November is Financial Literacy Month in Canada. As part of Canada’s National Strategy for Financial Literacy, the federal government is leading the charge to strengthen the financial well-being of all Canadians by helping them manage money and debt wisely, plan and save for the future, and prevent and protect against fraud and financial abuse.
As part of this month’s promotion and awareness campaign, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has collaborated with BestLifeRewarded Innovations and the Economic Club of Canada to launch the MoneyFit Challenge, a free, educational endeavor to help Canadians learn more about money matters and take important small steps to improve their own personal financial well-being.
The challenge is offered free of charge and is targeted to workplace, individuals, students and universities/colleges. Employees, individuals and students can earn points for prizes by completing learning activities about budgeting, saving, borrowing and debt and about their rights and responsibilities when it comes to money matters. The challenge is available in both English and French. The material is presented in an engaging format, which includes videos, tools and written materials and is supplemented by more information should users wish to learn more about a topic. Participants can use the points they earn to bid on chances to win prizes.
The initiative provides organizations with the opportunity to offer financial education to their employees at no cost and with little effort from a resources perspective since the challenge offers turnkey promotional resources. In addition, when an organization registers, they are listed on a viewable trailblazer board on the home page and earn points by administering the challenge and doing certain activities such as promoting the challenge to their participants.
The challenge’s objective is to strengthen the financial knowledge, skills and confidence of participants. The challenge will track and collect aggregate data as well as apply pre- and postevaluation surveys. This survey will assess any changes in knowledge, confidence and attitudes toward money management as a result of participating in the challenge.
Julie Stich, CEBS
Associate Vice President, Content at the International Foundation
