TORONTO - The Ontario Securities Commission is donating money to help teach the province's children how to be financially responsible.
The Ontario government intends to introduce financial literacy to the curriculum for students in grades 4 to 12 this September, and Alberta is launching a similar program.
Securities Commission chairman Howard Wetston said there has always been a need to teach people how to handle money.
The recent global financial crisis makes it even more essential.
"Financial literacy is an important part of investor protection and the OSC supports educational efforts to help Ontarians develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in an increasingly complex financial world," Wetston said in a release.
The commission's $2-million donation will pay for teacher training and videos and other learning tools.
In October, Ontario's Working Group on Financial Literacy recommended making financial literacy a compulsory part of the province's school curriculum and introducing it as early as possible.
In a 2009 study by Youthography, commissioned by the Investor Education Fund, only about one in four students said they felt they were knowledgeable about money.
Earlier this month, a federal task force recommended Canadian schools start teaching children how to manage their money as early as the elementary grades.
Education is the best way to ensure Canadians have the knowledge and skills they need to save, invest, buy homes and plan for retirement later in life, the report said.
"We believe that financial education will better prepare our students for the 21st century global economy," Ontario Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky said in a statement.
"Our kids need to know their dollars and cents just as much as their ABCs."
Only one in five students said they stuck to a budget in a 2008 survey by Credit Canada and the Ontario Association for Credit Counselling Services.
And more than half said they didn't pay off their credit card in full each month.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who created the task force in the 2009 budget, has said financial literacy is an important issue for the economy as a whole.
