Skip to content

Teach financial literacy in school: federal panel

Canadian schools should start teaching children about managing money as early as elementary grades, says a federal task force on financial literacy.

OTTAWA — Canadian schools should start teaching children about managing money as early as elementary grades, says a federal task force on financial literacy.

In a report issued Wednesday, the blue ribbon panel concluded that many Canadians are ill prepared for a financial world that is becoming increasingly complex by the year.

And it says education, starting as early as elementary school, is the best way to sow the seeds of knowledge and skills Canadians need to save, invest, buy homes and plan for retirement later in life.

“There’s a lot of research that suggests that early adoption of this (education) is quite powerful,” said Donald Stewart, the task force chair who is also chief executive of Sun Life Financial.

“We would suggest no later than Grade 10, and if you can fit in pieces of it earlier, studies suggest it would be beneficial.”

Stewart said there is a wide disparity in Canada on the teaching of financial literacy, with British Columbia perhaps most advanced in making a course compulsory at the Grade 10 level. Some provinces, including Ontario and Alberta, plan to introduce the subject formally.

“It’s kind of even now, different provinces are at different stages,” he said. “There’s a growing realization of its importance and the fact that it needs to come into the formal education structure.”

The introduction of financial literacy in schools at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels is one of 30 recommendations made by the task force.

Others include the establishment of dedicated national leader on literacy, and that Ottawa create a one-stop website where Canadians can obtain information on everything from mortgages to retirement planning.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who created the task force in the 2009 budget, said the government planned to follow the recommendations of the report.

Flaherty said financial literacy is an important issue for the economy as a whole.

“We can have all the rules and regulations we want, but unless Canadians can go with the rules and regulations and understand the challenge we face, then it’s futile,” he said.

In recent months, Flaherty, along with Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, has been vocal in trying to dissuade Canadians from taking on too much debt because, they warn, interest rates will soon start rising.