OSC announces initiatives to strengthen financial literacy during Financial Literacy Month
CFEE11.01.21For Immediate Release
November 1, 2021
TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) will mark Financial Literacy Month this November with a variety of activities designed to build the financial knowledge of Ontarians and highlight the importance of financial literacy.
“While everyone has a unique financial story, we can all benefit from improving our financial literacy. We encourage people to take advantage of many free educational opportunities during Financial Literacy Month to build their financial knowledge, skills and confidence,” said Tyler Fleming, Director of the OSC’s Investor Office.
The OSC is leading several investor education and outreach initiatives throughout November including:
- Small Business Resources – Small business owners drive growth and innovation in the economy, create jobs and provide goods and services. While many continue to focus on their business’ financial health, the OSC has released new resources to help them improve their personal finances and financial literacy. Visit the OSC’s Running a Small Business hub to see more information to help small business owners invest, save for retirement, and manage their cash flow.
- Financial Elder Abuse Prevention Webinar – Join staff from the OSC and Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario on November 2 from 11 a.m. to noon for a webinar to help older Ontarians, their adult children and caregivers recognize the signs of financial elder abuse and how to access helpline and emergency resources. Registration is open.
- Investor Telephone Townhall – Participate in a discussion on investing basics and fraud prevention during a virtual townhall on Wednesday, November 24 from 7 to 8 p.m. People will hear from OSC staff and can ask questions. Participants can join online or using the phone. To register for the upcoming telephone townhall visit the OSC website.
- Financial literacy webinars – OSC in the Community is hosting many webinars during November, including five events with Punjabi Community Health Services in Peel Region.
The OSC is hosting other events as part of Financial Literacy Month. Find out more by visiting the OSC in the Community events page.
New OSC financial literacy resources include:
- New social media channels– The OSC is meeting investors where they are by expanding its investor social media channels, including adding a new Instagram account @GetSmarterAboutMoney. Investors can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube
- Needs versus wants – Over the course of the pandemic, people’s needs and wants may have changed. Find out how to better divide needs from wants.
- Multicultural resources – The OSC is further expanding its outreach to new Canadians. New Canadians or new investors can visit the OSC’s enhanced multilingual financial resources to help make better informed investing decisions.
For more financial education resources, investors can visit GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca or sign-up for the Investor News newsletter.
The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.ca.
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