Accomplishments

More about Start Smart

This year at the ACE Canada National Exhibition, SIFE Ryerson’s $tart $mart program was awarded 1st place in the HSBC Financial Literacy Challenge. The Program was recognized by ACE as the number one Financial Literacy Program in Canada. The program for the 2008-2009 SIFE fiscal year saw unprecedented growth from the year before. We went from impacting 16 participants to over 360, 1 high school to 4, and were empowered by Ryerson’s financial services to create our “$tart$mart @ RU” series. This year, we also received a grant from HSBC to provide funding for our financial literacy program. The Start Smart Program was also recognized by the Toronto Star which can be read on the following website:

http://www.thestar.com/article/648133

However, this is just the beginning. The need for financial literacy can be identified in any household, community, region that is not already an affluent neighborhood. It is also one tangible solution to the current economic crisis which was caused in part by an absence of financial literacy in so many low to middle income households.

We plan to establish key partnerships with the Tri-Mentoring Program at Ryerson and the award-winning NGO Pathways to Education, to deliver the program to an even bigger audience than the previous year. We also are in the process of developing the $tart$mart resources and having our material certified by the Ontario Ministry of Education.