Accessing the Canada Learning Bond: Meeting Identification and Income Eligibility Requirements

Not having a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and not filing taxes may represent challenges to access government programs and supports such as the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) and the Canada Learning Bond (CLB).

Limited data availability has prevented a full assessment of the extent of these access challenges. This study attempts to address this knowledge gap by analyzing overall differences in SIN possession and tax-filing uptake by family income, levels of parental education, family type and Indigenous identity of the child and age of children using the 2016 Census data augmented with tax-filing and Social Insurance Number possession indicator flags.

 



Webinar: SIN and Tax Filing Uptake in Canada

This webinar shares results on Statistics Canada research on barriers to uptake for the Canada Learning Bond (CLB). Specifically, this research examines whether tax filing or Social Insurance Number (SIN) access are greater barriers to accessing the CLB.

Read the slides which accompany this Statistics Canada webinar. (Lire les diapositives en francais).

Regarder la vidéo en français.

 



Accessing the Canada Learning Bond: Meeting Identification and Income Eligibility Requirements

Introduced in 1998, the Canadian Education Savings Program (CESP) was designed as an incentive to encourage education savings for the post-secondary education of a child. The program is centred on Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs), where savings accumulate tax-free until withdrawn, to pay for full- or part-time postsecondary studies such as a trade school, CEGEP, college, or university, or in an apprenticeship program.

The CLB was introduced in 2004 specifically for children from low income families. CLB provides, without family contribution being required, eligible families with an initial RESP payment which may be followed by annual payments up until the child is aged 15 years old.

The objective of this paper is to assess the extent to which not tax-filing and not having a SIN for a child could pose a challenge to accessing the CLB and the CESG. This study will address the knowledge gap by analyzing overall differences in SIN and tax-filing uptake by family income, levels of parental education, family type and Indigenous identity of the child. The findings will help understand access issues  related to the CLB but also to other programs with similar administrative conditions.

En francais: Accéder au Bon d’études canadien: l’atteinte des critères d’identification et d’éligibilité selon le revenu.