CATAAlliance Canadian Advanced Technology Allian : Financial Literacy Added to the Competitive Innovation Nation Campaign

January 2, 2019

Financial Literacy Added to the Competitive Innovation Nation Campaign

Financial Literacy

The CATAAlliance Team has put together a set of Three Advocacy Communiques to serve as a stimulant that will encourage Canadians to discuss and debate important issues. We want to let our governments know that they need to re-examine the role they play. The issues are: Debt and Deficit, Financial Literacy and Inclusive Fairness.

Ottawa, ON…CATAAlliance, Canada's One Voice for Innovation lobby grouphas added financial literacy as a core policy plank for its Competitive Innovation Nation Campaign designed to advance Canada's innovation and competitiveness rankings.

This new plank in the CATA policy platform compliments our efforts to help industry. See the full policy list here: https://cata.ca/advocacy/

Financial literacy is commonly defined as 'the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.'

According to one of Canada's most successful technology innovators, Terry Matthews, who is founder & Chair, Wesley Clover International, Chair, Mitel & CATAAlliance Spokesperson, ' The lack of financial literacy is one of the top problems affecting all segments of society and the economic future of Canada, including our ability to support safety nets in times of downturn.'

In an Op_Ed, Waters Starting to Rise, Canada's Bad Balance Sheets, CATAAlliance pointed out that:

• The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcies reports a 9.4 percent rise in consumer insolvencies, the most since 2016, prompting a quote from Insolvency trustee, Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Inc., 'The tide has turned, and the waters starting to rise.'
• In addition to rising insolvencies, the federal statistics agency reports that liabilities are taking a much larger share of disposable income. Canada's debt service ratio climbed to 14.51 on an adjusted basis in the third quarter, the highest in a decade, when we spent our way out of the 2008 downturn.
• Furthermore, investments in Canada for machinery and equipment are down 4.7 per cent between 2012 and 2017. Similarly, investments in intellectual property (IP) are down 14.8 per cent. Both measures are important for productivity and economic growth.
• And, Canadians now look more and more to offshore for economic opportunities; investment overseas has risen 74 per cent from 2013 to 2017. Concurrently, foreign direct investment dropped a staggering 55.1 percent from 2013 to 2017.
• According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, Canada's deficit is expanding to $30 billion per year, a massive deficit, perhaps not surprising to some, given the recent report by the Department of Finance, which predicted a balanced budget only by the year 2040…

In regard to the recent federal budget, CATAAlliancewas among the groups questioning the government's management of financial resources. In general, governments have failed to leaders in financial literacy and the nation will pay a price for that failure.

CATA CEO, John Reidnoted, 'Simply put, we are over leveraged in Canada. We need to have leadership and role models who champion strengthening all balance sheets in Canada, whether it's you or I in debt situations, whether it's the provinces, or whether it's the federal government, because you cannot sustain a social envelope without a strong economic envelope.'

Reid concluded, 'Fostering financial literacy education and encouraging all Canadians to buildstrong balance sheetswill strengthen our economy and that will advance the mission of advancing Canada's global innovation and competitiveness rankings.'

Related: Waters Starting to Rise, Canada's Bad Balance Sheets

About CATAAllianceInteract with your Innovation Peer Group Now (No Tech Firm Left Behind) Op-In Groups:https://cata.ca/communities/

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance), Canada's One Voice for Innovation Lobby Group, crowdsources ideas and guidance from thousands of opt in members in moderated social networks in Canada and key global markets. Supported by evidence-based research, CATAAlliancethen mobilizes the community behind public policy recommendations designed to boost Canada's innovation and competitiveness success.

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Contact: CATAAllianceCEO, John Reidat email [e-mail], tel: [phone], website: www.cata.ca, tags: Innovation, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Advocacy