Saving for your child’s education can be difficult, especially if you are trying to save for multiple goals or pay down debt at the same time. The federal government offers contributions to your child’s Registered Education Savings Program (RESP) through its grant programs: the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) and the Canada Learning Bond (CLB).
The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is money that the Government adds to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) for children from low-income families. This money helps to pay the costs of a child’s full- or part-time studies after high school at apprenticeship programs, CEGEPs, trade schools, colleges, or universities. Learn more about eligibility requirements and the application process using this website.
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The Canada Education Savings Program (CESP) recently developed a Toolkit for Public Primary Caregivers to help child welfare organizations open Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs) and access the Canada Learning Bond (CLB) for children in care.
Most children in care automatically qualify for the CLB, but too many of them are missing out on the CLB. As public primary caregivers in receipt of the Children’s Special Allowance, most child welfare organizations can open RESPs and request the CLB for children in their care.
The Toolkit explains the process for accessing federal education savings incentives from the perspective of a public primary caregiver. It explains how to get Social Insurance Numbers for children in care, how to open and manage an RESP, what to do with the account when a child is adopted or ages out of care, and how to access the money when the youth enrols in post-secondary education. It also includes an infographic for quick reference.
Le Programme canadien pour l'épargne-études (PCEE) a récemment élaboré une Trousse d’outils pour les responsables publics pour aider les organismes de protection de l'enfance à ouvrir des régimes enregistrés d'épargne-études (REEE) et à accéder au Bon d'études canadien (BEC) pour les enfants pris en charge.
La plupart des enfants pris en charge sont automatiquement admissibles au BEC, mais trop d'entre eux ne bénéficient pas du BEC. En tant que responsables publics recevant l'allocation spéciale pour enfants, la plupart des organismes de protection de l'enfance peuvent ouvrir des REEE et demander le BEC pour les enfants dont ils ont la charge.
EDSC_EnfantsPrisEnCharge_REEETroussedoutils.pdf explique le processus d'accès aux incitatifs fédéraux à l'épargne-études du point de vue d'un responsable public. Elle explique comment obtenir un numéro d'assurance sociale pour les enfants pris en charge, comment ouvrir et gérer un REEE, ce qu'il faut faire avec le compte lorsque l'enfant est adopté ou cesse d'être pris en charge, et comment accéder à l'argent lorsque le jeune s'inscrit à des études postsecondaires. Il comprend également une infographie pour une consultation rapide.
The Canada Learning Bond is money that the Government of Canada adds to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) to help pay the costs of full- or part-time studies after high school. If you are eligible for the Canada Learning Bond and have not already received it in an RESP, you will receive $500 deposited into your RESP, plus an additional $100 for every subsequent year that you were eligible, up to the age of 15. This money can help cover the costs of tuition, books, tools, transportation, and housing. You do not need to put any money into the RESP to receive the Canada Learning Bond. This single page insert tells you everything you need to know to apply for the Canada learning bond. Disponible en Français.
Matched Savings programs, or Individual Development Accounts, are a financial empowerment strategy that aim to build financial stability and reduce poverty. These programs build sustainable livelihoods by working with participants to earn savings while learning about money management, build regular savings habits, self-confidence, and hope for the future. Matching This brief presents key findings from Momentum's Matched Saving programs and the impact on program graduates' saving habits, establishment of emergency savings, and contribution to registered savings.
funds act as a power boost to the participants’ own savings, allowing them to purchase productive assets to move their lives forward.
Parents can save for their children's postsecondary education by opening and contributing to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) account, which provides tax and other financial incentives designed to encourage participation (particularly among lower-income families). While the share of parents opening RESP accounts has increased steadily over time, as of 2016, participation rates remained more than twice as high among parents in the top income quartile (top 25%) compared with those in the bottom quartile. This study provides insight into the factors behind the gap in (RESP) participation between higher and lower-income families.
This printable brochure from the Government of Canada explains the key details you need to know when choosing a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) for your child's education savings.
This fact sheet from the Government of Canada answers Frequently Asked Questions about the Canada Education Savings Plan. This includes details about the Canada Learning Bond, the Canada Education Savings Grant, and Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs).
