Tag: SmartSAVER STAFF

Our daily blog offers selected news of interest to SmartSAVER’s stakeholders and shines a light on the creative ways that communities are promoting the Canada Learning Bond. Stay up to date, read what others are doing and share your own story.

TALK TO US

We hope our blog will create conversation and support the exchange of ideas.

We’d love to hear from you! Tell us about your CLB promotion or share tips to engage eligible families. Do you have a question for the community? Submit your stories, ideas and questions to info@SmartSAVER.org and we’ll share it on our blog.


Overcoming parents’ skepticism about the CLB

Blog Posts

It’s not unusual for organizations promoting the Canada Learning Bond to meet with some wariness when speaking to parents about Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs) and the Canada Learning Bond (CLB). They may hear doubts about the CLB, about an RESP with no fees, or about how little time it takes to apply. Here’s information you can use to be ready to meet and overcome these concerns.

  • No such thing as FREE money?
    Parents can be skeptical when they hear the CLB described as free money. They simply don’t believe that no personal contribution is required to receive it. You can reassure them that it’s true! Here are some stories of real parents who have already received their child’s CLB. Or share a story about a parent you’ve worked with who got the CLB without spending a single dime!

 

  • Time worries?
    Some parents raise concerns that they don’t have time to open an RESP and apply for the CLB. Alleviate these concerns by making sure they know that SmartSAVER’s online application takes less than 10 minutes to complete and can be completed any time, day or night, on a desktop, a tablet, or even a Smartphone. They choose the financial institution they wish to work with and select the location and time that’s convenient for them to complete the paperwork.

 

  • Confused about RESPs?
    A recent study by the Federal government found that, while many families are aware of RESPs, fewer are familiar with the grants, like the Canada Learning Bond that are available to start and grow their savings. If a parent is not clear, or is relying on confused information about their RESP options, they may be hesitant to participate. However, this can result in them missing out on thousands of dollars for their child’s education. Encourage them to visit SmartSAVER.org to find clear, accurate information about RESPs and the Federal grants they could receive for their child’s account.

 

  • Don’t like dealing with banks or credit unions?
    Some parents are reluctant to work with a financial institution, for instance, if they have concerns about their other finances. Let them know that SmartSAVER helps to make their interaction simpler. SmartSAVER creates a warm introduction to a partner financial institution of their choice specifically to open an RESP and to apply for the CLB with no fees and with no contribution required – ever! And, remind parents that they don’t have to have or start a savings or chequing account to start an RESP.

 

  • Community-based agencies can help families get the CLB
    These are the most common hesitations I have encountered and they can be overcome with accurate information. The families you serve count on you to inform them of opportunities that are beneficial to them and their children. Don’t let the families you serve miss out on the Canada Learning Bond.

 

Have you heard other concerns? Contact me and let’s address them.

Joe March
Partnership Manager, SmartSAVER

This post is part two in a series from SmartSAVER’s Partnership Managers. Read Part 1: Community Partners are Key to CLB take-up.

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‘RESP grants still favour higher-income families’, but lower-income families are gaining ground

Blog Posts

The CBC’s reporting today that “RESP grants favour higher-income families” is a good reminder, not only of the imbalance that still exists in who benefits from the Canada Education Savings Program (CESP), but also of the lack of attention paid to the growing participation of lower-income savers documented in the most recent evaluation of the program.

The evaluation is the third to have been conducted since the introduction of the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) in 1998. The first, completed in 2003, identified the need to increase support to encourage lower-income families’ participation. This led to the introduction of the Canada Learning Bond and additional CESG (A-CESG) in 2004.

A subsequent evaluation completed in 2009 found that “there had not been a significant change in the share of lower income RESP subscribers since the inception of the A-CESG and CLB,” noting that take-up of the new grants was lower than expected and that awareness of them remained low.

Since then, communities across Canada have joined government in efforts to inform families of these benefits, to make sure that lower-income children are not excluded from these opportunities. And the newest evaluation finds that some positive trends are beginning to emerge:

“A significant increase in RESP participation and accumulated RESP savings has occurred at every income level. Participation has increased every year for all income groups –notably, RESP take-up among families with an income under the lowest A-CESG threshold increased four-fold since 1999 and reached 30% in 2012 (with the CLB found to have had a significant impact).”

The evaluation found that:

  • The number of lower-income families with RESPs is increasing;
  • The proportion of RESP beneficiaries from lower-income families is increasing; and
  • The proportion of the CESP’s disbursements directed to lower-income families is increasing while the share of disbursements to higher-income families is decreasing.

A CESP survey further revealed that families with lower incomes, more than those with higher incomes, are encouraged by the RESP grants to start saving earlier than they would otherwise. The CLB in particular, was found to motivate their participation.

These first signs of progress underscore the importance of continued, focused effort to assist lower-income families to access the Canada Learning Bond. To ensure that all families gain proportional benefit from the CESP, more must be done, as the report recommends, to:

“1. Explore ways for funds to more effectively reach families with the greatest need for assistance and encouragement to save for their children’s future PSE; and

2. Complement outreach efforts on promoting awareness with promoting understanding of the CESP savings incentives in order to support increased participation among all Canadian families.”

By May Wong, Executive Director, Omega Foundation

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