Examining the financial knowledge of immigrants in Canada: a new dimension of economic inequality

Immigrant populations in developed societies face challenges to economic integration and are at high risk for financial precarity. Both structural and individual factors may contribute to the precarious financial lives of immigrants. Financial knowledge, which refers to individuals' understanding of everyday finances, is considered one of the individual-level factors that influence individuals' financial well-being. To date, limited work has examined the financial knowledge of immigrant populations. In this study, we used data from the 2009 and 2014 Canadian Financial Capability Survey (N = 22,204) to understand the levels of financial knowledge of immigrants. Our findings suggest that immigrants have significantly lower levels of financial knowledge than their Canadian-born counterparts. Among immigrants, those with a shorter stay in Canada have significantly lower levels of financial knowledge compared to those with a longer stay. Some other groups, such as older adults, females, and those with lower levels of education and income have lower levels of financial knowledge than other groups, which puts them at higher risk for financial fraud, abuse, and exploitation. Building financial knowledge and adopting inclusionary financial policies will help protect immigrant populations from financial vulnerability and enhance their financial well-being.