Economics

• August 5, 2025

  Good as gold? A simple explanation of the gold standard

  By: Graham Iddon

  
  

  

  In an ideal gold standard monetary system, every piece of paper currency represents an amount of gold held by an authority. But in practice, the gold standard system’s rules were extremely and repeatedly bent in the face of economic realities.

  Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Business, Economics, Financial literacy, History Grade level(s): Grade 03, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
• June 18, 2025

  Labour productivity

  

  

  A business can boost productivity through capital investments, such as buying new equipment. Use this video and discussion guide to help explain the concept of productivity to your students.

  Content type(s): Multimedia Subject(s): Business, Economics, Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
• June 18, 2025

  What goes into the price of gas

  

  

  The price of gasoline can be broken down into four key parts. Learn how each affects prices at the pump with this video and discussion guide.

  Content type(s): Multimedia Subject(s): Business, Economics, Financial literacy, Geography Grade level(s): Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
• June 5, 2025

  Teaching the Treaties through art and artifacts

  

  

  This webinar, in collaboration with the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba, demonstrates the Bank of Canada Museum’s lesson plan “Five bucks: The economics of Treaty relationships”.

  Content type(s): Multimedia Subject(s): Arts, Economics, History, Indigenous studies, Social studies Grade level(s): Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
• May 22, 2025

  Speculating on the piggy bank

  By: Graham Iddon

  
  

  

  Ever since the first currencies allowed us to store value, we’ve needed a special place to store those shekels, drachmae and pennies. And the piggy bank—whether in pig form or not—has nearly always been there.

  Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Arts, Business, Economics, English language arts, Financial literacy, Geography, Health, History, Math, Science Grade level(s): Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
• May 16, 2025

  Entrepreneurship: Kids edition

  

  Learn from the experiences of successful young entrepreneurs, then create your own business model and pitch your business.

  Content type(s): Lesson plans Subject(s): Business, Economics, English language arts, Financial literacy, Math Grade level(s): Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1
• December 6, 2022

  Money: it’s a question of trust

  By: Graham Iddon

  
  

  

  The dollars and cents we use wouldn’t be worth anything to anybody if we didn’t have confidence in it. No matter if it’s gold or digits on a hard drive, public trust is the secret ingredient in a successful currency.

  Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economics
• October 27, 2020

  Bank of Canada: Explainers

  

  Consult these brief articles explaining various topics related to the Bank of Canada's core functions.

  Content type(s): External resources Subject(s): Business, Economics, Financial literacy, Social studies Grade level(s): Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
• April 28, 2020

  Bank of Canada: The Economy, Plain and Simple

  

  It’s right there in the title—The Economy, Plain and Simple: Plain language. Complex concepts made as simple as possible—thanks to the efforts of our economists and a supporting cast of communications professionals. The results are short, quick reads, with engaging visuals, all on a mobile-friendly platform—so you can read them on the go.

  Content type(s): External resources Subject(s): Business, Economics, Financial literacy, Social studies Grade level(s): Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5