Financial understanding: it just adds up-to big prizes for Canadian students

OTTAWA, Dec. 14, 2012 /CNW/ - The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) is pleased to announce the winners of the Financial Literacy Month video contest for young people. The video contest invited students aged 13 to 19 to show their financial savvy by producing a video with the theme, "How am I saving for…" The videos had to finish with the words, "Financial understanding. It just adds up."

The 38 entries received demonstrate that Canadian students know the importance of financial understanding and are ready to show what they are saving for and how they are doing it. The students who entered had plenty of creative ways to save for goals from university tuition, to vacations, to horses.

"It pays to know that financial literacy is for everyone, including students," remarked FCAC Commissioner Ursula Menke. "The video contest showcased how young Canadians are thinking of their futures and how their decisions, including budgeting, affect them."

After the closing date of the contest, an FCAC jury narrowed the videos down to eight finalists. A second jury selected the top three winners from the group of finalists based on creativity, production quality and messaging:

• 1st place: Claire Sandercock, a 14-year-old from Edmonton, Alberta, has won a 13" MacBook Pro.
• 2nd place: Sameer Pannu a 16-year-old from Brampton, Ontario, has won a 16-GB iPad with Wi-Fi and a $50 iTunes gift card.
• 3rd place: Lankesh Patel, a 17-year-old from Brampton, Ontario, has won an 8-GB iPod Touch.
• Honourable mention: Isaac Mailach, a 16-year-old from Thornhill, Ontario.

One of the final eight also had an opportunity to win a special "People's Choice" award: a $50 iTunes gift card to the student whose video received the most "likes" on YouTube by December 13. The "People's Choice" was awarded to Tanner Kelly, a 15-year-old from Kingston, Ontario, whose video got 97 "likes" on YouTube.

The winners were selected by MP James Rajotte, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance; Michael Hicks, Vice-President Hyperactive Productions and Ursula Menke, FCAC Commissioner.

All eligible videos were uploaded onto FCAC's YouTube channel, where people had the chance to view, "like" and comment on them. Altogether, they collected more than 9,000 views, 560 likes and 80 comments.

About FCAC

With educational materials and interactive tools, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) provides objective information about financial products and services to help Canadians increase their financial knowledge and confidence in managing their personal finances. FCAC informs consumers about their rights and responsibilities when dealing with banks and federally regulated trust, loan and insurance companies. FCAC also makes sure that federally regulated financial institutions, payment card network operators and external complaints bodies comply with legislation and industry commitments intended to protect consumers.

You can reach us through FCAC's Consumer Services Centre by calling toll-free 1-866-461-3222 (TTY: 613-947-7771 or 1-866-914-6097) or by visiting our website: itpaystoknow.gc.ca.

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SOURCE Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Image with caption: "Claire Sandercock, 14 years old, has won a 13" MacBook Pro by explaining how she is saving to buy a horse. (CNW Group/Financial Consumer Agency of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121214_C9162_PHOTO_EN_21982.jpg

Video with caption: "1st place: Claire Sandercock, 14 years old, has won a 13" MacBook Pro. In her video, she explains how she is saving to buy a horse. She presently is a student at Wisdom Home Schooling in Edmonton, Alberta.". Video available at: http://youtu.be/nhiHfnyi_7U