Money practice
The money test, in plain words
If you started Grade 9 in 2025 or later, you have to pass a money test to graduate. It happens in Grade 10, inside your Career Studies course. You do some lessons first, then answer questions at school. You need 70% and you get two tries.
This is practice. It isn't the real test.
The real one is made by TVO and done at school in Career Studies. Nothing on this page counts toward it. It's here so the ideas make sense before you get there. For practice that looks like the real thing, use TVO Learn's practice assessments.
What people ask
- Does anything on Launch League count toward it?
- No. The requirement is lessons and questions made by TVO, done at school in Career Studies. Practice here can help you get ready, but it doesn't count.
- Do I have to do it?
- Yes, if you started Grade 9 in 2025–26 or later. From September 2028, every student does. Some students who finished Career Studies earlier are exempt — your school will know.
- When and where?
- In Grade 10, as part of Career Studies. You go in person on the day, unless your course has proper online supervision.
- What mark do I need?
- At least 70%. You get two tries, and it counts for 5% of your Career Studies mark.
- What if I don't get 70% after two tries?
- You still have options. You can do the lessons again outside the course, get extra help at school, or complete a set of money activities made by TVO. If something serious got in the way, your school can look at your case.
- Can I practise?
- Yes. TVO Learn has practice assessments. The practice on this page is extra — it isn't the real test and doesn't look like it.
Seven topics
Learn it, then try it
Each one: what it means, an example with made-up people, and a question. Work it out before you open the answer.
01 · Practice
Budgeting
A budget is deciding where your money goes before it goes. Write down what comes in. Take off what you must pay. Put some aside to save. What's left is yours to spend.
Priya, 15, made up: she earns $120 a month cleaning sneakers. Phone $35, bus $25, savings $20. That's $80 out, so $40 is left for everything else.
Try it
You get $200 a month. Your phone is $45, your bus pass is $40, and you spend $60 eating out. You want to save $30. How much is left?
Show the answer
$25. Take everything off the $200: 200 − 45 − 40 − 60 − 30 = 25.
02 · Practice
Earning and saving
Your pay has two numbers. Gross pay is what you earned. Net pay is what you get after taxes and deductions come off. Save first, before you spend — even a little, every time.
Devon, 16, made up: he works 10 hours at $17 an hour, so his gross pay is $170. After deductions his pay stub says $155. That means $15 was taken off.
Try it
You earn $15 an hour and work 12 hours. Your pay stub says $164. What was your gross pay, and how much was taken off?
Show the answer
Gross pay is $180, because 15 × 12 = 180. The difference is $16, because 180 − 164 = 16.
03 · Practice
Interest rates
Interest is what borrowing costs, or what saving earns. The rate is a percent per year. Compound interest means next year's interest is worked out on the new, bigger amount.
Made up: you save $1,000 at 5% a year, added once a year. After one year you have $1,050. After two years you have $1,102.50, because the second year's 5% is on $1,050.
Try it
You borrow $400 on a card that charges 20% a year, and you pay nothing back for a year. About how much do you owe?
Show the answer
About $480, because 400 × 1.20 = 480. In real life it's a bit more, because cards add interest more often than once a year.
04 · Practice
Taxes
Income tax comes off your pay. HST is added on top of most prices when you buy something — 13% in Ontario. If you run a business, the HST you collect was never yours. You send it to the government.
Made up: a $40 hoodie plus 13% HST is $45.20, because 40 × 1.13 = 45.20.
Try it
A phone case is $25. HST in Ontario is 13%. What do you pay at the till?
Show the answer
$28.25, because 25 × 1.13 = 28.25.
05 · Practice
Credit and debt
Credit lets you buy now and pay later, and it usually costs extra. Paying only the minimum keeps the lender happy but barely touches what you owe. Paying on time, every time, builds a good credit score.
Made up: Sam puts $300 headphones on a card at 20% a year and pays it all off after twelve months. Roughly, it costs about $360. Saving up first costs $300.
Try it
Which costs more over a year: $300 headphones bought with money you saved, or the same headphones on a card at 20%, paid off after a year? By roughly how much?
Show the answer
The card, by about $60, because 300 × 0.20 = 60. The real amount is usually a bit higher, because card interest is added more often.
06 · Practice
Being a smart buyer
Compare the unit price, not the sticker. Read the return policy before you buy. Free trials often turn into paid subscriptions. In Ontario, some contracts, like gym memberships and ones signed at your door, give you 10 days to change your mind.
Made up: 12 granola bars for $6.00 is $0.50 a bar. 8 bars for $4.40 is $0.55 a bar. The bigger box is cheaper per bar.
Try it
Size A is 500 g for $4.00. Size B is 750 g for $5.70. Which is cheaper per 100 g?
Show the answer
Size B. A is $0.80 per 100 g, because 4.00 ÷ 5 = 0.80. B is $0.76 per 100 g, because 5.70 ÷ 7.5 = 0.76.
07 · Practice
Scams and fraud
Scams rush you, scare you, or ask you to pay in a strange way — gift cards, crypto, or an e-transfer to a stranger. Real banks and real companies never ask for your password or a code sent to your phone.
Made up: a text says your parcel is stuck and you owe $1.99 at a link. There's no parcel. The link steals your card number.
Try it
Someone messages you: "I sent you $200 by mistake. Please send it back." You see a message about it, but you haven't checked your bank. What do you do?
Show the answer
Send nothing. Open your real bank app yourself — not a link — and check. This is a common scam: the "money" was never really there. Tell an adult, and it can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Words to know
- Budget:
- A plan for your money before you spend it: what comes in, what goes out, and what's left.
- Gross pay:
- What you earned before anything is taken off.
- Net pay:
- What actually lands in your account, after taxes and other deductions come off.
- Deduction:
- Money taken off your pay before you get it, like income tax.
- Interest:
- The price of borrowing money. Or, if you save, the money the bank pays you.
- Compound interest:
- Interest on your interest. It makes savings grow faster, and debt grow faster too.
- Credit:
- Borrowing now and paying later. Credit cards and buy-now-pay-later are both credit.
- Debt:
- Money you owe.
- Credit score:
- A number lenders use to decide whether to lend to you. Paying on time helps it. Missing payments hurts it.
- HST:
- Harmonized sales tax. In Ontario it's 13%, added on top of the price of most things when you pay.
- Unit price:
- The cost of one unit — one gram, one bar, one litre. It tells you which size is really cheaper.
- Scam:
- A trick to get your money or your passwords. Most scams rush you or ask you to pay in a strange way.
What trips people up
- Leaving it to the day of the test. The lessons come first for a reason.
- Mixing up gross and net pay. Gross is before deductions. Net is what you actually get.
- Forgetting that interest compounds. Debt grows faster than it looks.
- Thinking a business's HST is extra money. It belongs to the government.
- Comparing sticker prices instead of unit prices.
- Clicking a link in a message about money. Go to the real app or website yourself.
You're ready when
- I can make a one-month budget and change it when something changes.
- I can explain the difference between gross pay and net pay.
- I can work out 13% HST on a price.
- I can explain why compound interest makes debt grow faster.
- I can compare two sizes by unit price.
- I can name three signs of a scam.
Want to use this on real money? Business 101 works out what one sale earns, and the Launch Sprint covers HST for a business in plain words. Teachers: extension class 9 in the educator toolkit teaches all of this in one period.