Education and Financial Literacy

Financial literacy is a life skill that's more vital than ever before. While financial decisions have confronted all generations in the past, both young people and adults today must make increasingly important and complex choices about consumption, saving and investing.

What TD Is Doing

We believe that a good education opens doors and contributes greatly to the long-term well-being of individuals, families and communities. Basic financial literacy is also a foundation for personal and national prosperity. Financial literacy is directly related to our business and we therefore have a responsibility and the unique ability through our financial skills and expertise to make a strong contribution.

We invest in education and financial literacy in many ways. Our objectives are to:

• Raise financial literacy levels, with a focus on underserved communities
• Promote access to post-secondary education for all
• Support excellence at universities and colleges

Key Programs We Support

• Money Matters
  Created by ABC Life Literacy Canada, Money Matters is a free workshop to help adult learners – including new immigrants, Aboriginal Peoples, single parents and low-income families – become more confident in dealing with personal finances. TD is the founding sponsor of the program, and hundreds of TD volunteer-tutors deliver the program in community learning centres across Canada. To date, TD employees have volunteered more than 4,000 hours teaching almost 3,000 adult learners. Watch the Money Matters video.

• TD Bank Wow!Zone
  For more than two decades, this free, interactive program has taught over a million kids about budgeting, saving and the importance of building good financial habits early in life. We work with local schools and youth organizations in the U.S. to facilitate the program. Approximately 1,842 trained TD Bank instructors volunteer an average of 320 hours to teach over 7,600 students each month. Complementing the classroom component, students, parents and educators can access games and learning activities at www.tdbank.com/wowzone.

• First Book
  For the fourth year in a row, TD Bank teamed up with First Book to support its Banking on Books program. Our US$125,000 contribution is helping place more than 22,000 financially themed books in the hands of 9,100 children in need at Title 1 schools and youth organizations in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

• Girls Count
  In 2013, TD and the Girl Guides of Canada launched this program, which aims to increase money-management skills for girls aged 5 to 17. TD has provided $90,000 in funding, and TD volunteers and Girl Guide leaders deliver the interactive learning modules. Girl Guides earn a crest for participating in the Girls Count session. In 2014, more than 2,000 girls were reached through the program and more than 140 female TD employees volunteered at 100 Girl Guide units accross Canada.

• Prosper Canada
  In 2014, TD pledged a further $3 million over the next three years to support the Prosper Canada Centre for Financial Literacy, whose goal is to reach one million low-middle income, vulnerable Canadians with financial education, information and counselling by 2020.

• SmartSaver
  Created by Omega Foundation, this three-year pilot seeks to strengthen low-income Canadian families' ability to save for their kids' post-secondary education using Registered Education Savings Plans and the Canada Learning Bond. Click here to learn more information.

• Junior Achievement
  Junior Achievement (JA) develops hands-on education programs to help youth succeed in an ever-changing global economy. JA programs are focused on three areas: financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. TD provides funding, and our employees are active volunteers across North America.

• Wallet Wellness
  Financial Literacy supporting the Living Skills Curriculum for Ontario students TD is the exclusive funder of Ophea's Wallet Wellness; a new resource designed to support Ontario's teachers with helping Grade 4-8 students learn how to develop their financial literacy skills while contributing to their overall well-being.

• Dollars and Sense
  Created by Aboriginal Financial Officer's Association of Canada, the Dollars and Sense program provides education to Aboriginal youth on how to handle finances, make informed financial decisions, set savings goals and build awareness of career opportunities in finance.

• Student funding
  TD gives generously to post-secondary education across Canada, funding a range of bursaries, scholarships and programs that help students cover tuition and other costs. The TD Scholarships for Community Leadership is one example, through which we’ve donated more than $17 million to students for nearly two decades. In the U.S., the TD Charitable Foundation provides funding for underserved communities and programs that help kids stay in school and/or enrich their learning experience while there.

• Number Partners
  Dedicated to improving numeracy and financial literacy among primary school children, Number Partners is a volunteering program in the U.K. TD works in partnership with schools in Leeds and Manchester where TD employees visit every week to play number games with students, making math fun and boosting students’ confidence.

For more information on TD's Financial Literacy initiatives, please click here.