New data shows that almost 60 per cent of Canadian parents plan to offer “free room and board” to their children in post-secondary education, which comes amid the cost of living crunch.
The 2025 Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning from Statistics Canada “gathered information from parents and guardians on the strategies they use to prepare for their children’s post-secondary education, their plans for financing schooling and the barriers to saving for higher education.”
Nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) of parents and guardians of children under 18 years of age in Canada said they are working to save for their children’s post-secondary education “through registered or other savings vehicles” in 2025, a slight increase from 2020, which sat at 69 per cent.
“It’s more of an eye-opener, just even for parents as to what budgeting needs to look like, what type of conversations they need to have, what type of savings that needs to be done,” said Sumaiya Bhula, senior manager and a product group owner at TD Bank.
The data also shows who may be struggling to save for post-secondary education.
Less than half (44 per cent) of children whose parents had a high school diploma or less had savings set aside for their post-secondary education in 2025.
This proportion increased to 65 per cent among children whose parents had a trades certificate or college diploma and to 79 per cent among children whose parents had a university degree.
In addition to post-secondary education savings, Canadian parents also planned to support their children in other ways.
The survey states that 64 per cent of parents indicated that they would help their children pay for post-secondary education once they begin, and 27 per cent indicated that they plan to help them repay all or part of a student loan.
Meanwhile, 17 per cent plan to take out loans when the time comes.
Household income also had a role to play in education savings.
In 2025, 91 per cent of children in families in the highest income quintile had savings set aside, compared with 52 per cent of children in families in the lowest income quintile.
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Bhula also stated that one of the biggest gaps or challenges among some people is a “lack of information” and not being aware of what’s available to them.
“I think it’s making sure you have a budget and a financial plan for the parents and the student,” Bhula said. “Because collectively they need to be in sync and both need to think about their own financial future, but how are they supporting each other to make that whole happen.”
The study also found that among children younger than 18 years with post-secondary education savings, approximately 89 per cent had a registered education savings plan (RESP) in 2025, up from 85 per cent in 2020.
Other less commonly used methods included mutual funds (14 per cent), registered retirement savings plans (12 per cent), registered disability savings plans (3 per cent) and other types of investments (11 per cent).
Bhula said that it is important to have a “robust plan” in place to set money aside for post-secondary education, saying “no amount is too small.”
“It’s really important to … understand all the pieces that come with it. For example, as tuition goes up, it seems to be going up every year, books, if you’re going to be living off campus, food, there’s a lot of components that come in with that,” said Bhula.
She also mentioned the possibility of a student continuing their education after completing a degree.
“I think when your child is in university or college at that time, you probably have a sense with your child where they want to go, or even when they’re in high school, if they want to continue their education. I think that’s why … starting those conversations is so important because that way after the four years, you might need to save a little bit more,” she said.
Fifty-one per cent of parents stated they were planning to “start later” to save for their children’s post-secondary education.
The reasons parents gave for not starting to save earlier were that all available funds go toward covering day-to-day expenses (54 per cent), they prefer to pay education costs when the time comes (33 per cent) and they want to pay off debt first (27 per cent).
On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he experienced an influx of calls from students expressing concern about the government’s decision to raise tuition fees and cut OSAP grants, saying “he couldn’t fight against post-secondary leaders any longer.”
Last week, the government confirmed it would allow colleges and universities to raise tuition fees by two per cent a year and substantially scale back the grant funding available to students.
“I got a lot of calls from students about OSAP and they were interesting calls, and I returned every one with a standard statement,” Ford told reporters. “It wasn’t hundreds, it was thousands.”
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