More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Many Canadian parents are stretching themselves thin — even going as far as to postpone their retirement in some cases — in order to help pay for their children’s education, according to a new survey.
The poll of 1,000 Canadians with at least one child revealed that 81 per cent of parents believe it is their duty to help their children pay for their post-secondary education.
Fifty-two per cent of parents who participated in the online survey by Léger and Embark, an education savings and planning company, said they would go into debt and 61 per cent said they would be willing to postpone their retirement in order to do so.
However, Andrew Lo, president and CEO of Embark, said that while many parents want to help their children pursue post-secondary education, the rising cost of living has made it harder for them to set aside money to achieve that goal.
“We surveyed across Canada and found that while people are very highly motivated to save for their children's education, economic realities make it a difficult choice for them,” Lo told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
Seventy-three per cent of parents polled said it’s been harder to save for their children’s education with prices and living expenses going up and 40 per cent said they’ve stopped saving for their child’s education altogether because of how much everything is costing them.
The cost of paying for a child’s post-secondary education is playing a role in how many children Canadians are having as well, the survey found, with 42 per cent of parents saying the price tag attached to sending a child off to university or college either has influenced or will influence the number of children they have.
The survey also revealed that 62 per cent of parents think saving for their children’s education can be overwhelming at times.
Lo said there are a few steps that parents can take to set their children up for success while also minimizing their financial stress.
First, he said parents should figure out how much post-secondary education costs and what they are willing and able to pay for it.
“A few dollars a month will make a big difference,” he said, adding that parents should begin saving as early as possible, allowing their savings to grow over time. .
If they haven’t already, Lo recommended starting a registered education savings plan (RESP).
An RESP is a long-term savings plan to help people save for a child's education after high school. Parents and grandparents can contribute money to an RESP at any time — up to a total of $50,000 per child.
“When you invest money in this instrument, it grows tax free, so the income you earn from the investment grows tax free (until it’s withdrawn). The government grants coming in also can grow tax free. And that money is essentially free,” Lo explained.
Asking loved ones for monetary gifts for a child’s birthday and other holidays is another way Lo said parents can collect contributions for a child’s RESP.
Lo noted that Embark recently launched a digital platform to help parents calculate how much money they should be saving up until their child turns 18, keep track of their RESP contributions and access government grants for a percentage of their investment contributions.
Financial advisors can also offer advice to parents who are looking to begin saving for their child’s post-secondary education.
When it comes to making any financial decision, Lo emphasized the importance of doing your research and getting help when you need it.
“Knowledge is power,” Lo said.
An online survey of 1,000 Canadians parents with at least one child under the age of 18 in the household was completed between May 5 and 12 using Leger’s online panel.
No margin of error can be associated with a non-probability sample like a web panel in this case. For comparative purposes, though, a probability sample of 1,000 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”