This infographic illustrates the importance of having an emergency fund and how to build...

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

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...

Financial well-being is the extent to which you can comfortably meet all of your current financial commitments and needs while also having the financial resilience to continue doing so in the future. But it is not only about income. It is also about having control over your finances, being able to...

This calculator from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada determines your mortgage payment and provides you with a mortgage payment...

Compare features for different chequing and savings accounts, including interest rates, monthly fees and transactions. Find an account that best suits your needs. Narrow your search, view search results, and compare your results using this account comparison tool from the Financial Consumer Agency...

This tool from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada will help you compare different payment options to pay off your credit card balance. statement. If you can't, you can still reduce the amount of interest you will have to pay. The credit card payment calculator compares 3 different payment...

This is a document from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explaining tips on how to manage your refund at tax time to make the most of...

Payday loans are an expensive way for consumers to borrow money. The use of these short-term, high-cost loans has more than doubled in Canada recently to four percent of Canadian households. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has been tasked with raising public awareness about the costs...

This is a guide to opening an RESP for education savings in Canada. You can open an RESP at almost any financial institution—including a bank, trust company or credit union—or an investment or scholarship plan dealer. You can open an RESP as soon as the child is born. The money in the plan...

This is a guide from the FCAC on shopping around for a mortgage. A mortgage is a loan that is designed to help you purchase a home or other property. Home buyers make a down payment on the purchase price and then borrow the remainder from a lender. Five percent is the minimum down payment home...

This guide explains what a line of credit is and how to choose a line of credit to suit your borrowing needs. A line of credit is a type of loan that lets you borrow money up to a preset...

This is a guide from the FCAC on TFSA savings accounts. A Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) is a kind of savings account registered with the federal government. The key benefit is that you do not have to pay taxes on earnings within the account (including interest, dividends or capital gains) or on...

Just as different credit cards have different interest rates, rewards and benefits, the fees charged on credit cards can vary from one credit card to another. You can avoid many of those fees by making smart choices. Understanding how fees work will help you to shop around for a credit card that...

This is a detailed guide from the FCAC on how to read your credit report and understand your credit score. Building a good credit history is important for your financial health. Along with millions of other Canadians, you have a credit history that is kept on file by companies called credit...

This is a guide from the FCAC on variable interest rate mortgages in Canada. A variable interest rate mortgage is a mortgage loan with an interest rate that can change during the term. The interest rate varies with changes in market interest rates (typically the bank’s prime lending rate). The...

This worksheet is designed to help you identify the costs involved in buying and maintaining a home. It will also help you determine how your expenses might change once you move in. Some costs involved in buying a home, such as closing costs, happen once only, while others like mortgage payments...

When you bought your home, you probably signed a mortgage agreement that remains in effect for a certain period, called the term . When your mortgage term comes to an end, you will have to pay off your mortgage, renew it for another term or switch your mortgage to another lender. Your options are...

For most post-secondary students, money is tight. But remember that every dollar you save while you’re in school is one less dollar that you’ll owe in student debt when you graduate. Consider whether the tips below will work for...

All banks, and trust, loan and insurance companies and retail associations that are federally regulated (or that are incorporated at the federal level) must have a complaint-handling process in place for individuals and small businesses. This process details how a customer may make a complaint, and...

You have the right to see your own credit report. And there are ways you can order it for free. It is a record of your past and present use of credit cards and loans. Mobile phone and Internet accounts may also be included, even though they are not credit accounts. It includes details about your...

This short guide explains what rights customers have when a financial institution closes a branch. When a financial institution is planning to close a branch, it must provide proper notice to its customers in order to minimize any inconvenience. To give consumers and communities time to find other...

Mobile payments (m-payments) are an important aspect of mobile banking, which is a form of retail financial services that is growing rapidly around the world. Canadian consumers are increasingly migrating away from branch-based banking towards online and mobile banking. Research suggests that the...

Credit cards can be useful and convenient. But if you aren’t careful about how you use them, you can put yourself on a path to serious financial trouble. You could build up debt that might take you years to pay off or damage your credit...