FICO and First Tee – Ontario to Host Free Youth Financial Empowerment Event Ahead of the RBC Canadian Open
Article content
Article content
TORONTO — Global analytics software leader, FICO and First Tee's Ontario chapter will host a free Score A Better Future™ Fundamentals financial literacy event for teens from the Boys & Girls Club of Caledon and Brampton on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The event will be held at Mono Hills Golf Club and is designed to help teens aged 14–17 better prepare for healthy financial futures, including understanding how credit works and the role of the FICO® Score when it comes to saving for a home, car, or an education.
Article content
The event takes place within the week of the 2025 RBC Canadian Open. Following the workshop, students will participate in First Tee golf programming and take a group photo with the RBC Canadian Open Trophy.
Article content
'Financial literacy and a good golf game both require the same foundations: practice and discipline,' said Amber Aquin, Chapter Head of First Tee – Ontario. 'This collaboration with FICO during the RBC Canadian Open gives youth the opportunity to build both golf skills and the money smarts to excel on and off life's most important courses.'
Article content
FICO's Score A Better Future Fundamentals program is designed to educate teens on how financial decisions made early in life, particularly around credit, can shape their futures. The program equips students with practical knowledge to better understand personal finance and credit, while building habits that support long-term financial health.
Article content
'At FICO, we're passionate about helping educate young people to take control of their financial futures,' said Jenelle Dito, vice president of Consumer Empowerment Programs and Partnerships at FICO. 'Working with First Tee – Ontario and the Boys & Girls Club of Caledon and Brampton allows us to bring these important lessons to life in a fun, engaging way, just as the RBC Canadian Open begins.'
Article content
To learn more about the event or get more information on FICO's Score A Better Future™ Fundamentals program, visit: https://www.fico.com/sabf/.
Article content
Used by 90% of the top U.S. lenders, FICO® Scores help millions of people gain access to the credit they need to do things like get an education and make major purchases. Fundamentals helps empower students with financial literacy and the knowledge to achieve their financial goals.
Article content
Educators at all accredited middle and high schools can receive the Fundamentals curriculum and supporting materials through the Fundamentals website, which will also provide the background knowledge and understanding for teachers to successfully educate students while strengthening their own understanding of credit. To learn more about Fundamentals visit https://www.fico.com/sabf/fundamentals.
Article content
FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, insurance, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 80 countries do everything from protecting 4 billion payment cards from fraud, to improving financial inclusion, to increasing supply chain resiliency. The FICO® Score, used by 90% of top US lenders, is the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the US and has been made available in over 40 other countries, improving risk management, credit access and transparency.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
30 minutes ago
- CTV News
GTA elementary school teacher making 120K a year says that she ‘had better expectations' for her finances. Here's what happened
Christine Miller has been a Grade One teacher with the Peel District School Board for the better part of a decade and while she earns close to $120,000 annually, she says she is living paycheck to paycheck. Miller belongs to a rising number of middle-income households making up to $125,000 a year that are at risk of being squeezed out of the region, according to a report released by Civic Action this week. Many members of the group, like Miller, have healthy salaries well over the median income for Toronto but are still struggling to stay afloat and have essentially become 'the invisible poor,' Civic Action says. Miller, 56, lives alone in a one-bedroom 650-square-foot condo in Etobicoke, which she bought for $505,000 in 2019 with some help from her mother for the downpayment. Miller says she bought at a time when borrowing rates were low but the payments on her variable rate mortgage spiked as the Bank of Canada began to hike its key overnight lending rate in response to runaway inflation in 2022. While she loves her neighbourhood, with its lush gardens and the lake right in view, she says it has become increasingly difficult to pay her mortgage each month, even with a series of recent rate cuts from the central bank. 'I'm up to my eyeballs in the mortgage,' Miller said. 'When the rates went up, I was paying over $3,000 a month.' Miller says that she was already directing a significant portion of her income to her mortgage but is now spending more than half of everything she earns on her condo after taking a leave of absence to care for her 94-year-old mother and temporarily replacing her salary with employment insurance benefits. On top of her living expenses, Miller says her monthly bills also include car insurance, phone and internet, and groceries, for a rough total of $1,500. 'I don't have cable TV, so I watched the Stanley Cup on TikTok. I don't buy clothes, I don't go on trips,' Miller said. 