Discover financial empowerment resources
Discover financial empowerment resources
The Education Policy Research Initiative (EPRI), a national research organization based at the University of Ottawa, has used administrative student data held by 14 post-secondary education (PSE) institutions in four different regions of the country linked to tax files at Statistics Canada in order...
The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) developed the Pandemic to Prosperity series. It builds on NCoC’s data infrastructure and advocacy network developed for its national Civic Health Index, with The New Orleans Index, which informed many public and private decisions and actions...

This is an infographic summarizing the employment earnings of post-secondary graduates from different educational programs, 1 year and 5 years after...
In 2019, a comprehensive review (The Countervailing Power: Review of the coordination and funding for financial counselling services across Australia) of financial counselling services in Australia was undertaken and recommendations to ensure the long-term viability of the financial counselling...

Canada ranks consistently as one of the best places to live in the world and one of the wealthiest. When it comes to looking at the financial health of Canadian households, however, we are often forced to rely on incomplete measures, like income alone, or aggregate national statistics that tell...

In 2019, the Australian Government committed to additional actions to improve the financial outcomes of Australians, including undertaking an immediate review of the coordination and funding of financial counselling services that disadvantaged Australians rely on. The review noted the benefits...

This article examines changes in the wealth of Canadian families (i.e. total family assets minus total family debt) over the period from 1999 to 2012, with a particular focus on changes across income quintiles. The paper also examines changes in the concentration of wealth across income quintiles,...
Financial stress is the root cause of many adverse health outcomes among poor and low-income children and their families, yet few clinical interventions have been developed to improve health by directly addressing patient and family finances. Medical-Financial Partnerships (MFPs) are novel...

More than $3.89 billion in federal income taxes have been returned to those with modest wages as a result of free tax preparation services offered by IRS-certified volunteers in 2014. A new breakdown of national IRS data shows that tax preparers at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites and...
Canada ranks consistently as one of the best places to live in the world and one of the wealthiest. When it comes to looking at the financial health of Canadian households, however, we are often forced to rely on incomplete measures, like income alone, or aggregate national statistics that tell us...

The aim of this scoping review of Canadian literature is to examine how the Canadian public understands these seven key social determinants of health that we identified in Making the Connections and to identify gaps in the public’s understanding of the SODH and the research on this subject. Based...
This article in the Economic Insights series from Statistics Canada examines the economic well-being of millennials by comparing their household balance sheets to those of previous generations of young Canadians. Measured at the same point in their life course, millennials were relatively better...

There is mounting evidence that the issues of financial, physical, and mental health are inexorably linked. Among funders, growing awareness of this intersection is sparking an exciting expansion of focused investments in both asset building and health promotion/disease prevention. This brief will...
The report’s primary aim was to analyze the existing microfinance industry in the United States from the point of view of its ability to scale up services to the underserved (the working poor) and its sustainability, i.e., its ability to operate such that MFIs cover all of their operating costs,...
In this report, we look at poverty as measured by income. But poverty is not only felt materially. It can create barriers to social inclusion, positive well-being, and a sustainable livelihood. Municipal, provincial, and federal governments have a key role to play in creating policies that ensure...
The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) measures knowledge and understanding that enable sound financial decision making and effective management of personal finances among U.S. adults. The P-Fin Index is an annual survey developed by the TIAA Institute and the Global...

The Trusted Contact Person initiative has been adopted across Canada. It is part of new regulatory measures to support advisors in their efforts to help investors, particularly older investors and vulnerable, protect themselves and their financial interests. Canadian seniors are increasingly...

Financial Empowerment is an integrated set of interventions proven to measurably improve financial outcomes for people living in poverty. This brief from Prosper Canada recommends nine financial empowerment strategies that can help reduce poverty by being integrated into poverty reduction...

Without a Home, conducted by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness in partnership with A Way Home Canada, surveyed 1,103 youth experiencing homelessness across Canada. Youth in 42 different communities and nine of the 10 Canadian provinces, as well as Nunavut Territory, completed the self-report...
This brief will provide a variety of insights and recommendations for creating more equitable opportunities and inclusive programs based on the first-hand experiences of organizations across the nation. Learning how organizations recognize the challenges that various communities or populations face...
This report was conducted by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) at the request of the Healthy Child Committee of Cabinet (HCCC) and Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living (MHSAL). It presents valuable current and cross-departmental information to inform the continued development,...
As city-regions across Canada continue to grow, the need for some municipal services, such as mass transit, is shifting from a local to a regional basis. This transformation is giving rise to regional servicing challenges, placing greater pressure on city-regions and their municipalities to provide...
Children need stability to thrive. But across the United States, more and more children are facing the most extreme form of instability and poverty—homelessness. In no place is this more evident than in New York City, where one out of every eight children attending public school in SY...
This report, “Determinants of Asset Building,” provides a policy-oriented conceptual framework that has the potential to explain saving and asset accumulation across the entire population and to account for the low levels of saving and asset accumulation in the low-income population. The report...
Using data from the 2014 Canadian Financial Capability Survey (CFCS), this study examines the gap in the financial knowledge of men and women and how the difference varies across socioeconomic characteristics such as age and education. It also provides additional insight into the financial...