Many parents in Chatham-Kent have potentially thrown out a letter worth thousands of dollars to their kids' futures.
According to Melaney Austin, with the municipality, a program allows families to earn up to $2,000 per child to go towards post-secondary education through the federal government. It is called the Canada Learning Bond and Austin said only 27 per cent of the 8,000 eligible kids in CK are signed up.
"Which is why we are just trying to get the word out to people that this is available," Austin said. "It is really going to encourage children to finish high school if they know they have an opportunity to go on to post-secondary school and really do what they want to do in life."
Austin said all the eligible families would have received a letter in the mail saying their child qualifies for the program. She added for some parents if they have multiple children under 15 years old, they could be missing out on thousands of dollars.
"So sometimes when we get letters we just don't know if they are legit, this one is legit," Austin said. "The money is there and you just have to move that money into an RESP"
Austin said eligible families can go to their banks and ask to set up a Registered Education Saving Plan (RESP) through the Canada Learning Bond. How it works is $500 is put away the first year and then the government adds an additional $100 every year until they finish high school or reach the maximum of $2,000.
She added if the recipient doesn't use the money for education by the time they turn 35 years old, just the funds the government put in get returned. Austin said the best part is families don't have to put in any money themselves, though they can.
"If you qualify for the bond you will also qualify for additional grants from the government and there are different amounts depending on how much you put in," Austin said. "If you pay into the RESP and the child doesn't use the money, you would get your money back."
Austin said to be eligible both child and parents must have a social insurance number, the child must be born after December 31, 2003, and the household income must be lower than roughly $45,000 a year.
Austin added anyone who needs help setting themselves up are in luck as the municipality will be holding five events. She said Services Canada will be present to get people Social Insurance Numbers who don't have them and they can help any parent quire birth documentation for their child, if they don't have any.
Anyone looking for more information can visit the municipality's website.
