Knowledge First Financial Prospectus 2021
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PROSPECTUS CONTINUOUS OFFERING DETAILED PLAN DISCLOSURE May 27, 2021 No securities regulatory authority has expressed an opinion about these securities and it is an offence to claim otherwise. These investment funds are scholarship plans managed by Knowledge First Financial Inc. EDUCATION SAVINGS PLANS FLEX FIRST Flex First Plan ($500 total contribution minimum) FAMILY INDIVIDUAL PLAN Family Single Student Education Savings Plan ($449 total contribution minimum) Important information to know before you invest The following is important information you should wait until you are sure you can get the beneficiary’s know if you are considering an investment in a social insurance number within the 18-month time scholarship plan. period. No Social Insurance Numbers = No government grants, no tax benefits PAYMENTS NOT GUARANTEED We need your social insurance number and the We cannot tell you in advance if your beneficiary will social insurance number of the child named as your qualify to receive any educational assistance beneficiary under the Plan before we can register payments (EAPs) or any of the discretionary your plan as a Registered Education Savings Plan payments that are available from the Knowledge (RESP). The Income Tax Act (Canada) won’t allow First Foundation (the “Foundation”), or how much us to register your plan as an RESP without these your beneficiary will receive. We do not guarantee social insurance numbers. Your plan must be the amount of any payments or that they will cover registered before it can: the full cost of your beneficiary’s post-secondary • qualify for the tax benefits of an RESP, and education. • receive any government grants. PAYMENTS FROM THE FLEX FIRST PLAN You can provide the beneficiary’s social insurance DEPEND ON THESE FACTORS number after you have enrolled. If you don’t provide the beneficiary’s social insurance number when you The amount of the EAPs from a Flex First Plan, sign your contract with us, we’ll put your which includes income on your contributions, grants contributions into a holding account. The holding and grant income, will depend on how much your account is an unregistered education savings plan earns and whether the student attends a account and is not eligible for the RESP tax benefits qualifying post-secondary education program, which or government grants. During the time your gives the student access to these amounts. The contributions are held in the holding account (see amount of EAPs can also be affected by the amount “Escrow Account” in the Education Assistance of money available for the discretionary payment Agreement) we will deduct the sales charge and ‘top-up’ to students from the Foundation’s excess fees from your contributions as described under revenues. Discretionary payments are not “Costs of investing in this Plan” in this prospectus. guaranteed. You must not count on receiving a Any income earned in the holding account will be discretionary payment. The Foundation decides if it included in your taxable income in the year it is will make a payment in any year and how much the earned. If we receive your beneficiary’s social payment will be. If the Foundation makes a insurance number within 18 months of your payment, you may get less than what has been paid application date we’ll transfer your contributions in the past. Flex First also pays a loyalty bonus at and the income they earned to the RESP savings the time the beneficiary starts eligible post- account. If we do not receive the beneficiary’s social secondary studies, the amount of which will depend insurance number within 18 months of your on how much loyalty bonus, if any, you have application date, we’ll cancel your plan. You’ll get accumulated on behalf of your plan. back your contributions and the income earned, less the sales charge and fees paid to date. Since you pay sales charges up front, you could end up with much less than you put in if your plan cancels so soon after enrollment. If you don’t expect to get the social insurance number for your beneficiary within 18 months of your application date, you should not enroll or make contributions at this time, but rather i Education Savings Plans PAYMENTS FROM THE FAMILY When your plan is cancelled and you withdraw your INDIVIDUAL PLAN DEPEND ON THESE contributions, whether it is before or after the first FACTORS 60 days: • any government grants collected will be returned The amount of the EAPs from the family individual to the government; plan, which includes income on your contributions, • this government grant contribution room will be grants and grant income, will depend solely on how lost (with the exception of the Canada Learning much your plan earns and whether the student Bond (CLB) as lifetime CLB entitlement is not attends a qualifying post-secondary education affected by a repayment); and program, which gives the student access to these amounts. The amount of EAPs can also be affected • the withdrawn amount will be included as an RESP by the amount of money available for the contribution when determining whether the discretionary payment ‘top-up’ to students from the $50,000 RESP contribution limit has been Foundation’s excess revenues. Discretionary exceeded, even though the contributions were payments are not guaranteed. You must not count withdrawn. on receiving a discretionary payment. The Keep in mind that you pay the sales charge up Foundation decides if it will make a payment in any front. If you cancel your family individual plan in year and how much the payment will be. the first few years, you could end up with much less than you put in. This risk is less in Flex First UNDERSTAND THE RISKS because of the return of sales charge feature built into that Plan. If you withdraw your contributions early or do not meet the terms of the plan, you could lose some or all of your money. Make sure you understand the risks before you invest. Carefully read the information found under “Risks of investing in a scholarship plan” and “Risks of investing in this plan” in this Detailed Plan Disclosure. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND You have up to 60 days after signing your contract to withdraw from your plan and get back all of your money. If you (or we) cancel your plan after 60 days, you’ll get back your contributions, less some or all of the sales charge and fees paid to date. Under the Flex First Plan you may receive back part of the sales charge you paid up front. See ‘Return of sales charge’ feature in this Detailed Plan Disclosure. If you or we cancel your plan after the first 60 days, in the Flex First and the family individual plan you might be eligible to receive your earnings on both your contributions and government grants as an accumulated income payment. Continuous Offering Prospectus 2021 ii Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................... 1 If your beneficiary does not enrol in eligible studies . 23 TERMS USED IN THIS PROSPECTUS ................ 1 Receiving payments from your plan ................... 24 OVERVIEW OF OUR SCHOLARSHIP PLANS ......... 2 Return of contributions ............................ 24 What is a scholarship plan? ............................ 2 Accumulating Loyalty Bonus ...................... 24 Types of plans we offer ............................... 2 Educational assistance payments ................. 24 How our Plans work ................................... 3 How we determine educational assistance Enrolling in a Plan ..................................... 4 payment amounts ................................. 24 If your beneficiary does not have a social insurance Discretionary payments ........................... 25 number ................................................ 4 Past discretionary payments ...................... 25 Government grants .................................... 5 Accumulated income payments ................... 25 Contribution Limits .................................... 7 Flex First is a Specified Plan ....................... 25 Additional Services .................................... 7 FAMILY SINGLE STUDENT EDUCATION SAVINGS Fees and Expenses .................................... 7 PLAN (Family Individual Plan) ...................... 27 Eligible Studies ........................................ 8 Type of plan ........................................... 27 Payments from the Plans .............................. 8 Who this Plan is for .................................... 27 Unclaimed funds ...................................... 8 Summary of Eligible Studies ........................... 27 How we invest your money ........................... 8 What’s eligible .................................... 27 Investment Restrictions ............................... 9 What’s not eligible ................................ 27 Investments in index-linked or other variable-rate Risks of investing in this plan .......................... 27 debt securities ........................................ 10 Plan risks .......................................... 27 Risks of Investing in a scholarship plan ................ 10 Investment risks ................................... 28 How taxes affect your plan ............................ 12 How the Plan has performed ...................... 28 Who is involved in running the Plans .................. 13 Income from fixed income investments ........... 28 Your rights as an investor ............................. 14 Income from equities ............................. 28 How to Reach the Investment Fund Manager ......... 14 Making Contributions .................................