SECTORMINISTER Q&A

CANADA’S BANKS

BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION BILL

MORTGAGES & INSURANCE

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

FINANCIAL LITERACY

FINANCIAL SYSTEM REVIEW ACT

DEBT AND THE ECONOMY

THE HILL TIMES POLICY BRIEFING | MAY 14, 2012

CANADA’SFINANCIAL

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the biggest threat to the Canadian economy is household debt, he’s concerned about the housing market, says the government will tighten the residential mortgage market again if needed, and the biggest foreign threat to the Canadian economy is uncertainty. By Chris Plecash p. 30

Buoyed by the Canadian brand, the country’s largest banks are expanding operations in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, but say the ‘extraterritorial reach’ of U.S. regulation is a barrier to future growth. By Chris Plecash p. 33

The so-called party of ‘financial vigilance’ is vindictively crippling the basic financial oversights of government. By NDP MP Peggy Nash p.36

Economic uncertainty, high household debt cool consumer confidence, as feds look to curb CMHC lending with budget bill provisions. By Laura Ryckewaert p. 34

Senate Banking Committee should have done better job on its five-year ‘review’ of the nation’s financial institu-tions. By Conservative Senator Donald Oliver. p. 37

One of the key pillars of a strong Canadian economy is having a financially literate population. By Conservative MP James Rajotte p. 38

Industry, consumers call on government to bring great-er certainty to financial sector as critics say Financial System Review Act a ‘missed opportunity’ to improve consumer protection, regulation. By Chris Plecash p. 35

In Canada and across OECD countries, the middle class is under threat. New technologies in the workplace are driving changes in our labour market. More and more jobs—both blue collar and white collar—can now be done by computers, either here, at home, or overseas. By Liberal MP Scott Brison p. 39

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By: Cary List, CA, CFP®, President and CEO Financial Planning Standards Council

The cause of improving Cana-dians’ financial literacy has recently proved to be a ral-

lying point for government, the financial services industry, con-sumer advocacy groups and other stakeholders.

Financial literacy is a funda-mental building block on which the future well-being of Canadian society is dependent. Financial literacy must be seen as the life skill that it is - equal to read-ing, writing and arithmetic. For without financial literacy, the op-portunities for success in one’s life are severely diminished. Yet we all know that far too many Cana-dians struggle with the financial basics: paying their bills on time, maintaining a budget, and plan-ning for retirement.

Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC), the standards-setter and certification body in Canada for the Certified Financial Planner® designation, has worked proactively to help Canadians become more knowledgeable and confident about their finances.

For several years now, we have sought to increase Canadi-ans’ knowledge about financial planning and its importance in their everyday lives. Octo-ber 2009 marked the first-ever Financial Planning Week (FPW) in Canada and with it, the an-nouncement of FPSC’s Vision

2020, a vision for a more finan-cially literate society.

The link between financial literacy and financial planning is obvious. This year we are pleased to once again host Financial Plan-ning Week (November 19-25), this time as an integral part of the second annual Financial Literacy Month, an initiative launched by the Financial Literacy Action Group (FLAG), of which FPSC is a founding member. We hope that Canadians take advantage of the opportunities to improve their fi-nancial literacy by attending one of the many Canada-wide, com-munity based pro-bono public events hosted by CFP® profession-als during the Month.

In the year ahead, we will also continue to target our efforts to improve Canadians’ “hiring literacy.” Throughout the year, we actively inform Canadians about how to recognize when they should seek help with their finances, how to find appropri-ately qualified CFP professionals, and how to protect themselves from unscrupulous or unqualified so-called financial professionals.

Yet, there are limits to how successful we can be without the help of others, including gov-ernment. Financial literacy and hiring literacy are no substitutes for smart, effective regulation that protects consumers. In the absence of regulation over who can claim to offer financial plan-ning, or hold themselves out be a financial planner, FPSC (as a member of the industry-led Coalition for Professional Stan-dards for Financial Planners) has been working on a model to provide guidance and oversight in this area.

We are confident that together we can find a solution.

Trusted financial planners will always have a role to play in improving Canadians’ financial wellbeing. CFP professionals share responsibility with governments, educators, financial institutions, and individuals in ensuring Ca-nadians’ lives are improved as a result of better financial literacy.

The goal of our collective fi-nancial literacy efforts should not be to have every Canadian under-stand the intricacies of the mar-kets or determine what insurance policies they need. Rather, we should aim for Canadians to pos-sess the basic fundamental finan-cial knowledge and skills neces-sary to succeed in life. They need to have an understanding of their financial needs, how they can find the right source of assistance in achieving their goals, and how today’s financial decisions will af-fect their financial future.

We all have a role in achiev-ing this goal. Our collective challenge of improving Cana-dians’ financial literacy will be obtained through the accumu-lated efforts of all organizations and individuals who rally to this important cause.

Cary List, CA, CFP, is president and CEO of FPSC. Cary oversees CFP certification and has spent most of the past decade elevating the standards of the designation and working for recognition of financial planning as a distinct profession.

FPSC certifi es over 17,500 fi nancial planning professionals across Canada.Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC®) is a national not-for-profi t organization which develops, promotes and enforces professional standards in fi nancial planning through CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® / CFP® certifi cation, and raises Canadians’ awareness of the importance of fi nancial planning.

FPSC has received ISO 17024 accreditation from the Standards Council of Canada for its role as the certifying body for the CFP® certifi cation program.

Setting fi nancial planning standards to protect Canadians

To learn more visit www.fpsc.caor email us at inform@fpsc.ca

CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and are certifi cation trademarks owned outside the U.S. by Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB). Financial Planning Standards Council is the marks licensing authority for the CFP marks in Canada, through agreement with FPSB. FPSC, FPSC and logo

and Financial Planning Standards Council are trademarks of Financial Planning Standards Council. ©2012 Financial Planning Standards Council. All right reserved.

Improving Canadians’ Financial Literacy: Our Collective Challenge

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