RESP · Guide + Grant Calculator

Free money for your child's education — if you claim it.

The federal government will add up to $9,200 per child to a Registered Education Savings Plan — but only if you know the rules. This guide explains the three government top-ups in plain language, and the calculator below shows what your own savings could grow into by your child's 18th birthday.

How an RESP works The three government top-ups The calculator Started late? Taking money out

Money most families leave behind

The basic grant alone is worth up to $7,200 per child — yet a large share of eligible families never collect all of it, and the Canada Learning Bond (up to $2,000, no contributions required) goes unclaimed by hundreds of thousands of eligible children.

A planning estimate, not a promise

The calculator uses today's grant rules and a growth rate you choose. Markets vary, rules evolve, and your family's details matter. Treat the result as a well-informed starting point — then confirm your own numbers.

Two young children with curly hair sitting together on a blue sofa
01 — The basics

How an RESP actually works.

A Registered Education Savings Plan is a savings account with two superpowers. First, everything inside it — your deposits, government grants, and investment returns — grows without being taxed while it stays in the plan. Second, it's the only account where the government adds money on top of yours, matching a portion of what you put in.

Anyone can open one for a child — parents, grandparents, other relatives. The child (the "beneficiary") just needs a Social Insurance Number. You can hold the same investments you would anywhere else: GICs, mutual funds, ETFs, and more.

When your child enrols in post-secondary education — university, college, trade school, and many other qualifying programs — the money comes out to pay for it. Because students typically have little income, the taxable portion usually comes out at little or no tax.

$50,000
Lifetime contribution limit per child. There's no annual limit — the yearly figures that matter are the grant-matching thresholds below.
35 years
How long a plan can stay open — plenty of room for gap years, second thoughts, and late bloomers.
$0 tax
On growth while money stays in the plan — and your own contributions always come back to you tax-free.
02 — The top-ups

Three ways the government adds to your savings.

These are the reason an RESP beats an ordinary savings account before you've earned a cent of investment return. Two depend on what you contribute; the third requires no contributions at all.

CESG

Canada Education Savings Grant

The core grant: the government adds 20 cents for every dollar you contribute, up to $500 per year ($2,500 of contributions).

Lifetime maximum $7,200 per child, available until the end of the year they turn 17. Missed years aren't lost — see the catch-up rules below.

A-CESG

Additional CESG

Lower- and middle-income families get an extra 10% or 20% on the first $500 contributed each year — up to $100 more per year, on top of the basic grant.

Who qualifies Based on adjusted family net income, in two tiers. The thresholds are indexed each year — roughly $57,000 and $115,000.

CLB

Canada Learning Bond

Up to $2,000 per child for lower-income families — $500 in the first eligible year and $100 for each eligible year after, to age 15. No contributions are required. You just need to open the plan.

Missed years Fully retroactive — open a plan today and past years' amounts are paid in.

03 — The calculator

What could your child have at 18?

Enter your child's age and what you could set aside monthly. The calculator applies today's grant rules year by year — including catch-up on missed years, the income-tested extras, and the lifetime caps — and projects the value on your child's 18th birthday.

From newborn to 17. Grants are paid until the end of the year they turn 17.
years old
$208/month captures the full $500 basic grant each year. $0 is fine too — the Learning Bond doesn't need contributions.
$/ month
Determines the Additional CESG and Learning Bond. Exact thresholds are indexed annually.
A balanced portfolio has historically earned in the 4–6% range over long periods. Not guaranteed.
5%
Where the money comes from
Your contributions$0
CESG grants (incl. Additional CESG)$0
Canada Learning Bond$0
Investment growth$0
Projected value at 18$0
Projected value at 18
$0

Assumptions — Contributions are made monthly from now until the end of the year your child turns 17; deposits and grants compound annually at the rate you chose; family income stays in the selected band; grant rules are current federal rules (CESG 20% to $500/yr with one prior year of catch-up allowed per year, $7,200 lifetime CESG maximum including Additional CESG, CLB maximum $2,000, $50,000 lifetime contribution limit). Income thresholds shown are approximate 2025 figures and are indexed annually. Provincial programs (e.g. the B.C. BCTESG) are not included. Results are rounded estimates, not guarantees.

04 — Catch-up rules

Started late? The grant room waited for you.

Grant room builds automatically from the year your child was born — $500 per year, whether or not an RESP existed. Every year you didn't contribute is sitting there as unused room.

The catch-up rule: each year, you can claim the current year's grant plus one missed year's worth — a maximum of $1,000 of grant per year, which takes $5,000 of contributions. You can't collect it all at once, but a steady $5,000 per year steadily works down the backlog.

A concrete example: a child is 6 and no RESP exists. That's $3,000 of unused room plus $500 accruing each new year. Contribute $5,000 a year and the plan collects the full $1,000 annually — by early teens, the family is fully caught up and on track for the entire $7,200.

One deadline that bites: to receive any grants in the years your child turns 16 or 17, the RESP must have some history — either $2,000 contributed before the year they turn 16, or at least $100 contributed in any four years before then. Waiting until 16 to open a plan usually means no grants at all. If your child is 14 or 15 and there's no RESP yet, this is the year to act.

05 — Taking money out

Getting the money out (and the "what if they don't go?" question).

When your child enrols in a qualifying program, withdrawals split into two streams. Your own contributions come back to anyone, any time, tax-free — they were made with after-tax money. The grants and growth are paid to the student as an Educational Assistance Payment (EAP), taxed in the student's hands — and since students typically have little other income, that usually means little or no tax.

There's a limit on EAPs in the first 13 weeks of a program — currently $8,000 for full-time studies ($4,000 part-time) — after which the cap lifts. Withdrawal sequencing (EAP first vs. contributions first) is one of the easiest places to add value with a bit of planning.

And if your child doesn't pursue post-secondary? Less is lost than most parents fear. Your contributions come back tax-free. The plan can stay open 35 years while they decide. Grants are returned to the government, but the growth can move to your RRSP (up to $50,000, if you have room), or roll tax-deferred into an RDSP for a child eligible for the Disability Tax Credit. Only as a last resort is growth taken as cash — taxable, plus a 20% penalty.

Already have an RESP?

Good. Now make sure it's working as hard as it should.

Many existing plans are quietly underperforming — contributions set below the grant-matching sweet spot, catch-up room going unused, Additional CESG or Learning Bond never applied for, or investments that don't match the years remaining until school.

A second opinion costs nothing and takes one short conversation: we'll check your grant history against your child's full entitlement, confirm you're on track for the maximum $7,200, and make sure the investment mix fits your timeline.

Every year unclaimed grant room waits is a year it isn't growing.

Bring your questions — or your existing RESP statement — to a relaxed, no-obligation conversation. We'll map out your child's full entitlement and the simplest way to capture it.

Book a conversation →