How Embark is getting Canadians to rethink RESPs, rebuilding trust in the process

It’s a critical time for Canada’s economy and its business community. The country needs innovation and growth more than ever, yet businesses across a wide range of industries are facing trade disruptions, rising costs and technological change, among other challenges. This series profiles forward-thinking Canadian companies that are growing their markets by re-examining their business practices and trying new things.

Toronto-based Embark Student Corp. is streamlining education savings with its online platform and simplified onboarding. The challenge is convincing Canadians to care.

Registered education savings plans (RESPs) are a grossly underutilized investment vehicle, says Andrew Lo, chief executive officer of Embark. Only 43 per cent of parents or caregivers have an RESP for their child, according to data from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

“There’s a lack of awareness,” says Mr. Lo. “It’s not well-advertised and it’s complicated to onboard.”

RESPs allow parents to contribute up to $50,000 per child in a tax-sheltered account, collecting investment growth and earning 20 per cent of their annual contributions in grant money through the government’s Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG). Grants are capped at $500 per year and $7,200 over the account’s lifetime.

Embark has established itself as a key player in this niche financial service, handling education savings for around 425,000 kids, which amounts to $6.5-billion in assets under management.

The company has focused on digitizing the process, including identity verification, the opening of virtual accounts, registering accounts with the Canada Revenue Agency and streamlining the withdrawal process. Embark also connects with Employment and Social Development Canada to ensure eligible low-income Canadians can tap into the Canada Learning Bond, an additional $2,000 incentive for education savings.

Mr. Lo says it’s a disruption of the in-person process offered by the banks. “Any eligible family can open an RESP account in eight minutes.”

Despite this simplified, digital-first approach, Mr. Lo says it’s a challenge to get Canadians to think of contributing to RESPs. It’s also been a challenge for Embark to win their trust.

Reputational hurdles and a rebrand

Originally founded in 1965 as University Scholarships of Canada, Embark has gone through a series of name changes over the years, including Knowledge First Financial. During that time, the company faced legal action, such as a March 2014 settlement with the Ontario Securities Commission regarding compliance and sales supervision deficiencies. The company also faced a 2021 Quebec Superior Court class-action lawsuit over enrolment and early termination fees that named Knowledge First Financial alongside several other high-profile children’s education funds and was settled in July 2025.

Mr. Lo, who previously ran Kanetix (now Rates.ca), an insurance and financial products comparison site, joined Knowledge First Financial in 2023, helping the company rebrand to Embark a few months later. He says the change reflects a shift in how the company works with families. “We pivoted the sales model from advisor-based to digital direct-to-consumer,” he says.

At its peak, the company had around 1,500 investment advisors. Today it has about 30 licensed advisors, less than a third of the business’s 150 employees. Mr. Lo says earning trust amidst any lingering reputational challenges requires transparency.

“Families should understand exactly what they’re paying and why before they commit, with no surprises down the road,” he says. “It also means giving them more choice so their plan can adapt as their circumstances change.”

Jessica Moorhouse, a certified financial counsellor and author of Everything but Money: The Hidden Barriers Between You and Financial Freedom, says it can be challenging for a fintech like Embark to rebuild trust once it’s been broken. “They did a really good rebrand – they have a lot of resources on their blog that are pretty well written,” says Ms. Moorhouse.

But Embark needed to do that to erase all the negative press they had for a very long time, she adds.Ms. Moorhouse says Embark is competing with a growing crop of digital-first solutions offering RESPs, as well as the limited bandwidth of new parents struggling to balance costs and responsibilities.

“A lot of families are struggling to pay rent and/or pay for groceries… they also have to save for retirement, and that can be a priority over saving for their kid’s university education,” she says.

Like Mr. Lo, Ms. Moorhouse says there’s a lack of understanding about how RESPs can be used.

“People are under the impression an RESP is just meant to be used for university, but it actually pays for a lot of different post-secondary, like trade schools,” she says. “There are other options.”

A digital experience with a ‘human touch’

Kevin Oulds is very familiar with how difficult it can be to bring Canadians to the table for financial matters. As co-founder of online estate planning platform Willful, he says it’s an ongoing hurdle.

“There’s a lot of overlap between our audiences,” says Mr. Oulds of Embark. “We both face the same challenges of, how do you get someone to do something they should do, but don’t have to?”

Mr. Oulds says Willful views it as an education challenge rather than a sales challenge. Early on, the company pivoted its focus to educating Canadians about the importance of having a will.

“We believe that once we’ve convinced you having a will is something that you need to do, Willful will be the easiest and best way to do it,” says Mr. Oulds.

But that digital experience also needs to be backed by strong customer relationship management. “[You] have to have a human touch to it and be available to have a real conversation on the phone,” he says. “That’s really helped people who were unsure, unaware of where to start and what to do.”

Mr. Oulds also points to the importance of partnerships when it comes to building trust. (Willful has partnered with Embark in the past to cross-promote their offerings).

Mr. Lo says digital marketing is a key part of Embark’s pivot. The brand advertises on social media and Google as well as YouTube, streaming platforms and television. But it’s also about meeting parents where they are, he says. “We sponsor both local and major sports like the CFL. We’re on the rink boards at all the kids’ arenas.”

Trust takes time to rebuild, but Mr. Lo sees Canadians’ underutilization of RESPs as a business opportunity.

“350,000 kids are born in Canada every year; I’d love to open that many accounts every year,” he says. “My aspiration is to get that through awareness and efficiency in our digital platform – it’s getting there, but it’s just going to take a little bit of time.”