Our financial ecosystem is continuously and rapidly evolving and we need to constantly assess emerging opportunities and threats for households and be ready to address these in a timely and effective way, informed by evidence, sound analysis, continuous learning, and engagement with relevant community and financial sector stakeholders, and Canadians. [...] The Government of Canada should provide the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) with an expanded mandate, granting authority, and resources to strategically invest in advancing the priorities of the National Financial Literacy Strategy to prevent further financial vulnerability and to help households to stabilize and begin to rebuild their financial health and resilience. [...] These resources should flow through the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to invest in meeting the objectives of the national financial literacy strategy, and leverage FCAC’s relevant research and policy expertise and its extensive and robust relationships with relevant community, research and business stakeholders who will be necessary partners in delivering programs and services. [...] According to the World Bank, financial inclusion is when “individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.”60 Financial inclusion is a key factor in reducing poverty and a G20 priority,61 with the ability to make digital tran. [...] Through this process, the government would aim to identify and find ways to address key market failures with respect to the provision of accessible, safe, and affordable financial products and services, including but not limited to: • Low/no access to mainstream financial services in some rural, remote, and Indigenous communities and low-income urban neighbourhoods • A dearth of safe and affordabl.
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