Registered Disability Savings Plan RDSP Now Available

I am pleased to inform you that the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), and its matching Grant and income-tested Bond are now available to Canadians across the country through the BMO Bank of Montreal. Société de gérance des Fonds FMOQ Inc. is also offering the RDSP, Grant and Bond to residents of Quebec. More financial institutions are expected to begin offering the RDSP, Grant and Bond in the coming months. Please visit our website regularly for updates.

The RDSP is a long-term savings vehicle to help parents and others save for the long-term financial security of a person with a severe disability. In general, any person under the age of 60 who is eligible for the Disability Tax Credit and a resident in Canada can establish an RDSP. Beneficiaries do not pay tax on earnings in an RDSP until funds are withdrawn. Anyone can contribute to an RDSP. There is no annual limit, with a lifetime contribution limit of $200,000.

The Government of Canada will also make two types of contributions to the RDSPs of eligible recipients. The Government will pay matching Grants of up to 300 percent, depending on the beneficiary’s family income and the amount contributed. An RDSP may receive a maximum of $3,500 in matching Grants in one year, and up to $70,000 over the beneficiary’s lifetime. The Government will also pay income-tested Bonds of up to 1,000 a year into the RDSPs of low and middle-income Canadians with disabilities, regardless of the amount contributed. For 2009, the Bond will be available to beneficiaries with family incomes under $38,832. The lifetime Bond limit is $20,000. The Grant and Bond can be paid into an RDSP until the year in which the beneficiary turns 49 years old.

The Government of Canada has extended the application period for the 2008 Grant and Bond until March 2, 2009, to provide people with disabilities and their parents and others more time to access the 2008 Grant and Bond. Therefore, contributions made on or before March 2, 2009 will be considered for 2008 Grants. Similarly, Bond applications for 2008 can be made until March 2, 2009. The 2009 RDSP contribution year will begin March 3, 2009.

We have attached a fact sheet on the RDSP. We encourage you to share the fact sheet, and please feel free to reference it in your regular publications.

For more information on RDSPs, the Grant and Bond, please visit our website at: www.hrsdc.gc.ca/disability, or call 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232). For TTY users, please call 1-800-926-9105.

In addition, the Office for Disability Issues will be holding information sessions in February and March 2009. More details on these sessions will be provided to you in the coming days.

If after visiting our website you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at: rdsp-orgs-reei@hrsdc-rhdsc.gc.ca.

RDSP Grant and Bond Outreach Team, Office for Disability Issues