'I have to get my hair cut every six weeks, but I don't go to a gym, I don't do my nails, I don't buy clothes unless I absolutely have to.' While Toronto's housing market has softened significantly in recent years, a report released by in April that you still need an annual household income of more than $217,000 to be able to afford an average-priced home in the city. Not having the means to be able to spend on anything outside of necessities really, Miller says she feels disappointed with where she's at. The elementary school teacher compared her life to what it was like for her mom and aunt, as they were also educators. She shared how her parents owned a four-bedroom home on a one-acre lot with a pool in the yard, had a vacation home in Florida and had the ability to help Miller throughout university. 'I had better expectations for where I would be at this point in my life and earning what I earn—because I'm earning close to $120,000 a year—I'm at the top of the pay scale,' Miller says, adding today's economy and her divorce set her back financially. 'I am not going to recover from that hit, like, I won't.' 'Prevention is better than cure' Miller is just one of many middle-income workers strapped on their monthly bills. Earlier this week, CTV News Toronto reported on CivicAction's housing crisis report which highlighted the struggles middle-income households in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area face as they don't qualify for traditional housing supports and are often forced to choose between lengthy commutes or out of reach living expenses. About two dozen readers from households making between $40,000 and $125,000 annually wrote into CTV News Toronto sharing what their day-to-day life is like working in various industries, from healthcare to policing to the skilled trades. Some wrote in sharing how they frequently commute to Toronto from places like the Niagara Region or Oshawa, incapable of finding work close to home, while some working parents described the challenges they face trying to provide their children with adequate daycare or a stable home. When asked whether she was surprised to hear the responses, CivicAction CEO Leslie Woo says their stories show what's currently at stake for the region. 'The situation is here and we're already paying a serious price, and every day that goes by that we're unable to sort of drive better collaboration to find solutions we're falling further and further behind,' Woo said. In CivicAction's report published Tuesday, researchers said that essential workers—those who make the region run, like nurses and teachers, for example—are increasingly being squeezed out of the GTHA because they're reaching their financial breaking point. The fact that these middle-income workers cannot qualify for housing supports—despite spending between 43 and 65 per cent of their monthly income to cover their mortgage or rent—should, in a way, act as a red flag for policy makers, Woo said. 'Our definitions of what and who qualifies for the kinds of supports are inadequate. It also means that how we're thinking about and the sort of old ways of providing support for those that are in need are also inadequate,' Woo said. It goes beyond empathy and pity, Woo says, as systemic adjustments need to be made to curb the long-term risks that can hinder the GTHA—from economical to social and even environmental standpoints. For its part, the city says it is 'aware' of the various pressures Torontonians are facing, from housing affordability to the rising cost of living, adding that it has implemented several policies to assist residents with 'varying income levels to ensure Toronto's long-term vibrancy, livability, and diversity.' A spokesperson for the city told CTV News that Toronto`s budget for 2025 including money to expand school food programs, freeze TTC fares and waive development charges to accelerate the construction of 6,000 rental units. The city says it also introduced a new action plan for the local economy to create quality jobs and has a goalpost of delivering 65,000 new rent-controlled homes by 2030, including 41,000 affordable rentals. Woo hopes policymakers—from all levels of government to employers and non-profits—act swiftly to address the region's housing issues. 'There's an old adage, prevention is better than cure,' Woo said. 'There are a lot of people for whom we could put preventative measures if we act swiftly.' Miller, however, isn't so sure that relief is on the horizon. 'It's like, you're working just as hard, you followed all the steps, right? You're making the money, and you're making the money, but it's not panning out in your life, in my life,' Miller said.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Free boxing show coming to Windsor
The Border City Boxing Club is hosting Rumble on the Rooftop on July 12. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual The Border City Boxing Club is hosting Rumble on the Rooftop on July 12. Windsor City Councillor Renaldo Agostino is getting residents excited about the event, held on the third floor of the Pelissier Street parking garage. 'We want to showcase kids in the area. We're hoping to get other local fighters from Blue Collar and from Windsor Boxing Club as well,' said Agostino. The free show will provide boxers and fans with 12 fights on the card, featuring 21-year-old national champion, Rosalind Canty, who's working to qualify for the Olympics.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Ottawa considering ‘combination of approaches' to 20% military pay hike
