Meet an Economic Expert
Building a school program at the Bank of Canada Museum
Adam Young, Education & Evaluation Specialist, à Bank of Canada Museum
Do you really know what economists do? Or even wondered how the global economy works? In an effort to clarify the economy — and to dispel the myth that economics is mostly “math and boring work” — the Bank of Canada Museum has launched The Central Bank in Your Classroom, a new speaker series that brings an economist or data analyst into high school and university classrooms.
The economy is a frequent preoccupation for Canadians and often a ballot-box issue during elections. So, educating students about it is of great importance. But with many interdependencies and so much information to analyze, it is no wonder that teachers see economics as an abstract and complicated topic. And on top of that, few of us really understand just what the Bank of Canada does. So, we created The Central Bank in Your Classroom program.
Financial and economic literacy are at the heart of the Bank of Canada Museum’s work. As the only Canadian museum dedicated to money and economics, we are uniquely positioned to clarify not just the individual and collective roles we all have in the economic system but, most especially, the role of the central bank.
While students might be familiar with a regular commercial bank, a central bank plays a unique and integral role in supporting a nation’s economy. Interest rate decisions, supervising retail payment providers, designing and distributing bank notes, acting as the bank of the federal government—the Bank of Canada has a broad and deep mandate. And within the Bank of Canada is a similarly wide variety of jobs—so a big part of this presentation is making students aware of the careers the Bank and the broader economic community can offer.
This presentation takes time to delve deeper into core functions of the Bank of Canada that students may not be aware of but see the results of every day. It answers some big questions:
- What is the economy?
- What is our role in the economy?
- What is inflation?
- Why do we target inflation?
- What is a policy interest rate?
- How do interest rates affect us?
- What do the symbols on bank notes mean?
- How do I spot a counterfeit?
The entire presentation is led by a Bank of Canada employee. The Museum team has trained over 40 employees for this task. Presenters include economists, data scientists and policy analysts. In their training, employees learn to use plain language, answer complex questions and craft metaphors and analogies to help explain the economic system. Often, they are younger employees who might have a regional connection to the community they are visiting, whether in-person or virtually. In the last half of the presentation, each employee shares their own career journey and the steps they’ve taken to get where they are today. The result is a meaningful and frank conversation on careers in economics, finance and data.
“Economics isn’t just boring numbers and math,” says one of the Bank’s economists in our new video Think Like an Economist. “We don’t always do the math and boring work. We do a lot of interactions with different kinds of people.” The Central Bank in Your Classroom allows our staff to interact with young people and inspire them to look under the hood of economics and consider a rewarding –and mesmerizing– career they may have not thought possible before.
The initial presentation is designed to make the most meaningful connections possible across provincial and territorial curricula. We tested the program with several schools in spring 2025 to see if our approach would resonate with teenagers. We further adapted the presentation to different groups, adding more animation and plainer language. We then launched the full program in September 2025. So far, we have reached nearly 2,000 students. Teachers have given it excellent ratings, and employees keep asking to present again. Most importantly, students have enjoyed connecting with other students to help each other see beyond the headlines, inspiring interest in the economic forces shaping Canada’s future.
The Bank of Canada Act guides the Museum’s work to support the financial and economic welfare of Canadians. The better all Canadians understand our goals, the more likely we are to achieve them together. Making the complex world of central banking both understandable and engaging, the Central Bank in Your Classroom fosters curiosity, critical thinking and career exploration in young Canadians. It is critical to the Bank’s strategic objective “to reach a broad and diverse audience across the country and promote an understanding of the Bank’s work, which increases confidence and trust.”
You can book your class for the Central Bank in Your Classroom – in either official language – throughout the year. Visit the Bank of Canada’s website for more information.
