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Alberta
Province investing in support for financial literacy in schools
Financial literacy prepares students for their futures
Students across Alberta will build the fundamental life skills they need to grow into adulthood through support for financial literacy programming.
Saving, budgeting, investing and the ability to make wise financial decisions are fundamental life skills Alberta’s youth need to develop as they grow into adulthood. Alberta’s government is ensuring that students have every opportunity to develop these fundamental life skills by integrating financial literacy into the K-12 curriculum and providing grant funding to three Canadian organizations to offer dedicated financial learning resources for students and teachers.
“We are proud to support financial literacy programming for students. Our on-going support for financial literacy education will help young Albertans navigate their futures with confidence by helping them build the fundamental life skills they need to prosper and secure their futures in today’s fast-moving world.”
In May 2022, Alberta’s government invested $5 million over three years into financial literacy programming to ensure students have the financial knowledge they need to thrive in life. Enriched Academy receives $900,000 per year and the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education receives $500,000 per year to provide students in grades 5 to 12 with financial literacy programming, aligned with the curriculum, to improve their financial knowledge. In addition, Junior Achievement receives $250,000 per year to provide hands-on, experiential financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship education to students in kindergarten to Grade 6.
“Our support for financial literacy programming will set Alberta’s youth up for success. This programming will ensure that Alberta’s youth develop the fundamental life skills they need to manage their personal finances, make sound financial decisions, and grow into adulthood with confidence.”
Free financial literacy webinar
Some of the funding provided will support Enriched Academy hosting a free live webinar for grades 4 to 12 students and teachers on Tuesday, November 26, as part of their financial literacy programming. The webinar will teach students how to build their credit with confidence and will feature an interactive gameshow format to engage and motivate students to learn how credit works and how to manage credit and their personal finances with confidence. Students and teachers who are interested in participating can register for the webinar online.
“Our partnership with the Government of Alberta has enabled us to deliver transformational financial literacy education to nearly six hundred thousand students across the province. As a high school teacher, I’ve witnessed firsthand how financial literacy education empowers students, increasing their confidence in money management and preparing them to be financially responsible. Investments in financial literacy are investments in our students’ futures, and I’m already seeing it pay dividends for Alberta students.”
Teachers can also access lesson plans, activities, and interactive tools from all three organizations’ websites to support financial literacy learning outcomes in Alberta’s curriculum.
Quick facts
- Financial literacy programming offered by the three organizations reaches more than 350,000 students annually.
- Alberta’s renewed K-6 curriculum includes an increased emphasis on financial literacy skills, as well as a stronger foundation in financial literacy in all grades.
Related information
Agriculture
Saskatchewan potash vital for world food
From Resource Works
Fertilizer Canada says the fertilizer industry contributes $23 billion a year to Canada’s economy and provides over 76,000 jobs.
A small potash extraction company in Manitoba calls Saskatchewan “the Niagara Falls of potash in Canada.”
The current 10 mines in Saskatchewan produced around 13 million tonnes in 2023, accounting for some 33% of global potash production, and exported 95% of it to more than 75 countries.
Potash mine No. 11 in Saskatchewan is working toward production in late 2026. That’s the $14-billion Jansen mine, owned by BHP, located 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon. It aims to produce around 8.5 million tonnes a year to start, and as much as 16–17 million tonnes a year in future stages.
With potash used primarily in agricultural fertilizers, Saskatchewan’s output is a key ingredient in global food security. Fertilizer is responsible for half of the world’s current food production.
As Real Agriculture points out: “Fertilizer production is not only an economic driver in Canada, but it is also a critical resource for customers around the world, especially in the United States.”
This is particularly important as Russia’s war on Ukraine has raised doubts about reliable supplies of potash from Russia, the world’s No. 2 producer, which produced 6.5 million tonnes in 2023.
In fertilizers, the potassium from potash increases plant growth and crop yields, strengthens roots, improves plants’ water efficiency, and increases pest and disease resistance. It improves the colour, texture, and taste of food. Natural Resources Canada adds: “Potassium is an essential element of the human diet, required for the growth and maintenance of tissues, muscles and organs, as well as the electrical activity of the heart.”
Canada’s federal government has included potash as one of 34 minerals and metals on its list of critical minerals.
Fertilizer Canada says the fertilizer industry contributes $23 billion a year to Canada’s economy and provides over 76,000 jobs.
The potash operations in Saskatchewan are in the Prairie Evaporite Deposit, the world’s largest known potash deposit, formed some 400 million years ago as an ancient inland sea evaporated. The deposits extend from central to south-central Saskatchewan into Manitoba and northern North Dakota. These deposits form the world’s largest potash reserves, at 1.1 billion tonnes.
Manitoba’s first potash mine is close to bringing its product to market. The PADCOM mine is 16 kilometres west of Russell, Manitoba, near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. The Gambler First Nation has acquired a one-fifth stake in the project.
PADCOM injects a heated mixture of water and salt underground to dissolve the potash, which is then pumped to the surface and crystallized. CEO Brian Clifford says this process is friendlier to the environment than the conventional method of mining underground and extracting ore from rock deposits.
Saskatchewan’s northern potash deposits are about 1,000 metres below the surface and are extracted using conventional mining techniques. To the south, deposits are anywhere from 1,500 to 2,400 metres deep and are mined using solution techniques.
PADCOM aims to produce 100,000 tonnes of potash per year, eventually growing to 250,000 tonnes per year. However, PADCOM president Daymon Guillas notes that across the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, the Nutrien potash mine near Rocanville, Saskatchewan, produces five to seven million tonnes per year.
“In 36 hours, they produce more than we do in a year. Saskatchewan is the Niagara Falls of potash in Canada. Our little project is a drip, just a small drip out of the faucet.”
(New Brunswick once had a small potash mine, but it closed in 2016.)
Real Agriculture says: “Canadian-produced potash remains vital to the U.S.’s ability to produce enough corn for feed, ethanol production, and export requirements, at a time when the U.S. heightens its focus on reducing exposure to international integrated supply chains in favour of U.S. domestic supply chains.”
Writer Shaun Haney continues: “For the U.S. corn farmer, Canadian-produced potash is critical for achieving the top yields. According to StoneX, over the past three years, Canada accounts for roughly 87 per cent of potash imports by the U.S., while Russia sits at 9.5%.”
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