RBC report says more than half of parents helping adult children financially, including with groceries and rent

A new study finds more than half of parents have provided financial support to their adult children in the last year.

TORONTO — A new report by RBC says just over half of Canadian parents with adult children say they are still helping them out financially with expenses including groceries and rent.

The report says 51 per cent of parents with adult children aged 18 to 40 surveyed say they provided financial support in the past year.

Of those helping out, 56 per cent say the money was to help pay for groceries, while 43 per cent have helped with an unexpected or emergency expense.

Twenty-four per cent say the money was to help pay for rent.

On average, the report finds parents who provided financial support gave $6,151, while 24 per cent gave more than $10,000.

The report was based on an online survey of 1,000 Canadian parents with children aged 18 to 40 done for RBC between July 2 and July 8.

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026.