1. SECTOR
MINISTER 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’S
FINANCIAL
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
PhotographbyJakeWright,TheHillTimes

2. By: Cary List, CA, CFP®
,
President and CEO
Financial Planning
Standards Council
T
he 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 certifies over
17,500 financial
planning professionals
across Canada.
Financial Planning Standards Council
(FPSC®
) is a national not-for-profit
organization which develops, promotes
and enforces professional standards
in financial planning through CERTIFIED
FINANCIAL PLANNER
®
/CFP®
certification,
and raises Canadians’ awareness of
the importance of financial planning.
FPSC has received ISO 17024
accreditation from the Standards
Council of Canada for its role as
the certifying body for the
CFP®
certification program.
Setting financial
planning standards
to protect Canadians
To learn more visit www.fpsc.ca
or email us at inform@fpsc.ca
CFP®
, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER
®
and are certification 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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