The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization has announced its $1.55m investment in seven not-for-profit organizations focused on cultivating financial literacy, boosting investor protection, and helping vulnerable Canadian investors.
Monetary sanctions obtained in enforcement proceedings will fund the investments. The grant recipients are Momentum (Alberta), SEED Winnipeg (Manitoba), Launch Okanagan (British Columbia), Osgoode Hall Law School’s Osgoode Investor Protection Clinic & Living Lab at York University (Ontario), FAIR Canada, Toronto Metropolitan University’s National Institute on Ageing, and Junior Achievement of Canada.
Momentum’s program aims to help low-income Albertans with disabilities access financial benefits like the Disability Tax Credit and RDSPs. It also seeks to improve social service agencies’ capacity to assist the target group.
SEED Winnipeg’s program aims to offer financial education to Indigenous youth and adults, covering urban and rural Metis, Inuit, and First Nations communities. Launch Okanagan seeks to educate, mentor, and support low-income individuals, newcomers, single parents and people in recovery in reaching financial empowerment.
CIRO’s investment will help Osgoode’s Investor Protection Clinic & Living Lab to broaden its pro bono legal services, provide financial education, and finance research to guide policy-boosting investor protection in the country, Osgoode Hall Law School wrote in a LinkedIn post. The funds will also help FAIR Canada to progress regulatory reform in the country and empower retail investors through advocacy, research, and education.
NIA is releasing a free Cost of Ageing Calculator to the public that will bolster financial literacy and planning in retirement. JA Canada is offering hands-on programs to help students develop entrepreneurial skills, financial literacy, and career readiness.
“This funding marks a new phase in our commitment to fostering financial education and empowering underserved and vulnerable investors across Canada. CIRO is thrilled to support these organizations, and to facilitate the valuable work they do in communities across the country,” said Alexandra Williams, CIRO’s senior vice-president for strategy, innovation and stakeholder protection, in a statement.
In 2021, Osgoode Hall Law School professor Poonam Puri highlighted the importance of investor protection in the wake of prevalent scams and frauds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Puri called for governments and regulators to prioritize investor protection reforms.