Informed decisions are critical to financial health—yet many young people are thrust into the "real world" with little preparation for making financial choices. That’s what motivated the creation of The City, a financial life skills resource designed to prepare students for financial management—before they leave home.

The free Web-based resource was developed by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC). It was based on the award-winning program developed by the BCSC that has been adapted for all Canadian provinces and territories.

In the safe, virtual world of The City, students learn how to separate their needs from wants, and create a financial plan and budget.

"The entire resource deals with how to handle credit and investments, how to deal with insurance, how to deal with fraud...I do believe that it is a very relevant resource," says Lucy Johnson, a teacher at Kate Andrews High School in Coaldale, Alberta.

A student said, "My birthday is on Facebook, so I went and I took that off because we are not supposed to have that on there."

But what really separates The City from other financial education resources is its interactive approach. The "soap opera" stories used to introduce financial topics to students make learning about money easy and fun, helping them relate to the life-like events they experience through the featured characters.