Victoria, May 31, 2016— On International Children’s Day, June 1, Coast Capital Savings encourages parents to take advantage of a key program that can help the financial and educational well-being of their young children: the B.C. Training and Education Savings Grant (BCTESG).

The $1,200 provincial government grant was launched last August and Coast Capital Savings was one of the first financial institutions to provide access to the program. Since September, the families of more than 1,300 children have started BCTESG accounts at Coast Capital Savings to take advantage of the program, putting $1.5 million into education accounts for their children.

This year 80,000 children across the province are, or will become, eligible to receive the $1,200 grant from the province. It is a one-time provincial incentive that must be used for post-secondary education or training. The grant is available to children born after 2006, once they turn six years old. Families may apply any time before their child’s ninth birthday.

“The BCTESG is the easiest way to kickstart your child’s education savings, and International Children’s Day is the ideal occasion to remind parents and guardians to take advantage of this opportunity,” said Ian Thomas, Vice President, Retail, Investments and Insurance for Coast Capital Savings. “At Coast Capital, we are always looking for ways to help our members improve their financial well-being, and this grant fits perfectly with that goal.” 

Since this is a new program, if a child was born in 2007, 2008 or 2009, families can get an extension until August 14, 2018 or the day before their ninth birthday, whichever is later, to receive the grant.

Parents can apply for the grant at any of Coast Capital’s 50 branches.  Parents don’t need to contribute to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) to receive this grant, but they need to open an RESP before the child turns nine.

In order to enroll, both the child and a parent (or guardian) must be residents of B.C. and have valid social insurance numbers.

If approved, the $1,200 grant will be deposited directly into an RESP once the application has been processed by Employment and Social Development Canada. The money will arrive within about six to eight weeks after the application is made.
Once the child is enrolled in full-time or part-time studies at a qualifying post-secondary educational program, the B.C. Training and Education Savings Grant can be withdrawn from the RESP.

More information is available at a Coast Capital Savings branch, or https://www.coastcapitalsavings.com/investments/registered-accounts/resp

Coast Capital Savings is Canada’s largest credit union by membership. A recipient of the 2015 “Outstanding Corporation” Giving Hearts Award, the credit union invested $5 million­­­­­­­­ into local communities in 2015, focusing on empowering and engaging youth. Coast Capital is one of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures™, a member of Canada's Best Managed Companies Platinum Club, and an Imagine Canada Caring Company. It has 50 branches serving its 532,000 members in the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island and Okanagan regions of British Columbia. Product innovations include Canada's first free chequing account from a full-service financial institution. To learn more, visit coastcapitalsavings.com.

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Coast Capital Media Line:

A BCTESG success story:

When the BCTESG grant helps a new blended family to better financial well-being. 
A staff member at Coast Capital Savings’ Sidney branch had often thought of a member she had helped with an estate after the sudden death of the member’s husband.

Then one day, the member came in to the branch with her young child and her fiancé—also a Coast Capital member with young children—to open RESP accounts and take advantage of the $1200 per child offered by the BC Training and Education Savings Grant. The BCTESG helped this newly blended family start their life together by saving for their children’s education needs.

The couple echoed the appreciate that so many other members expressed: “This is so great – we likely would not have started saving for our children’s education without hearing about this grant – thank you so much!”