“Courts have consistently found that it is reasonable that adult children contribute towards the cost of their post-secondary education, either through student loans, part-time work, summer employment, grants, scholarships, or bursaries, or some combination thereof. However, as set out in Rebenchuk v. Rebenchuk, 2007 MBCA 22, each case depends on its own unique facts, and there are no hard and fast rules for how much the adult child should contribute. The percentage that adult children are required to contribute depends on the circumstances of the child and the parents, including the overall cost of the program, the parents’ incomes, and the adult child’s resources. The Court stated:
…it is neither desirable nor possible to set forth “bright line” rules that enable judges to determine with mathematical certainty questions of entitlement and the amount for the support of adult children pursuing post-secondary education. This is because of the fact-driven basis upon which all such decisions are made…. there is still an element of judicial discretion. This, in my opinion, is as it should be. See paragraph 97.
Cases suggest that a child’s reasonable contribution to the cost of post-secondary expenses is between 25% – 50%, although in some cases, children are required to contribute as much as 100% (See for example Razavi-Brahimi v. Ershadi, 2007 CarswellOnt 6222 and Lewi v. Lewi 2006 CarswellOnt 3214). Again, each case depends on its own facts.”