Your Child's Education

A September 2003 Statistics Canada survey showed that nearly 90% of Canadians want their children to attend university or college. 

Unfortunately, the same survey showed that only 40% of parents have actually started setting money aside for post-secondary education. -  Due to rising tuition fees, you may need to set aside more money than you had counted on.

According to Human Resources and Development Canada, a child born in 2003 can expect to pay about $85,000 for a four-year undergraduate degree. If your son or daughter wants to enter one of the professions — such as medicine or law — that number could be even higher. Tuition at Queen's University's medical school has already risen 300% over the past five years to just under $12,000 per year, while the University of Toronto law school plans to increase its yearly fees to $22,000 by 2006.

The good news is that there are specialized savings plans available to help you deal with this coming cash crunch. A registered education savings plan (RESP) could allow you to place up to $42,000 per child in a tax shelter, and also receive an additional $7,200 in grant money from the government!

If you'd like to learn more about how this kind of plan could work for you, please contact: Ken MacCoy, RHU