Richard CanfieldPodcast Host and IBC Advisor, Ascendant Financial · Authorized Infinite Banking Practitioner | Author of 4 Books

Average Canadian is financially illiterate

23 Feb 2026 · 0 min

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In this brief dialogue, Speaker B asserts that the average Canadian is financially illiterate, lacking basic knowledge of personal finance, and that constant exposure to news about massive monetary sums (billions, trillions) further numbs public concern. Speaker A expands on this by likening the situation to a 'boiled frog' scenario, where repeatedly hearing such large figures becomes white noise that lulls people into apathy. Together, they argue that both low financial literacy and media saturation with huge numbers desensitize Canadians, reducing engagement with financial matters.

The average Canadian, number one is financially illiterate. Most Canadians don't know much about, you know, their own financial affairs. So when you compound that with constant news cycles, it becomes dummy. When you hear billions here, billions there, it's numbing the average Canadian, the average person, to not really care anymore.
We are kind of in that boiled frog situation where throwing down a billion dollars or a trillion dollars as a number has become and developed into some measure of white noise. And white noise tends to put people to sleep.