Financial Resilience Institute

November 5, 2025 · 3 mins

Proven Correlation Between Financial Inclusion and Access to Specific Types of Financial Help and Improved Financial Resilience Outcomes for Canadian Households

For the first time, evidence released in Financial Resilience Institute’s new report shows a correlation between Canadian households having improved financial inclusion, and access to specific types of financial help over the past 12 months and improved financial resilience outcomes, leveraging our peer-reviewed Financial Resilience Index Model and data from the 2017-2025 Financial Well-Being Studies.

 

November 5, 2025 – Financial Resilience Institute, a leading authority on financial resilience and well-being in Canada and globally, today publishes its ‘Financial Inclusion and Access to Financial Help as a Pathway to Financial Resilience’ report. The Institute has utilized its Financial Resilience Index Model, the first of its kind in the world, and Financial Well-Being Studies Instrument (2017-2025) to provide evidence of a correlation between Canadian households having improved financial inclusion and access to specific types of financial help and improved financial resilience outcomes. Financial inclusion and access to relevant help is a pathway towards household financial resilience, and financial well-being. Index analytics were conducted leveraging extensive time series, including for key populations such as Canadians living with low incomes and others. This study, based on Canadian data, has applications in Canada, enabling the ability to measure, for example, the impact of key interventions, such as financial help services provided by non-profit organizations for people facing financial hardship, or consumer advocacy and interventions to help reduce the number of people utilizing predatory payday loans (which increase household financial vulnerability) over time.

This research also has applications for countries, with the ability to utilize Global Findex 2025 financial inclusion and other data in combination with the Financial Resilience Index model to prove and track key financial inclusion and support areas that drive improved financial resilience outcomes for key populations or in key countries, while supporting longitudinal impact measurement around the power of key interventions on improved financial resilience and other outcomes for populations over time.

While financial inclusion and access to help challenges may be improving for Canadians at the national level, an estimated 500,000 to 2.2 million Canadians still face financial inclusion and access-to-financial help challenges at any one time. Through rigorous analysis of thousands of survey responses across multiple years, our findings reveal that households excluded from key aspects of financial help (financial inclusion enablers) score approximately 20 Index points lower in terms of their mean financial resilience score compared to those not facing the same financial inclusion and access-to-financial help challenges.

The Institute’s Index analytics identified five areas where targeted interventions related to financial inclusion and access-to-financial help could yield the greatest impact:

  1. Access to help in managing one’s debt
  2. Access to financial information or education needed
  3. Reduction in the households using payday loans or informal sources of credit
  4. Access to insurance to improve one’s financial security
  5. Access to financial support or advice to help one plan ahead financially, save or invest

All identified barriers have statistically significant negative correlations with household financial resilience (p < .001).

This report provides evidence that if Policymakers, Financial Institutions, Employers and the wider financial empowerment sector in Canada work to help close and/or reduce specific financial inclusion and access to financial help gaps this can be an important pathway to improved financial resilience outcomes.

About Financial Resilience Institute

Financial Resilience Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the financial resilience and well-being of Canadians and global citizens. It is a leading independent authority on financial resilience and financial well-being in Canada in globally. The Institute is working to help improve financial resilience and financial well-being for all, in line with its impact goals to:

  • Reduce financial vulnerability, in particular for those who need help most
  • Be a catalyst for positive change, through thought leadership, impact measurement, partnership and cross-sector collaboration; and
  • Foster financial inclusion and empowerment, while helping people, businesses and communities to thrive and prosper.

This research is central to all three impact goals, with the Institute bringing data and evidence to help make the case for Policymakers, Financial Institutions, Employers and ecosystems to provide targeted support and interventions that drive positive financial resilience and financial well-being outcomes and help create a better world.

For sample reports published by the Institute: https://www.finresilienceinstitute.org/index-releases-and-reports/

To learn more about our work and explore opportunities to become a client, funder or partner to help accelerate impact together: www.finresilienceinstitute.org

For feedback on this report or summary please contact: info@finresilienceinstitute.org

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