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Initiative Details Survey of Canadians' Use of Banking Products and Services

The Survey of Canadians’ Use of Banking Products and Services is designed to collect information during the pandemic about how Canadians are consuming financial products during the pandemic and to what extent they are accessing COVID-19-related financial assistance offered by the banks.

Initiative type

  • Survey

Demographics collected

  • Age
  • Education
  • Ethno-cultural group
  • First language
  • Gender
  • Household income
  • Immigration status
  • Marital status
  • Physical or mental disability
  • Place of birth
  • Province/territory of residence
  • Status or non-status indigenous person
  • Urban/rural
  • Visible minority
  • Work situation
  • Year of landing (if born outside of Canada)

Target population

  • General public

Adopter

Link

Related priorities

This initiative relates to the following National Financial Literacy Strategy priorities and target outcomes: 

Priority 3

Support increased digital access and digital literacy

  • Target outcome 3.3

Priority 4

Enhance access to trustworthy and affordable financial help

  • Target outcome 4.3

Priority 6

Strengthen consumer protection measures

  • Target outcome 6.3
Related headlines
Headline

Almost 1 in 3 Canadians face challenges because of bank branch closures.

Branch closures can create difficulties for Canadians, especially for those who are unable to manage their finances online due to limited digital access.

The analysis is based on research and the findings supplied by the adopters of the National Financial Literacy Strategy Measurement Plan. The related findings can be found at the bottom of this page.

Source: Survey of Canadians' Use of Banking Products and Services
Headline

Canadians want to understand how the actions they take or the services they use might impact their credit score.

Financial institutions use credit scores to decide whether to lend a consumer money. Credit bureaus and lenders often do not share the formulas they use to calculate credit scores. For this reason, it is difficult to know the impact actions can have on credit scores.

The analysis is based on research and the findings supplied by the adopters of the National Financial Literacy Strategy Measurement Plan. The related findings can be found at the bottom of this page.

Source: Pilot Study: Buy Now, Pay Later Services in Canada, Survey of Canadians' Use of Banking Products and Services
Headline

Only half of Canadians know there is a government agency to protect financial consumers.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) is responsible for protecting the rights and interests of financial consumers in Canada. The Agency’s mandate is to supervise federally regulated financial entities such as banks, and to strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians.

The analysis is based on research and the findings supplied by the adopters of the National Financial Literacy Strategy Measurement Plan. The related findings can be found at the bottom of this page.

Source: Survey of Canadians' Use of Banking Products and Services
Related findings
Finding

From 2020 to 2021, 30% of Canadians faced challenges as a result of branch closures, including challenges that could potentially have been avoided if they had had means to manage their finances online (e.g., depositing cheques, accessing funds).

Initiative: Survey of Canadians' Use of Banking Products and Services

Adopter: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Finding

Just over half of Canadians (55%) said they are aware the Government of Canada has a department or agency dedicated to protecting its financial consumers. Among the rest, approximately one-third (35%) did not know and 10% said no there is no such department or agency.

Initiative: Survey of Canadians' Use of Banking Products and Services

Adopter: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Finding

Of the Canadians who contacted their bank for pandemic-related financial assistance, 52% received it. However, 8% turned down the offer for various reasons, such as the cost, concern about damaging their credit score, and the effort involved.

Initiative: Survey of Canadians' Use of Banking Products and Services

Adopter: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Related measures
Use the Opens in new tabMeasures Library to search for Strategy-Aligned Measures (SAMs) that help stakeholders in the financial ecosystem track progress toward achieving the National Strategy’s target outcomes.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada does not endorse, directly or indirectly, any adopters of the Measurement Plan, nor does it make any representations or warranties, express or implied, concerning the adopters' products or services or their fitness for a particular purpose.

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