Savings rates are low in Canada: Rooney

And many Canadians don’t understand the term “financial literacy,” which she defines as having the knowledge, skills and confidence to make financial decisions.

Read: Help employees become financially literate

On the upside, the recent Statistics Canada survey shows more new Canadians are aware of, and are using, vehicles such as tax-free savings accounts, and more parents across all income brackets are saving for their kids’ educations.

Still, there’s a lot of work to be done, says Rooney, since we still don’t fully understand people’s attitudes toward money and, specifically, across different priority groups. This includes seniors, low-income Canadians, new Canadians and youth.

Read: Nudge your plan members to make smarter choices

To help, she and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada have set up the Canadian Financial Literacy Database. Through this hub, professionals and investors can access more than 800 resources, and take a quiz to assess their money management skills.

Looking at how these resources are used and at the quiz results is one way Rooney and her committee plan to identify knowledge gaps and needs. She’ll also continue to meet with industry groups and communities across the country—recently, she connected with low-income and Aboriginal Canadians.

Also, Advisor Group assistant editor Katie Keir had a one-on-one chat with Rooney. Here’s the Q&A.

Insights from Jane Rooney

Q. The four priority groups you’ve identified are seniors (and near-seniors), low-income Canadians, new Canadians and youth. Why have seniors been the primary focus so far?

Helping seniors was identified as a federal priority in budget 2013, so when I was first named Financial Literacy Leader, I went through consultations with industry groups that work with seniors. I found:

• demographics are shifting in Canada and across the globe;
• there have been changes to government benefits (CPP, OAS), so people will have more complex decisions to make; and
• seniors have a growing level of debt and higher bankruptcy levels, as identified through the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada.

When we mention near-seniors, we’re referencing those who are age 55 and above. But it’s important that people start planning even earlier than that, and they understand savings vehicles.

Read: Financial literacy programs help employees’ well-being

Q. Youth education will be more of a focus in 2015, so what initiatives might we see at that point, and what’s being done currently?

Our consultation paper on youth education is live now, and we’re meeting with industry groups. Currently, we’re looking for comment on how to best connect with young Canadians, both young adults and youth. Comment letters are due by Dec. 31, 2014.

Education and school curriculums are in the jurisdictions of the provinces and territories, but we’ve been working to raise awareness of why financial literacy matters.

Further, FCAC already developed a financial education program intended for schools in 2004. We partnered with the BCSC, which developed the financial literacy component of a required high school course called Planning 10 for B.C. We took that program and developed a resource called The City, and it’s marketed to teachers.

Read: Financial Literacy Month resources

Also, financial literacy is part of the national curriculum: starting in 2012, there were requirements in Ontario for literacy to be part of the curriculum from grades four to 12. A cross-curricular approach has been adopted, however, so there isn’t a specific financial planning course as is seen in B.C. In Alberta, there are career and life management courses, and financially literacy is embedded in the New Brunswick and Quebec curriculums, with Quebec on the verge of launching a new curriculum.

A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site, Advisor.ca.