Madam Speaker, one aspect of access to lifelong learning, if that is the way to put it, concerns me greatly. Participation in higher education of all sorts, from the trades, to colleges, to universities and so on in Canada is as high as or higher than in any other jurisdiction in the whole world. We have problems with student debt and a variety of other problems, but participation is very high.
Looking at the figures, we will see that participation drops off very quickly among low income families. The government is providing a first year grant for low income students, which is a step in the right direction.
I mentioned the Canada learning bond. As soon as a child is born in a low income family, $500 will be deposited into the child's RESP account, and $100 will be deposited each year until the child reaches 15 years of age. When the child reaches 18 years of age, he or she can draw on those moneys, plus the interest which has accumulated over the years, plus any moneys the family or caregiver have deposited in the account matched 40% by the federal government.
I wonder if my colleague would care to comment on that effort to raise awareness of post-secondary education for low income families and any other aspect of education for low income students.