Discover financial empowerment resources
Discover financial empowerment resources
Have you ever made an impulsive purchase? Do you struggle to stick to a diet or exercise routine? What’s the longest you have gone in keeping your New Year’s resolutions? The field of behavioural insights tells us that we have an innate desire to live for today at the expense of tomorrow....
As people in Canada navigate the impacts of a challenging economic environment that includes inflation, the rising cost of living, record debt levels, and high levels of income volatility, we’re seeing a greater connection between financial and emotional wellbeing. With these external factors...
The Expanding Economic Opportunity Through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (EEOVITA) cohort has been working to identify and engage targeted, underserved populations most at risk for missing out on the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) benefit. This project, which began in January 2022 and concludes...
There are rules about how much money a person living on Ontario Works can receive in gifts or “voluntary payments”. Generally, a person living on Ontario Works can receive gifts up to a maximum of $10,000 in a 12-month period. There are rules around reporting gifts, and decisions on how to...
Fresh perspectives and new approaches are needed to generate results and effectively address the complexity and interconnectedness of the social and environmental issues confronting communities. It is imperative that we build our collective capacity in the practice of community innovation. It is...
This Financial Resilience Institute report, authored by Eloise Duncan and commissioned by FP Canada and the Institut québécois de planification financière (IQPF) is being published for everyone with a stake in the financial resilience and well-being of Canadians. This study, leveraging the...
A recent Prosper Canada report shows that Canadians with low incomes are increasingly financially vulnerable but lack access to the financial help they need to rebuild their financial health. People with low incomes are unlikely to find help when they need it to plan financially, develop and adhere...
Building the Case provides evidence for the federal government to urgently step up to support single, working-age adults in Canada. This group experiences Canada’s highest and deepest rates of poverty and some of the country’s highest rates of food insecurity. By analyzing publicly...
There are many effective, award-winning financial literacy programs in Canada. However, many of these programs do not meet the needs of women living on low incomes. Families Canada’s national research study identified 14 social, economic, and institutional barriers that prevent women living on...
This presentation at the Canadian Economics Association by Professor Annamaria Lusardi, looks at how we measure financial literacy, how we measure the impact of financial literacy on behaviour, how this data and these findings may be used to design policy and programs and what the implications for...
To learn more about Canada's food and seed security, read the SeedChange Impact report 2022. This report shows how and where donations were distributed in 2022, the impact of their work and the global projects they are involved...
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...
Centering equity is key to the purpose and mission of any collective impact work, no matter the issue area or focus. It is very difficult to move population or systems change without redressing disparities that exist in almost every community. Part of the challenge is there is not one path to...
This study uses the 2022 Portrait of Canadian Society Survey to examine the impact of rising inflation on the lowest income Canadians. Using multiple pre-pandemic data sources, the study takes a closer look at people living in the bottom family income quintile, examining their family income, debt...
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.8% on an annual average basis in 2022, following gains of 3.4% in 2021 and of 0.7% in 2020. The increase in 2022 was a 40-year high, the largest increase since 1982 (+10.9%). Excluding energy, the annual average CPI rose 5.7% in 2022 compared...
Canada’s National Advisory Council on Poverty’s second Annual Report, Understanding Systems, is the first report to provide a glimpse into poverty since COVID-19. Based on community engagements with Canadians and provinces/territories over the last year, the Council has recommended five...
Canada’s tax system has a punitive impact on lower income families with children hoping to earn more money, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Softening the Bite: The Impact of Benefit Clawbacks on Low-Income Families and How to Reduce It,” authors Alex Laurin and...
The ballooning cost of living has had a disproportionate impact on low-income households, 77.6% of whom are financially vulnerable or extremely financially vulnerable. Prosper Canada's recently commissioned study from the Financial Resilience Institute, shows the unarguable deteriorating state of...
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s (FCAC) COVID-19 Financial Well-being Survey, which began in August 2020, is a nationally representative hybrid online-phone survey fielded monthly, with approximately 1,000 respondents per month. The survey collects information on Canadians’ day-to-day...
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...
Crypto products are in news stories and in a lot of advertising. But what do Canadians really know about crypto investments and how they work and how they are regulated? The OSC’s Crypto Asset Survey provides useful insights about the crypto ownership and knowledge of Canadians. Key...
Charitable food programs have been the primary response to household food insecurity in Canada since the 1980s. Yet, for as long as there has been systematic monitoring, there has been no meaningful decline in the prevalence of household food insecurity. Based on the most recent data from...
If a recession seems likely, consider how your investing and savings plans may be affected. Increases in the cost of living and borrowing, combined with the overall financial uncertainty over the impact of a potential recession, can be enough to cause personal and financial stress. There is no...
This study by the Ontario Securities Commission examines Canadians’ crypto ownership and knowledge. It found 13% of Canadians currently own crypto assets or crypto funds. The study also found most Canadians did not have a working knowledge of the practical, legal and regulatory dimensions of...
Gig workers account for approximately 25 to 35% of the national workforce. When considering workers earning low to moderate incomes (LMI), these percentages are likely higher. Gig work provides reported advantages including flexibility, supplemental income, and independence. However, it also brings...