For the first $500 you contribute to your child’s RDSP, the government will contribute $1,500 to the plan. For the next $1,000 you contribute, the government will match it by another $2,000. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it’s true! Read on.
If your child is eligible for the Disability Tax Credit, you can set up an RDSP for him/her. Contributions to an RDSP may be supplemented by payments from the Canada Disability Savings Grant Program. Lower-income families may be eligible for assistance from the Canada Disability Savings Bond Program without having to make a contribution to an RDSP.
Both the Canada Disability Savings Grant (CDSG) Program and Canada Disability Savings Bond (CDSB) Program are administered by Human Resources and Social Development Canada.
Deadline for receiving the CDSG or CDSB for the year 2008: Set up an RDSP, and make the Grant or Bond application on or before March 2, 2009.
As of now, RDSPs seem to be available only at Bank of Montreal. You can call the BMO Investment Centre at 1-800-665-7700 to set up an RDSP.
For details, visit these sites:
www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/disability_issues/disability_savings/index.shtml
www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/rgstrd/rdsp/fq-eng.html
www.rdsp.com (A very helpful website set up by Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network, a non-profit enterprise that has led the advocacy work to make this disability savings plan happen.)
