News Release

Montréal - The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are pleased to announce the names of the 11 young winners of its annual "Financial Fitness Challenge" Contest.  The winners, who hail from each of the Canadian provinces and one territory, have each won a prize of $750 for proving their financial fitness savvy through a series of quiz questions on-line. 

The winners are:

• Jeffrey Chalissery (British Columbia)
• Nicole Brisson (Alberta)
• Malorie Thomson (Saskatchewan)
• Jennifer Walichnowski (Manitoba)
• Jamie Harshman (Ontario)
• Alexandre Boutet-Dorval (Québec)
• Karie Jackson (New Brunswick)
• Sarah Mattinson (Nova Scotia)
• Ben Versteeg (Prince Edward Island)
• Dana Martin (Newfoundland and Labrador)
• Maureen Gacayan (Northwest Territories)

The "Financial Fitness Challenge" Contest, which was open to Canadians 15 to 21 years of age, took place April 1 to 30, 2007.  The on-line contest featured questions and information on budgeting, saving and investing.  Participants were encouraged to learn about financial matters and answer questions using hyperlinks to other useful sites.

With more than 12,000 contestants, this year's edition has shown once again that young Canadians are interested in becoming more knowledgeable about savings and investments.  "As securities regulators, the CSA feels it's extremely important to find ways to engage Canada's youth in improving their financial literacy," said CSA Chair Jean St-Gelais. "By reaching them now, we believe it will translate into responsible investing behaviour later in life."

Teachers were also invited to take part in the contest and many visited the website and took advantage of the teacher resources available for use for their classroom discussions and activities.  Close to 100 teachers responded to the teacher's survey.

Although the contest has ended, the information will continue to be available on-line at www.FinancialFitnessChallenge.ca [link no longer operational].  Those who didn't win or missed the contest can look forward to another edition of the CSA contest next year!

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, co-ordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.