# See if you're eligible for the $2,000 Canada Learning Bond! Over 500,000 students in Canada were eligible for the Canada Learning Bond and never got it. It's a federal grant worth up to $2,000 that you don't need to contribute anything to claim. Here's what it is, why almost nobody gets it, and the four steps to see if it's yours. --- Over [500,000 students in Canada were eligible for the Canada Learning Bond](https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/esdc-edsc/documents/services/student-financial-aid/education-savings/reports/statistical-review/CESP_ASR_2025_EN.pdf) and never got it. They qualified. Claiming it was hard, and nobody told them there was a way. The CLB is up to $2,000 in free government money for school, and you don't have to put in a cent of your own to get it. Yet most eligible students never see it, because it only lives inside an RESP, and the process was built for parents opening accounts for their kids, not for a young adult opening one in their own name. That's finally changing, and this issue is how to take advantage of it. > Over 500,000 students your age were eligible for this money and never got it. Let's make sure that isn't you. ## The free money most people miss The Canada Learning Bond is a federal grant for students from modest-income families. It shows up in your RESP, and [you don't need to contribute anything to get it](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/education/education-savings/estimating-amounts.html). No deposit from you, no matching formula. The government puts the money in. How it stacks up: - **$500** in the first year you're eligible - **$100** for each additional eligible year after that, up to the year you turn 15 - **Up to $2,000** total It's a grant, not a match, and the amount you're entitled to doesn't depend on what you or your family put in. We covered the difference between grants and loans in our guide to [Canada Student Grants vs. Loans](/learn/canada-student-grant-vs-loan/), and the short version is: a grant is free money, a loan is borrowed money. The CLB is the first kind. ## Why almost nobody gets it The CLB has a one-line catch: it only gets paid into a Registered Education Savings Plan, or RESP. Think of an RESP as a savings account the government uses specifically to help pay for education, and the CLB only lands there. If you don't have an RESP, you don't get the CLB, even if you're eligible. For the full walkthrough of who qualifies and how to claim it yourself, see our [guide to getting the adult CLB](/learn/how-to-get-adult-clb/). And that's the whole problem. Most students don't have an RESP, because most RESP products are built for parents opening one for a newborn, not for an 18-year-old opening one in their own name. The forms ask the wrong questions, the process assumes you're a parent, and a grant that was supposed to be easy turns into paperwork. So people give up, and the money goes unclaimed. That's how over 500,000 students end up eligible with nothing to show for it. Same energy as [Issue 14](/newsletter/issue-14/): the money exists, but it only pays out if you go get it. Eligible is not the same as paid. ## Do you qualify? Three quick checks. You have to be eligible on all of them. **The income test.** The CLB is income-based, and the cutoff is set by how many kids are in your family. For the current benefit year (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027), the threshold is [about $58,523 of adjusted family net income for families with up to three children](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/education/education-savings/estimating-amounts.html). It's higher for larger families. Eligible means the money is yours, but the exact figure changes every year, so treat this as the ballpark and check your own situation. **The age test.** You had to have been [born in 2004 or later](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/registered-education-savings-plans-resps/canada-education-savings-programs-cesp/canada-learning-bond.html). The CLB isn't open to everyone, and this birth-year cutoff is what defines who can still claim it. **The deadline.** You can apply [until the day before you turn 21](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/registered-education-savings-plans-resps/canada-education-savings-programs-cesp/canada-learning-bond.html). Miss that date and the chance is gone. One more thing that makes this worth doing now: the CLB is retroactive. If you qualified in an earlier year and never claimed it, [that money accumulates and you can claim it all at once now](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/education/education-savings/estimating-amounts.html), up to the $2,000 cap. Back-pay included. ## How to claim it, step by step This used to be the part people bounced off. It isn't anymore. ### Step 1: See if you qualify The fastest way to know if the CLB is yours is the eligibility check in the hi finance app, which looks at your situation and tells you whether you qualify, along with any other grants you might be missing. It takes a couple of minutes. ### Step 2: Open your RESP If you're eligible, you open an RESP in your own name. This is the step that used to be the wall, because institutional processes assume you're a parent. Newer ones don't. You'll book a short virtual meeting to get it set up, and you'll want a photo ID and your SIN on hand. ### Step 3: The application gets submitted for you You don't have to grind through the government forms alone. Once your RESP is open, the application is handled on your behalf, and the CLB is applied for. That's the part that keeps people from bailing: someone else does the boring work. ### Step 4: Withdraw your funds when you enrol The CLB sits in your RESP until you enrol in a qualifying post-secondary program, then it comes out to cover your costs as an Educational Assistance Payment. There's a tax wrinkle worth knowing: [the payment is taxed in your hands](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/education/education-savings/paying-education.html), but most students have little other income and end up owing nothing. This is general information, not financial advice. A tax preparer can confirm what a withdrawal means for your own return. ## The easier way: claim it with hi finance The CLB was designed to help students from modest-income families, and then buried under a process built for someone else. We teamed up with Embark to fix exactly that: the app helps you find out if you might be eligible, and if you are, connects you with Embark to open your RESP in your own name and handle the government side for you. No confusing paperwork, no process that assumes you're a parent. A few steps, and someone takes the boring part off your plate. On outcomes, the honest version: nobody can guarantee you're eligible, and no app can change the income rule. What hi changes is the fight. If you qualify, you'd be catching money that over 500,000 students like you already left on the table. See if you qualify, right in the app.
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## Common questions **Do I have to put my own money in to get the CLB?** No. That's the part most people don't believe. [You don't need to contribute anything to your RESP to receive the CLB](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/education/education-savings/estimating-amounts.html). It's a grant, not a match. **I'm past the deadline. Can I still get it?** If you've already turned 21, no. The CLB is only for people [born in 2004 or later](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/registered-education-savings-plans-resps/canada-education-savings-programs-cesp/canada-learning-bond.html), applied for before the day before you turn 21. If you're under that, apply now, because the retroactive rule means earlier eligible years count. **What if I don't end up enrolling in school?** The CLB waits in your RESP until you enrol in a qualifying program. If you never enrol, [the money goes back to the government](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/education/education-savings/paying-education.html). So the CLB is a reason to have an RESP ready, not a reason to skip school. **Is this the same as the Canada Student Grant?** No. The Canada Student Grant is a Canadian benefit that comes through your student aid application to help with this year's costs. The CLB is a separate, income-based savings grant with its own rules. Both are free money; they arrive differently. Our guide to [Canada Student Grants vs. Loans](/learn/canada-student-grant-vs-loan/) sorts out the family. ## This Week's Recommendations **Read:** *Money Like You Mean It* by Erica Alini. A Canadian journalist's guide to debt, saving, and housing for people earning their first real money, and one of the few finance books that treats student aid as a system to work rather than a personal failing. **Listen:** *Stress Test* by The Globe and Mail. A personal finance podcast aimed at people in their 20s and 30s, covering student loans, rent, and first jobs with actual Canadian rules instead of imported American ones.