Survey aims to identify gaps, help Aboriginal people better manage money

By Laura E. Young

Paulette Tremblay
Paulette Tremblay

What do you know about money?

And, more importantly, what don’t you know about money and making wise financial decisions?

The enquiring minds at AFOA Canada (formerly the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada) want to know.

To do so, the AFOA has hired Ursine Management of Sudbury to gather information through online and group surveys of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people across Canada.

The survey will be available starting in early January and conclude by mid-March. A final report is expected in June 2015.

AFOA hopes for at least 1,500 completed surveys to give a representative sample and show trends.

“We’re trying to make it fun and non-threatening because it’s really important to know how much money I need to pay my bills. Am I spending more than I’m earning? And if I am, how am I paying for it?” says Paulette Tremblay, vice-president, education and training with AFOA Canada.

“These are sacred topics that we don’t talk about.”

Once the gaps are known, AFOA and its consultants will develop a framework for Aboriginal Financial Literacy, identifying new program requirements, making linkages to and expanding existing programs, and creating new programs.

The survey will identify gaps in financial literacy over the life cycle (from child through to elderly), over life events (such as higher education, retirement living), and “across the four pillars of financial literacy,” Tremblay says.

The pillars include:

Planning ahead and managing financial affairs

  1. Awareness of public and private benefits
  2. Awareness of financial products and services and how to apply them
  3. Protection against fraud and financial abuse

Money may be off limits for discussion.

For Tremblay, however, it depends on the approach. It’s not necessarily taboo if the subject is approached in a non-threatening manner that is respectful and speaks to building individual resilience, she says.

“It’s not about guilt. It’s something to think about. If you don’t think about it, you can’t take action and change it.

“We want to help stimulate your thinking about it. We want to help grow your knowledge, skills and confidence so that when you’re making financial decisions, you’re doing it from a base of knowledge.

Financial management is a topic that needs discussion and reflection, she believes.

“You don’t have to tell people your business, but, at the end of the day, we need to begin a dialogue about money and about being positive about it.”

For Tremblay it’s about moving forward and learning how to wisely use the currency in place in Canada.

“Let’s build a resilient future where we are doing everything we can to have a good life and provide a good future for our kids, our families, and to help each other with this.”

The survey will be available at http://www.afoa.ca/  

Online survey results will be tabulated through Survey Monkey. Group survey results will be tabulated instantly through computer Sharpe Technology computer software.

AFOA will also conduct surveys during its 15th annual conference in Winnipeg in February 17-19, 2015.

For further information: http://www.afoa.ca/afoadocs/Home%20Page/Press%20Release/Aboriginal%20Financial%20Literacy%20Needs%20Assessment%20and%20Framework-Nov%202014.pdf