CLB (Canada Learning Bond)

What it means

The Canada Learning Bond is federal money paid directly into an RESP for children from lower-income families, worth $500 for the first year of eligibility and $100 for each additional eligible year, up to a lifetime maximum of $2,000 per child. Unlike the CESG, no personal contribution is required to receive it.

Why it matters

Because it doesn't require a contribution, the CLB means even a family that can't afford to contribute anything can still start building RESP savings — opening the account and requesting it is enough to potentially receive it.

Common misunderstandings

• •It still requires an RESP to be opened and the CLB requested through the promoter — it isn't automatically deposited just because a family qualifies by income.
• •It's separate from the CESG — a beneficiary can receive both, but the CLB never requires a contribution the way the CESG does.
• •No new eligible years accrue after the year the beneficiary turns 15, though unclaimed entitlement from earlier eligible years can often still be requested retroactively after that.

Where you'll see it

In RESP applications for lower-income families, and often the reason an RESP is opened even before regular contributions begin.