Federal agency, partners develop financial literacy pilot

A financial literacy pilot project is underway for students enrolled at an Indigenous education centre, with plans to roll out the developed program more widely.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), the Seven Generations Education Institute (SGEI) and the Martin Family Initiative (MFI) have partnered to develop the pilot, which will be delivered at SGEI’s facilities in Kenora, Ont. in early 2019, says a release.

The pilot is adapted from FCAC’s Your Financial Toolkit program, in collaboration with ABC Life Literacy Canada.

It will include about 20 hours of in-class programming on topics such as budgeting, banking, credit and debt management, and will be delivered by SGEI’s instructors. MFI will assist with training the instructors who will pilot the material with students registered in SGEI’s Workplace Literacy and Essential Skills Program.

The partnership and pilot project arose from the partners’ work as members of FCAC’s Financial Literacy Working Group for Indigenous Peoples. The working group’s mandate is to share information, collaborate on developing new programs and initiatives, and identify research priorities.

Following the pilot, the partners will evaluate feedback from students and instructors in preparation for offering the program to other Indigenous communities and educational organizations, says the release.