Trailer

Story

To demonstrate how consumers can use its tools and resources, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has gathered the testimonials of more than twenty Canadians from across the country and has produced a series of sixteen Success Stories videos. In these four-minute vignettes, average Canadians share the way they use the Agency’s different tools to enhance their knowledge and abilities in managing personal finances, and the positive results they got out of it.

BUDGET AND SAVINGS
Ashley Reid, Canmore, Alberta: accountant
Mélanie Boulet, Ottawa, Ontario: teacher, de la Découverte Elementary School
Rodney Noriega, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia: business graduate
Sophie Miron, Gatineau, Quebec: financial educator, CJE de l'Outaouais
Phoebe, Isaac and Hannah Smith, Toronto, Ontario: young professionals

BEATING DEBT
Monica Daga, Toronto, Ontario: settlement worker, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office
François Leblanc, Ottawa, Ontario: budget advisor, Entraide budgétaire
Debbie Squier-Bernst, Thunder Bay, Ontario: Insolvency Assistant Administrator, BDO Dunwoody
Richard Haggins, Mississauga, Ontario: Manager, InCharge Debt Solutions
Peter Nares, Toronto, Ontario: founding Executive Director, SEDI

MORTGAGES
Laurin Jeffrey: real estate salesperson

YOUTH AND FINANCIAL LITERACY
Mitch Peters, New Brunswick: Project Coordinator, Partners for Youth
Vincent Auffrey and Isabelle Coleman, Dieppe, New Brunswick: students, Mathieu-Martin High School
Trevor Yerxa and Nicholas Smith, Riverview, New Brunswick: students, Riverview High School
Lucy Johnson, Coaldale, Alberta: teacher, Kate Andrews High School
Brian Smith, Montréal, Quebec: Employment Counsellor, CJE Côte-des-Neiges
Pierre Roy, Dieppe, New Brunswick: teacher, Mathieu-Martin High School

FRAUD
Ken MacDonald, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia: Coordinator, New Glasgow Police Service

To get a glimpse of all the testimonials, view the trailer of the series or watch the complete vignettes at www.fcac.gc.ca.

Transcript

Richard Haggins
Manager of Operations & Development, InCharge Debt Solutions, Mississauga, Ontario
Can you imagine a world where, when somebody is 16 years old, we would simply hand them the keys to a car and say, “Off you go, learn to drive while you are out there on the road”? We wouldn't do that. It would be carnage.

Rodney Noriega
Business Graduate, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
There was a lot of credit card companies trying to get me to sign up for them. They have these student packages that sounded good at the time.

Richard Haggins
However, when it comes to an 18-year-old suddenly being able to qualify for debts it is like “hey you are 18, have a handful of credit cards, away you go”.

Brian Smith
Employment Counsellor, Carrefour jeunesse-emploi Côte-des-Neiges, Montréal, Quebec
They don't know how to control their spending because there are so many social pressures.

Monica Daga
Settlement Worker, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, Toronto, Ontario
I was a new Canadian myself and money works different back home than it does here.

Mitch Peters
Project Coordinator, Partners for Youth, New Brunswick
I did not have a lot if financial literacy taught to me as a high school student. It was a lot of trial and error.

Monica Daga
I completed high school, I went to college and I got in debt from not knowing how to use my money properly.

François Leblanc
Budget Advisor, Entraide budgétaire, Ottawa Ontario
An untimely death may also create a situation where, “oops!” suddenly, only one person is left to support a family.

Peter Nares
Founding Executive Director, SEDI – Social and Enterprise Development Innovations, Toronto, Ontario.
We need to find a way to get folks the information that they need so that they can make responsible decisions.

Lucy Johnson
Teacher, Kate Andrews High School, Coaldale, Alberta
How to handle credit, how to manage debt. How to deal with insurance, how to deal with fraud.

Ashley Reid
Accountant, Canmore, Alberta
Most people are not aware of how much interest and fees are associated with their credit cards.

François Leblanc
The risk is in trying to maintain a certain lifestyle and using credit to compensate for a reduced income.

Laurin Jeffrey
Real Estate Salesperson
Basic financial literacy is important because people need to have decent credit before they try and get a mortgage, get a loan, anything like that.

Richard Haggins
Most Canadians that I have dealt with simply have no understanding of anything to do with their credit report or credit score. They have no idea.

Laurin Jeffrey
If you can't manage a thousand-dollar credit card, they are not going to let you mismanage a loan on a house.

Hannah Smith
Young professional, Toronto, Ontario
In magazines, they advertise clothes that are $1,000 for a sweater as though young women should be able to afford it.

Sophie Miron
Financial Educator, Carrefour jeunesse-emploi de l'Outaouais, Gatineau, Quebec
Young people have to be guided to understand that expensive designer clothes might be beyond their means.

Pierre Roy
Teacher, Mathieu-Martin High School, Dieppe, New Brunswick
As a teacher, it is satisfying to see that they will probably be in a better financial situation, and clearly, it can help them fulfill their dreams.

Caitlyn Brett
Student, Kate Andrews High School, Coaldale, Alberta
I have a job now, and this website has definitely taught me the importance of saving money.

Vincent Auffrey
Student, Mathieu-Martin High School, Dieppe, New Brunswick
The City is a lot more interesting than a course. It's more in touch with today's young generation.

Mélanie Boulet
Teacher, De la Découverte Elementary School, Ottawa, Ontario
It's never too early, or too late, to start saving your money and working toward the life you want to live.

Debbie Squier-Bernst
Insolvency Assistant Administrator, BDO Dunwoody, Thunder Bay, Ontario
I don't want them to feel shame or embarrassed. I just want them to feel like it's okay to have made a mistake and that there are some things that we can do to help them correct it.

Brian Smith
With financial literacy, anything is possible.