This fact sheet from ESDC explains how to open an RESP and access the Canada Learning Bond.
Proliteracy.ca analyzes historical living expenses from over 160 cities and tuition from over 100 universities and colleges in Canada to predict the cost of post secondary education in the future. Their tool suggests financing options based on your profile. Learn about RESP, grants, scholarships and various government and commercial programs with their online resources.
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.
This is a one-hour webinar on increasing take up of Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs) among people on low incomes. Our panelists share challenges and success stories in their work to help clients save for their children’s post-secondary education. Learn successful outreach strategies, tips on increasing sign ups through one-on-one support, and other approaches that work. The presenters in this webinar are: Click 'Get it' below to access the video link, and scroll down to access handouts, slides, and video timestamps for this webinar.
Handouts, slides, and time-stamps
Presentation slides for this webinar
Handouts for this webinar:
RESP case plan – webinar handout (from Credit Counselling Sault Ste. Marie)
RESP tracking sheet – webinar handout (from Credit Counselling Sault Ste. Marie)
RESP quick reference sheet – webinar handout (from FSGV)
RESP sample letter to schools – webinar handout (from Credit Counselling Sault Ste. Marie)
Time-stamps for the video recording:
3:00 – Agenda and introductions
5:05 – Audience polls
9:00 – Importance of education savings (Speaker: Glenna Harris)
16:00 – Credit Counselling Services Sault Ste. Marie and District (Speaker: Allyson Schmidt)
33:00 – Family Services of Greater Vancouver (Speaker: Rocio Vasquez)
54:45 – Q&A
Children’s education savings accounts are a vital tool in boosting high school completion rates, increasing post-secondary education attainment, and reducing poverty. Research shows that saving for a child’s education is connected to improved child development, greater educational and career expectations, and future financial capability. This brief explains why RESPs are so important, and how parents can use RESPs to save for their children's education.
The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is an educational savings incentive that provides children from low income families born in 2004 or later with financial support for post-secondary education. Personal contributions are not required to receive the CLB, however take-up remains low among the eligible population. The Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU), in collaboration with the Learning Branch and the Innovation Lab at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of behavioural insights (BI) in correspondence sent to primary caregivers of children eligible for the CLB. This trial demonstrates the effectiveness of BI interventions tailored to the particular behavioural barriers that affect specific populations in increasing take-up of programs like the CLB. If scaled across the eligible population, the best performing letter would result in thousands more children receiving this education savings incentive on an annual basis.
This one-page fact sheet tells you everything you need to know to make your child's future possibilities grow! The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is a grant of $500 up to $2000 from the Government of Canada to eligible families to help with the cost of a child’s education after high school. It is deposited directly into a child’s Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). Children born January 1, 2004 or later, whose family’s annual income is less than $46,000 can receive the CLB.
This case study is about the Omega Foundation’s SmartSAVER program. It has effectively elevated the Canada Learning Bond (a post-secondary education savings program for low income families) from a struggling idea to a fully-fledged and well-utilized national resource. In so doing, Omega and SmartSAVER have created new pathways out of poverty for thousands of Canadians. This story gives us significant insight into the process of bringing an innovative idea to life. It offers important observations about the barriers to launching and scaling innovative ideas. It also offers insights into the solutions that can overcome these barriers.
This document explains the basics of group RESPs, including what they are, what they may cost, what you need to know about your group RESP if you are already enrolled in a plan, and how to figure out your options. Read more about the research behind these materials here.
Through the Group RESP Research and Education Project, SEED Winnipeg, Momentum (Calgary), the Legal Help Centre of Winnipeg, and an interdisciplinary research team studied the regulation of group plan RESPs and the experiences of low-income subscribers, and developed public legal education materials to support low-income RESP subscribers in understanding and making informed decisions about their RESP investments. This report presents the research component of this project. This report shows that group plan RESPs are complex, and while they can be beneficial, participation in a group plan may be detrimental to a subscriber's financial well-being if the plan is not well aligned with the subscriber's needs. Low-income subscribers continue to be significantly represented in RESPs held by group plan promoters.
This report analyzes the Canadian experience with education savings programs, as the US moves towards more comprehensive Children's Savings Account policy.
