An RDSP is a ‘registered disability savings plan’. The Canadian Revenue Agency

describes the purpose of this as a “trust arrangement between a holder and an issuer (a trust company in Canada)’. This kind of account exists to provide financial security for anyone with a “prolonged and severe physical or mental impairment”. Obviously, you have to be registered disable to be eligible to receive access to this account.

Lots of different parties can pay into this account, including the beneficiary, parents, family or any other authorized contributor. One of those authorized contributors is the Canadian Disability Savings Grant, which makes payments to eligible RDSPs.

There are various tax benefits to this account – although contributions are not tax deductible, any earnings on the money in the account are tax exempt while they’re in the plan. These tax benefits will help anyone with the account save greater amounts of money over the years, therefore enabling them to secure their financial wellbeing far into the future.

However, a recent survey

from the BMO Financial Group revealed that only five per cent of Canadians with disabilities hold RDSP accounts. Even more alarmingly, only half of the Canadians who would be eligible for the account know about RDSPs. This is a surprisingly low level of awareness and points to an obvious opportunity for improving the life of people with disabilities in Canada.

BMO was the first bank to offer the RDSP account and is the current market leader. Since the account’s inception two years ago, the bank has pledged to educate and raise awareness so that more and more eligible Canadians learn about the product and take advantage of it if they wish to.

This survey also goes some way to suggesting the lack of awareness in other areas of life with disability in Canada. For example, we’ve covered extensively on this blog the poor levels of implementation of some disability legislation and the low levels of voluntary universal design, for example, ramps in public spaces and wheelchair accessible kitchens

into office buildings.