TORONTO, ON - November 25, 2014 /CNW/ - According to a recent Scotiabank survey, nearly half of Canadian parents (48%) strongly agree that it is important to begin saving early for the cost of their children's post-secondary education. However, when asked if they were saving enough, less than one-in-five (17%) strongly agreed.

Rising tuition and lodging expenses for post-secondary education were identified by two-thirds of parents (68%) as a concern, while four-in-ten parents (41%) believe the cost of a college or university education is putting it out of reach for their children. These numbers vary regionally:

Among those who have opened a RESP for their child(ren), estimates for the total cost of their child(ren)'s post-secondary education vary greatly by province. Those in Atlantic Canada estimate the total cost for their child(ren)'s entire post-secondary education (including tuition fees, housing, and other expenses) to be $110,435, while those in Quebec estimate it will only cost $33,738.

"More than half of parents (53%) surveyed have opened a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) for their children," said Ahmad Dajani, Scotiabank's Vice President, Investments, GICs & Sales Tools. "We encourage them to meet with a Scotiabank advisor to help them plan for the costs associated with a post-secondary education and how they can maximize government grants."

Scotiabank has partnered with the community project SmartSAVER to help Canadian families learn about and access the Canadian Learning Bond (CLB) through RESPs. The CLB provides eligible lower-income families with at least $500 and up to $2000 per child with no family contribution to start an RESP account. An online application is now available at www.smartsaver.org

"Over 1.4 million children don't have their Bond yet because their families don't know about it or think they can't afford to get started. Thanks to the commitment of Scotiabank and other leading RESP providers, families can now apply online throughwww.smartsaver.org and start saving with the Canada Learning Bond and an RESP with no fees and no minimum contribution," said May Wong, Executive Director of SmartSAVER.

About the survey data
Scotiabank's 2014 RESP Poll was conducted by Nielsen from August 19 through August 27, 2014 using their online proprietary panel. A total of 1,004 responses were collected from Canadian parents with children 17 and under in the household.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through our team of more than 86,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates offer a broad range of products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking to over 21 million customers. With assets of $792 billion (as at July 31, 2014), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York (NYSE: BNS) Exchanges. Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information please visit scotiabank.com.