After Your Child Arrives
Financial checklist
Apply for a birth certificate and register your child’s birth with Vital
Statistics. Your child will need a birth certificate to apply for a Social
Insurance Number and other personal documents. If you used the provincial
Birth Registration Services, this step and the next three steps have already
been done for you. See page 8-9 for more information on this service.
Apply for a Social Insurance Number (SIN) for your child. Your child will
need a SIN to be eligible for certain government benefits and programs.
Apply for the Medical Services Plan for your child. See page 24 for more
information on MSP.
Apply for federal and provincial child and family benefits. There are
programs that will send you money every month. See page 25-28 for more
information.
If you have an employer health insurance plan, review it. Add your child as
a dependant to your health insurance plan.
If you are able to, open a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) and
start saving for your child’s post-secondary education. The government
will add to your savings when you put money into an RESP. See pages 15-20
for more info on education savings plans and grants.
Photo credit CodyR via VisualHunt CC BY
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