The Canadian flag is seen on a soldier's shoulder during an interview in Calgary on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward OTTAWA — Defence Minister David McGuinty's office says it's considering a 'combination of approaches' to boosting pay for armed service members, including introducing retention bonuses for 'stress trades.' 'This investment represents an almost 20 per cent increase to the overall CAF compensation envelope,' McGuinty's spokesperson Laurent de Casanove said in an email statement to The Canadian Press. 'The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are actively working on how best to implement this investment — looking at options that include a combination of approaches such as retention bonuses for stress trades, increased starting salaries for junior members, and a broad-based salary increase.' While McGuinty's recent public commitment to grant the Canadian Armed Forces a '20 per cent pay increase' won praise within the defence community, it has also led to confusion — and some experts are saying they want to read the fine print. Military pay scales are complicated and are based on rank, profession, deployment and other conditions. There are many ways to roll out a boost in compensation. Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said she thinks this will not amount to an across-the-board pay hike. 'What is clear to me from this statement is that they are looking at all the options,' she said. 'We're still in that big question about what it looks like because a pay raise versus specialty pay versus an adaptation of the compensation package overall — not in salary — are not the same thing.' She said the way the pay pledge was communicated initially was 'risky' since the details were not readily available, and that has led to confusion among military members and expectations of a blanket pay hike. Gary Walbourne, former ombudsman for the Department of National Defence, called McGuinty's promise 'vague at best.' 'There's nothing clear in this message,' he said. 'A 20 per cent increase overall to CAF compensation envelope, what does that mean? Is it coming in benefits? … Is it going be on a cyclical basis? What's the percentage increase? Is it based on seniority, rank, merit?' The former watchdog for military personnel said it sounds like the Liberal government wants to implement a pay boost quickly, but 'the mechanisms that they apply to it is going to complicate it and once the bureaucrats get their hands on it, well, I can see a slowdown coming.' If CAF members don't see a 20 per cent pay bump after the minister's announcement, he said, it will be 'déjà vu all over again' for military personnel who have been let down in the past by lofty promises followed by implementation that 'sucks big time.' The federal government has multiple policy options for addressing the cost of living for CAF members, such as lowering rent for on- or near-base housing or boosting allowances, such as danger pay. Duval-Lantoine suggested Ottawa should focus on specialty trades that 'do not get nearly the attraction that they need to have.' The military has long struggled with shortages of professionals who are hard to recruit and retain — people in the technical trades and logistics, pilots, medical specialists and middle management. The Navy has found it hard to attract and keep maritime technicians, while people working in maintenance trades such as plumbers and electricians can be paid better in the private sector. Walbourne suggested Ottawa look at direct pay, focus on the lower ranks and address regional disparities in the cost of living. Andrew Leslie, a retired lieutenant-general and former Liberal MP who has called for higher wages in the armed forces, hailed the minister's pledge as long overdue. 'They need it because the last 10 years, there hasn't been a lot of love shown to the Canadian Armed Forces by the government of Canada,' Leslie said. 'Quite frankly, a 20 per cent pay increase is outstanding and I compliment the leaders who made that decision. I firmly believe they're going to pay a 20 per cent pay increase to everybody in the Canadian Forces.' Gaëlle Rivard Piché, head of the Conference of Defence Associations and the CDA Institute, called the promised pay hike a 'great first step' and something that could be achieved 'quite easily' compared to other challenges facing the armed forces. 'It was long overdue,' she said. 'We know that the Canadian Armed Forces have been dealing with both a recruitment and a retention problem, and an increase in salary will certainly help to make Canadian Armed Forces positions and employment more attractive.' Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed during the recent federal election that he would rebuild and rearm the military and increase military pay. Some of the largest earmarks in his election platform go toward national defence. He recently announced a cash injection of $9 billion into national defence this fiscal year, as Canada looks to finally meet its NATO defence spending commitment. Then-defence minister Bill Blair last year described the state of military recruitment as a 'death spiral' and Canada is still short some 13,000 regular and primary reserve personnel, according to the Department of National Defence. 'There's been generally some delays in terms of receiving basic training, but also trade-related training, which makes people less inclined to finish their training and then become an actual serving member,' said Rivard Piché. Leslie also said housing and base conditions remain abysmal in some areas and need to be quickly addressed. 'Black mould exists in a variety of national defence buildings. There are some bases that don't have drinking water. There's buildings and houses for families that are 60, 70, 80 years old in dire need of repair,' he said. 'As well, you've got to make sure that you have money for equipment, money for training, money to create the stockpiles of stuff you're going to need should the worst happen — i.e., war.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2025. Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
