Partner In Focus: Junior Achievement Canada

Better Financial Literacy for the Kids of Today and Tomorrow

How do you teach kids financial literacy when most adults never learned it themselves?

This November for Financial Literacy Month, CIRO is encouraging adults to “Talk Money” with kids and youth by providing a Parents’ Guide to Raising Money-Smart Kids.

But another way might be found through Junior Achievement Canada (JA Canada). JA Canada delivers hands-on, immersive and digital learning experiences that help inspire kids, translating financial concepts into real-life experience.

“Kids don’t always learn about finances at home or sometimes it doesn’t resonate when it comes from a parent,” says Jennifer James, Vice-President of Programs and Charter Services at JA Canada. “Engaging in an interactive and fun learning experience through JA can make all the difference.”

Kids learning through Junior Achievement

Photo Credit: Garcia Creative

At JA Canada, financial literacy is a core life skill. Their programs, such as More than Money, Dollars with Sense, Scam Smarts, Investment Strategies and Personal Finance aim to provide in-class or independent learning to help students learn how saving, spending and investing shape their futures.

Many participate through JA Campus, an online learning hub for youth, educators and parents that can be accessed remotely or through a local JA office, making it easy for parents or educators to bring these options into the home or classroom. JA in Canada has also built strong partnerships with schools, helping to create the systemic change needed to support long-term financial well-being.

Investing in Future Investors

CIRO recently provided a grant to JA Canada to enhance their Investment Strategies Program (ISP), allowing them to develop new tools and educational materials to scale outreach and create more resilient future investors. With the refreshed ISP and Stock Market Simulation, JA Canada aims to impact more than 250,000 students over the next 10 years.

"CIRO aims to support Canadian investors in their investment journey, beginning with financial skills and know-how for children and youth," said Alexandra Williams, Senior Vice-President, Strategy, Innovation and Stakeholder Protection. "We are thrilled to assist Junior Achievement Canada in the renewed Investment Strategies Program, and to help more young Canadians access the training and skills they need to become savvy investors."

CIRO Volunteers

Volunteers are the heartbeat of JA Canada, and they bring financial literacy to life across the country. Volunteers are trained in advance and provided with all the materials they need to deliver programs.

Earlier this year, Julia Cheung, CPA and Senior Business Conduct Compliance Examiner at CIRO, volunteered as a classroom facilitator in the York Region District School Board. Cheung says it took about a day to prepare in collaboration with another CIRO colleague.

“I enjoy teaching, but I don’t think I’m a very good teacher,” says Cheung. “Teaching students is more forgiving, and I like the fact that Junior Achievement incorporates activities, and the kids are engaged. I’m not just standing there.”

The students learned about money, credit monitoring, borrowing, interest and cost to borrow, a module on investment vehicles like RSPs and RESPs, a module on budgeting, and another section on stock market and trading.

For Cheung, the experience was “very rewarding because you’re part of that child’s education in learning about financial literacy, just to be a small part of it, is rewarding in itself.”

Coming out of the experience with Junior Achievement, Cheung admits she wants her own kids’ school to sign up.

“It’s a really great program,” she says.

Learn more about Junior Achievement Canada