Toronto, June 21, 2010 - SEDI today submitted to the Canadian Securities Administrators input on the new National Instrument 41-101 and related efforts to modernize the security regulation of Registered Education Plans (RESPs).

“We have spent the past three years working with community groups across Canada to improve access for low-income children to the Canada Learning Bond through a program called My Child's Future ,” said Adam Fair, managing coordinator of the Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy, a division of SEDI. “We believe that the Canada Learning Bond (CLB) and the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) can help low-income families save and build assets. The challenge for the federal government is to make Registered Education Plans (RESPs) such as the CLB and the CESG work for low-income people by making these benefits more accessible and easier to navigate.”

The CLB was expected to cost $170 million in its first two years and benefit over 120,000 newborns in its first year. However, after a year and a half on the market, less than $51 million have been spent on CLB direct payments, benefiting only about 76,000 children. The participation rate for the CLB currently sits at 16%, well below projected government targets.

In addition, although RESPs were designed to encourage low-income families to save for their children's education, evidence shows that they primarily benefit families with high income, wealth and education levels.

SEDI's paper to the Canadian Securities Administrators outlines barriers that prevent low-income families from investing in their children's education through RESPs and proposes public policy options to tackle these barriers.

To read the full document, please click here.

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For further information:

Adam Fair, SEDI

416-665-2828, ext. 240

afair@sedi.org