It’s hard to talk about money. We can help.
November 7, 2024
By Marco Campana, Knowledge Mobilization and Social Action Coordinator, Access Alliance
Living in Toronto is expensive. Too expensive. Many Torontonians struggle with their finances. Many newcomers to the city find themselves having to start over financially. This can bring feelings of shame, embarrassment, or concern about being judged. It’s hard to talk about money, but it’s important.
November in Canada is Financial Literacy Month. This year’s “Money on your Mind. Talk about it!” campaign, run by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) encourages people to talk about money. It highlights that it’s ok to share experiences and ask questions about finances. Talking about money is a good thing. It can build confidence, improves people’s finances and reduce the stigma around financial matters.
Support for newcomers
What do we mean when we say “Financial Literacy”? Financial literacy means having the knowledge and skills to make smart financial decisions for yourself and your family.
That means talking and asking questions about money, including questions you might have about Canadian financial systems and what good money management looks like. You can start by asking yourself some questions about your own financial experiences and understanding, like:
- What surprised you about financial life in Canada?
- How do you feel when you think about your finances in Canada? How do you feel when you think about financial systems (banks, government, taxes, etc…) in Canada?
- What kind of skills to people who are good with money have? What kind of actions do they take? What is their attitude about money like? What kind of habits do they have?
Our Financial Literacy services for newcomers cover a range of topics: savings, banking, money management/issues, debt, and more. We want to help you feel comfortable and confident to handle your finances effectively in Canada, and help you make informed financial decisions for your life in Canada. One-on-one financial coaching support is available, If you want some help to improve your Financial Literacy you can meet with one-on-one with a financial coach.
We can help you move from Financial Literacy to Financial Empowerment. Financial Empowerment goes beyond understanding the financial system and services. It includes the ability to participate and feel included in Canada’s financial system. To support you in feeling more financially empowered and secure, we offer Financial Literacy workshops, and also income tax clinics, coaching for financial self-management, information on how to navigate the financial system, referrals to food banks, housing and healthcare, connecting to employment and reskilling services.
You might find it difficult to talk about financial matters, such as personal debt, with family and friends. And that’s ok: you can start small! This month, take one step towards building your financial confidence. Find out how to check your credit score. Chat with a friend about budgeting. Talk to our Financial Literacy coach.
Research shows that talking about money builds financial confidence, and can lead to better financial outcomes. This is especially true for women.
We are currently running weekly Financial Literacy sessions with newcomer young adults (18-24 years old) at AccessPoint on Jane. The sessions run every Monday from 1 – 4 pm until March 24, 2025. You can drop in or register ahead of time. Session topics are selected based on the interest of the group. Join other young adults to talk about:
- Developing your Financial Habits
- Saving/financing for car, apartment or any other major need
- Making a Budget
- Reducing your Expenses
- Paying by Debit and Credit Card
- Asserting your as a Consumer
- Making Mindful Purchasing Decisions
You might not be read to talk to someone just yet. That’s OK. We have lots of helpful resources you can find on our website.
When you’re ready to reach out for some support, we’ll be here.
Support for community organizations
In 2014 we conducted a community-based research study looking at financial knowledge, vulnerabilities, practices and financial service needs among recently arrived newcomers in Toronto. We wanted to understand how newcomers can overcome financial vulnerability.
Study results showed that financially vulnerable newcomer groups had limited (self-rated) financial knowledge and faced barriers to acquiring this knowledge. They also faced systemic barriers to information and tools to build savings and investments, and in managing debt.
You can review a summary of that research here:
And download a one-page summary here.
Ten years later, the reality is that not much has changed.
Drawing on study findings, we developed a series of five Financial Literacy workshops geared specifically at newcomers. Our series of five Financial Literacy workshops geared specifically to newcomers are still relevant and useful today. We encourage our community partners to visit our project page for workshop slides and facilitator guides for each module. We also developed a glossary of financial terms in English, Karen and Farsi.
We also created a Financial Empowerment for Newcomers: Resource Sheet for Program Providers. Each section in this document provides information on a topic identified as an area of need for financial empowerment programming for newcomers.
You can download that here:
These materials are a great way to start talking about Financial Literacy with your clients.
Recommendations for the financial sector
There is much financial institutions can do to support the financial stability and literacy of newcomers in Toronto:
- Don’t just sell financial services to newcomers. Educate and empower newcomers (with accessible tools) to routinely build savings and investments. In particular, ensure that newcomers from low-income and vulnerable backgrounds are equitably supported to save and invest.
- Offer low-interest lines of credit and accessible forms of mortgages (not just high interest credit cards.)
- Adopt an “Access without Fear” policy to ensure that newcomers with precarious immigration status or non-status feel safe to use financial services, without fear of reprisal, including deportation.
- Adopt and/or strengthen your equity-based hiring practices to ensure your banking staff mirror the cultural and racial diversity of Toronto/Canada, including bi-/multi-lingual staff members capable of offering services in the first languages of your underserved client groups.
- Organize regular workshops for banking staff on how culture or immigration/newcomer status affects financial behaviors and practices. Promote best practice strategies for delivering financial services in culturally safe and sensitive ways (e.g. being aware and accommodating of culturally specific views about interest, sending money back home, or cultural expectations about retirement.)
Implementing these sorts of organizational policy and culture shifts within the financial sector may help to reduce some of the financial vulnerabilities and service and knowledge gaps faced by newcomers.
Together we can help encourage newcomers to talk about money, increase their knowledge and Financial Literacy and become financially empowered.