Financial literacy

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 2, 2025
Saving and spending

Develop positive financial habits through a saving and spending game and a goal-setting activity with real-life scenarios.

Content type(s): Lesson plans Subject(s): Financial literacy, Math, Social studies Grade level(s): Grade 05, Grade 06
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

Turn your students into young entrepreneurs as they explore business basics, budgeting and marketing. Pitching their own creative ideas is a fun way to build real-world skills and confidence.

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
March 28, 2025
Budgets: Math for life

Introduce budgeting concepts and best practices by planning an event. Students will build skills with fractions, decimals and percentages using worksheets and hands-on activities.

Content type(s): Lesson plans Subject(s): Financial literacy, Math Grade level(s): Grade 04, Grade 05, Grade 06
January 22, 2025
Value for money: Determining unit price

Calculate unit prices and compare value for money. Use real-life shopping scenarios to determine if something is a real deal.

Content type(s): Lesson plans Subject(s): Financial literacy, Math Grade level(s): Grade 04
November 6, 2024
You Are the Economy: Your guide to economic and financial literacy for Grades 7 to 12

Join the Bank of Canada Museum for a live webinar about our new free suite of economic and financial lesson plans!

Content type(s): Multimedia Subject(s): Business, Economics, Financial literacy, Geography, Health, Math, 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
October 11, 2024
Exploring payment methods

Compare different payment methods, such as credit, debit and cash. This lesson plan uses a quiz, group work and scenarios to boost financial literacy.

Content type(s): Lesson plans Subject(s): Financial literacy, Math Grade level(s): Grade 04