A coalition of seven non-profit organizations have joined together to organize Financial Literacy Month (FLM) to raise awareness of the issue during November.
The Financial Literacy Action Group (FLAG) includes ABC Life Literacy Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE), Credit Canada: Debt Solutions, Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC), Junior Achievement, Investor Education Fund (IEF), and Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI).
This November, FLAG and other organizations involved in financial literacy initiatives anxiously await the announcement of the federal government’s “Financial Literacy Leader.”
FLAG has developed a set of recommendations that it hopes are considered by incoming leader. These include:.
> develop and share a clear rationale for improving financial literacy in Canada and identify the benefits to be derived;
> clearly differentiate the target audiences perceived to have the greatest needs and undertake an assessment to identify those precise needs;
> support organizations in their efforts collaborate, and co-ordinate their goals to avoid duplication;
> collaborate with a “National Network” of organizations to establish a research agenda;’
> work with the National Network to develop effective tools for assessing programs and resources;
> showcase programs and resources that have been shown to have the best potential for success;
> support “scaling up” those programs shown to be successful or with potential for success;
> in collaboration with the National Network, organize an annual conference to facilitate and encourage networking, knowledge sharing, and showcasing success;
> establish benchmarks for measuring success.
FLAG says it looks forward to collaborating with the new leader and other groups similar to FLAG across Canada, to help Canadians be better prepared to manage their financial affairs with confidence and competence and to build successful financial futures.