This is a program that we've long advocated for. The reason is that people do save in their RRSP. I would encourage the committee to invite representatives from the banking industry to find out the rates of saving. In the reports that I have seen, it's higher than you'd think. In the use of RRSP for the homebuyers plan, it is a quarter of all users using the maximum. The increase that we requested and that is in this budget is really just reflective of inflation, so it was overdue.
The other part of it is that I don't think the impact has been well understood with regard to the extension for these life circumstances. In those cases, I think you'll find very significantly high rates where people have RRSPs and the ability to access those funds will mean that people will be able to stay in their home and keep their kids in their home through a marital breakup. That's pretty significant. The numbers are there, sadly, because there are a lot of divorces in Canada; that's why were estimating that 25,000 people are accessing this measure per year.
First of all, on the regular use of a homebuyers plan, it has a good take-up. People are saving. Young people are saving. I have two millennial sons, and they both have RRSPs. They are pretty disciplined about it. It's something they learned the value of early on, and not just from me. It's a measure that will help people access home ownership and at the same time reduce debt. There has been great concern from the policy-makers, in particular the Governor of the Bank of Canada, about personal debt. This is a measure that helps people acquire a home with less debt.