upward from just under one-fifth (19%) in the summer of 2021 to just under one-quarter (24%) in the summer of 2022. By the end of 2022, more than one-third (35%) of the population lived in such a household.



Research to help FSRA improve the lives of vulnerable consumers

Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario commissioned a research study that focused on consumer attitudes, how consumers are engaging with financial services, and consumer characteristics such as vulnerability.

Insights from the research are allowing FSRA to better understand the realities of consumers’ changing financial lives and helping to identify key opportunities to respond to the needs of vulnerable consumers.

2022 Consumer Research Study highlights.

2022 Consumer Research Study full report

 

 



Financial Vulnerability of Low-Income Canadians: A Rising Tide

This report provides a call to action for more targeted support from policymakers, financial institutions and community non profit organizations for low-income households and Canadian households who are more financially vulnerable. This is particularly important given inequities, systemic barriers and challenges many of these households face, along with difficulties in accessing financial help.



Investing with confidence for financially vulnerable Canadians


When it comes to investing, there are many considerations to make before choosing if and what types of investments are best for your situation.

This webinar explores the topic of investor education and consumer protection for financially vulnerable Canadians. We'll start by discussing the basics of investments and ways to determine if investing is right for you. We'll then discuss some common investment frauds and how to protect yourself, then examine some real-life scenarios of fraudulent investment activity and the steps needed to take action if you are victimized.

The webinar speakers are:

  • Tasmin Waley (FAIR Canada)
  • Christine Allum (Ontario Securities Commission)
  • Brigette Catellier (Investor Protection Clinic at Osgoode Hall Law School)

This webinar will benefit frontline practitioners supporting those in financially vulnerable situations, who may be considering investing or have already invested. 

Click 'Get it' below to access the video link, and scroll down to access slides, handouts, and video timestamps for this webinar.




Read the presentation slides for this webinar.

Download resources provided by webinar speakers:

Time-stamps for the video recording:
3:24 – Agenda and Introductions
6:36 – Audience poll questions
9:33 – FAIR Canada presentation (speaker: Tasmin Waley)
24:07 – Ontario Securities Commission presentation (speaker: Christine Allum)
39:10 – Investor Protection Clinic at Osgoode Hall Law School (speaker: Brigitte Catellier)
51:34 – Q&A


Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing

The Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing (CISP) is a new national hub to link people and share practices that connect people to community-based supports and services that can help improve their health and wellbeing.



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. 



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

Financial empowerment (FE) is an approach to poverty reduction that focuses on improving the financial security of people living on low income. Evidence shows that embedding FE interventions into municipal welfare, employment, housing, shelter and health services can significantly boost service outcomes and support the life stabilization framework.

If you are a manager or frontline staff working in municipal services and starting your FE journey, this toolkit can help you to begin embedding FE supports into your existing programs.

Prosperity Gateways: Cities for financial empowerment is an initiative at Prosper Canada which aims to reduce poverty by building financial help into municipal services used by residents with low incomes.

This toolkit has been made possible by the Government of Ontario, JP Morgan Chase and the Maytree Foundation. Prosper Canada is grateful to our financial empowerment community partners and Ontario Works offices for their collaboration in this effort. We also recognize related pioneering work by US-based Prosperity Now and the CFE Fund.

Worksheet resources in this toolkit are available as fillable PDFs. Please open with Adobe Acrobat Reader for full functionality.