Project Coordinator: David Pereyra
About one million Canadians have no bank account and about five million are underbanked. The barriers fall hardest on people with disabilities, Deaf people, newcomers, racialized communities and people without stable housing. Partnerships for Financial Inclusion works with disability and community organizations to remove those barriers and to help build financial systems that include everyone.
The project is led by the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) at OCAD University, and I coordinate it. Phase 1 produced research, tools and partnerships. Phase 2 carries this work forward through the Financial Inclusion and Resilience Movement (FIRM), a community-led structure meant to outlast federal funding.
What Phase 2 aims to do
- Empower disability and Deaf communities to remove barriers and advocate for inclusive financial systems.
- Guide policymakers, governments and large organizations towards accessible, equitable financial systems.
- Help security and privacy organizations address fraud, scams and abuse that affect disability and Deaf communities.
- Build long-term resilience through shared services, knowledge hubs and community-led governance.
Webinar: Creating Participatory Architecture
A session of the FIRM Community of Practice with Madeline Toubiana (University of Ottawa) and Natalie Sharpe (University of Alberta). It looks at inclusive governance, drawing on a six-year study of collaborative organizations.
Resources
- Guidebook for Financial Inclusion
- White paper: Financial Partnerships as a Pathway to Financial Inclusion
- Knowledge repository
- FIRM website
Funded by Employment and Social Development Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the Hewlett Foundation, the SSHRC New Frontiers in Research Fund and Accessibility Standards Canada. Partners and the full project description are on the project website.
