Canada ranks 22nd in global financial literacy study, trail European leaders
“What stands out the most in this study is how universal the financial education gap is,” said Martyn Saville, global consumer protection manager at Remitly. “Around 70% of people say school didn’t give them enough knowledge to manage their money, from everyday budgeting to bigger decisions like mortgages and investing. These are skills for life.”
Saville cautioned that the growing reliance on social media personalities for financial guidance carries risks. “If you’re following advice from a ‘finfluencer’, think about who is paying them and what qualifies them to give advice,” he said. “There’s a chance they might be getting paid to endorse a particular financial product – it doesn’t mean it’s any good or that it’s suitable for your needs.”
What Canadians say they’re missing
When respondents globally were asked what topics were most absent from their financial education, savings and budgeting ranked highest at 75.1%, followed by taxes at 55.2%, investing at 53.9%, debit and credit at 48.4%, and mortgages at 29.7%.
Canada’s 22nd-place ranking, while not at the bottom of the global table, sits well behind peer economies including Australia (11th, 79.5%), the United Kingdom (10th, 79.9%), and Japan (13th, 78.8%). For an industry that increasingly depends on informed, engaged clients to deliver long-term planning outcomes, the data suggests the education gap remains one of the most consequential issues facing advisors in Canada today.
The full study is available at remitly.com.
