Social and equity issues

What is it?

People with diverse backgrounds and identities will experience barriers and vulnerabilities to accessing financial systems in different ways. This page describes some of these unique issues to better understand their perspectives.

Articles

This Articles section includes research papers, news articles, and other information published on the Internet.

• “Greater Economic Inclusion means more opportunities for immigrants and refugees – and a stronger Canada” by Windmill Microlending. Article reinforcing the importance of newcomers to Canada and their role in a healthy economy.

• “Financial Barriers for Students with Non-Apparent Disabilities within Canadian Postsecondary Education” by Tony Chambers, et. al / Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability. A study examining the education-related debt, and the process of acquiring accommodations for students with non-visble and visible disabilities in Canadian postsecondary education. The findings for students with non-apparent disabilities and medical disabilities suggest a need for further investigation and potential policy implications for these specific cohorts of students.

• “Achieving Equality through Financial Inclusion” by Hamed Arbabi / Forbes. Article describing how the financial sector can address equality issues by using approaches such as digital payments, financial literacy, and new services with lower bars to entry.

• “Addressing Financial Barriers to Health Care Among People Who are Low-Income and Insured in New York City, 2014–2017”, by Taylor L. Frazier, et. al / National Library of Medicine. A paper compiling findings describing financial barriers to health care experienced by public housing residents with low household incomes and health insurance in New York City.

• “Part 1: Barriers to Financial Inclusion for People with Disabilities” by Jody Blaylock / Financial Inclusion for All. A blog article about digital barriers to access facing people with disabilities.

• “Barriers to Economic Security: Disability, Employment, and Asset Disparities in Canada” by Michelle Maroto, David Pettinicchio. A study examining the complex relationship between households with a disability, employment, and assets.

• “Five challenges prevent financial access for people in developing countries” by Gloria M. Grandolini / World Bank. An article that highlights 5 specific barriers encountered by developing nations, including gender and rural inequality, protections and regulations, and financial inclusion.

• “Barriers to basic financial services perpetuate persistent economic gaps” by Charles Davidson / Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The article explores the impact of race in accessing credit, financial services, home ownership, privacy, and accessing loans and money.

• “Banks facing calls to address Racial Barriers” by Melissa Shin / Advisor’s Edge. Article outlines how banks are dealing with systemic racism, and how it affects their customer service and lending practices. In particular the article cites challenges faced by black female entrepreneurs when accessing financial services such as securing loans. Banks offer unconscious bias training for employees, but advocates argue that more can be done.

• “Strategies to ensure young persons with disabilities are included in the future of work” by Institute for Work & Health. Report that documents the challenges and opportunities for organizations seeking to employ young people that include the use of technology (like AI) and HR practices.

Experiences

This Experiences section includes stories, perspectives, and experiences submitted by people experiencing disabilities or is Deaf. Where necessary, personal information have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

• Jose was not able to monitor his VISA card records because they didn’t work with his alternative access system, as a result there were numerous invalid charges. He can’t contest them because it requires a phone call, and he is non-speaking.

• Rebecca is threatened with losing her disability pension because she can’t complete the financial reporting forms which are incompatible with her speech recognition system.

• Silvia and her husband have been consistently denied loans or credit despite sufficient collateral because she has an unusual earnings history due to her episodic disability.

• Firsthand stories about the impacts and benefits of accessible housing at Accessible Housing Network.

Other issues being raised or addressed

• This section is work in progress.

External groups

The External Groups section contains links to organizations or individuals who are working, advocating, or innovating in this space. The parties mentioned in this list are not endorsed by the IDRC.

• Accessible Housing Network - A collaboration of non-profit Canadian organizations, advocating in support of people of all ages to live as they wish, in housing that is fully accessible.

Contribute to this topic

Do you have an article or resource to add to this page? Do you have an experience you would like to share? Add your insight and perspective to this topic by using one of the following options:

• Use the comment feature on this page by either: 1) highlighting text on the page and select “Comment”; or 2) using the “Comment” section at the bottom of the page.

• Completing the article submission web form or by completing the article submission Word document and emailing it to jhung@ocadu.ca.

For your privacy and security, please avoid sharing personally identifiable information such as names and specific locations.