“There Are No Banks Here” Financial & Insurance Exclusion in Winnipeg’s North End

Abstract

Financial exclusion is a matter of growing concern in Canada considering the decline in the number of mainstream bank branches in some inner-cities and the concurrent rise in the number of fringe banks. This study reports on results from a survey of residents from Winnipeg’s North End, a low-income area of the city. The study seeks to understand resident’s experiences with financial and insurance services: which ones they use, which ones are important to them and how accessible the services are. As a follow-up to research completed in 2002-2003 in the North End this survey asked questions about a greater number of services (banks, fringe banks, informal financial services and insurance services and financial support services) in a semi-random fashion to a broader range of respondents (low- and middle-income).