For Mila, education was so important she went to school twice a day – and on weekends. What would you do if you landed in a country with two young daughters in tow and couldn’t speak the language?

Learning English wasn’t the first thing Mila did when she arrived in Canada in 1991, but it started soon after. A graduate of the Institute of Art in her native Kyrgyzstan, Mila not only majored in piano, she taught students who were studying to become teachers themselves. In the former USSR, it was a respected and interesting career.

Mikhail left for Canada first, staying with relatives in Toronto long enough to land a job and find an apartment. Four months later, Mila and her daughters Lily and Olga joined him.
One person who helped Mila get on her feet was a social worker Mila met through English language classes, who suggested a registered education savings plan. As soon as Mila resumed teaching piano she began to save for her daughters’ education.

“We were quite concerned about our children’s future” says Mila, “So we wanted to do our best to help them.” Lily was already fourteen but Mila opened a Plan offered by Knowledge First Financial for younger daughter, Olga, who has since graduated from university.

Lily is a graduate as well. With both a Bachelors and a Masters degree in hand she’s now working on her PhD. When she’s not looking after her young daughter Iris that is.

When Iris was born, Mila started thinking about her education and remembered Knowledge First Financial. To her pleasant surprise the very same representative who opened Mila’s plan for Olga was the one who returned her call. Although she considered other options, Mila recommended that Lily open a Plan offered by Knowledge First Financial for Iris. “When something is not broken I don’t want to fix it.” says Mila, “Whatever was promised was given to me.”

The type of education Iris will receive in the future will be dramatically different from what her grandmother, experienced but the importance of learning never changes.