Jul 18, 2026
During the summer of 2004, Lorraine Stevenson and Georgina George were taking in the Women’s Baseball World Cup at Edmonton’s old Telus Field. While at the event, a young American family with a baby sat down in front of them. The infant, five-month-old Leo Bruce, instantly won them over.
When a vendor came by selling 50/50 raffle tickets, Stevenson and George bought several, including one for Leo. They were specific about one condition: If the ticket won, the money was for his education. It won — paying out just over $700.
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Leo’s parents tried to hand the winnings back, but Stevenson and George refused. “It’s only money,” George recalled telling them.
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More than 20 years later, Leo still calls it “one of [his] favourite family stories.” His parents invested the money and left it alone. By the time Leo finished high school, that investment had grown enough to cover part of his tuition. Leo’s now studying kinesiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), with hopes of becoming a chiropractor — and he credits it as much for the connection it created as for the money itself.
A small head start can go a long way
While Leo is American, his story is a pertinent case study in the power of starting education savings early — the same principle behind Canada’s Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP), a tax-sheltered account designed to help families save for a child’s post-secondary education.
Contributions to an RESP aren’t tax-deductible, but the investment growth inside the account is sheltered from tax until it’s withdrawn. On top of that, the federal government tops up contributions through the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG). The government matches 20% of the first $2,500 contributed to an RESP each year, to a maximum of $500 annually and $7,200 over a beneficiary’s lifetime.
If the full $2,500 contribution room isn’t used in a previous year, there is an opportunity to catch up. In a year with any unused grant room, an account holder can get up to $1,000 in CESG (not just $500) by contributing more that year — though the $7,200 lifetime cap still applies.
Lower- and middle-income families can qualify for a bit more through the additional CESG, and the lowest-income families may also qualify for the Canada Learning Bond (CLB), worth up to $2,000 per child, with no contributions required. British Columbia and Québec residents can also access further provincial top-ups.
In other words, Ottawa will help build the very kind of fund for Canadians that Leo’s family had to construct on their own after a lucky night at the ballpark — a fund that Leo, as a U.S. citizen, wasn’t eligible for.
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Why the head start matters
Post-secondary education in Canada remains far less expensive than in the U.S., but it isn’t cheap, and the bill is steeper for international students like Leo. For the 2025/2026 academic year, domestic undergraduate tuition averages $7,734 a year, up 1.4% from the previous year. International undergraduate students, meanwhile, pay an average of $41,746 per annum — roughly five times the domestic rate, a gap that has widened sharply over the past decade.
Those costs vary widely by province, from about $3,746 for domestic undergraduates in Newfoundland and Labrador to nearly $10,000 in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. Tuition is only one part of a student’s costs, as rent, food and books add thousands more each year.
Those numbers help explain why so many Canadian students graduate with significant debt. Post-secondary students who hold bachelor’s degrees and borrowed for school graduated with a median debt of about $20,000, according to Statistics Canada’s National Graduates Survey — a figure that climbs significantly higher for professional programs such as law or medicine.
That’s a gap that a modest, early contribution — whether from birthday money, a grandparent’s gift or, in Leo’s case, strangers’ generosity — can help close over time, once compound growth and government grants are added to the mix.
The takeaway for Canadian families
Leo’s story worked out because his parents did two things: They accepted an unusual gift and they left it alone to grow for years instead of spending it. However, any Canadian parent, grandparent or family friend can intentionally create the same outcome, without waiting on a raffle ticket.
- Open an RESP early. The CESG is available on contributions made until the end of the year a child turns 17, but the lifetime grant maxes out at $7,200. The earlier contributions start, the more time there is for compounding to work its magic.
- Contribute what you can, consistently. Capturing the full annual CESG match takes a $2,500 contribution a year, but smaller, regular deposits add up, and unused grant room carries forward if a year gets missed.
- Redirect gifts into the plan. A cheque from a grandparent or a gift like the one Leo received can go straight into an RESP and start compounding immediately instead of sitting in a savings account.
- Check for provincial and income-based top-ups. Families in British Columbia and Québec can access additional provincial grants, and lower-income families may also qualify for the Canada Learning Bond, on top of the CESG.
- Leave it alone. The real lesson from Leo’s story isn’t the raffle ticket, it’s the two decades of not touching the money to let it grow. Time in the market, not the size of the initial windfall, did most of the work.
For Leo, it was never only about the money. Twenty years later, he says the win is less memorable than the relationship it created between his family and two strangers who wanted to help.
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AnnaMarie is a weekend editor for Moneywise.
