To help students understand the importance of being better prepared for everything from buying a car and household budgeting, to getting a credit card or saving for the future, April 17, 2019, has been proclaimed Financial Literacy Day.

“We know that regardless of income, money is a leading cause of stress and finances have a huge impact on so many of our daily decisions,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. “It’s always a good idea for us to have conversations about the role finances have in our lives, because financial literacy is life literacy.”

The new British Columbia curriculum and graduation program incorporates financial literacy in mathematics and career education, as well as applied design and technology. Fleming noted that the new curriculum is doing a very good job in preparing B.C. students to be more financially literate, and students are performing well in assessments.

Students in B.C. performed better than the Canadian average when the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tested B.C. students. Of the 15 countries and economies participating in the assessment, only one jurisdiction in China outperformed Canada.

The PISA results showed B.C. students are doing well for three reasons:

1. They are taught practical financial skills in the classroom.
2. They are talking about money at home. Kids who talked about money once or twice a week scored the best.
3. Kids are learning by doing, by earning money or receiving money as a gift.

In addition to B.C.’s innovative new curriculum, other resources and tools are available for families to have conversations with their kids about money.

The non-profit group Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE) has free, "Talk With Our Kids About Money" lesson plans, ideas and resources for both classrooms and parents: http://www.cfee.org/resources/

"CFEE is proud to be partnering with Scotiabank, and parents and educators throughout Canada, on our Talk With Our Kids About Money program that aims to help prepare our youth for their financial futures,” said Gary Rabbior, president, CFEE. “We also want to commend the Government of British Columbia for helping to lead the way by declaring April 17 Financial Literacy Day in B.C. This initiative is consistent with the Province's leadership in financial education in the past, and CFEE looks forward to collaboration opportunities to help enable B.C. youth to build healthy and successful financial futures.”

Learn More:

The Government of Canada has free programs and resources to help students and adults increase their financial knowledge and skills:
https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/financial-literacy-programs.html