Guide

RESP rules in 2026: the numbers that actually apply

Q: What is the RESP contribution limit for 2026?

The lifetime limit is $50,000 for each beneficiary and there is no cap on what may be contributed in a single year. Because the limit follows the child rather than the plan, every RESP anyone has opened for that child counts toward it. Amounts above the limit attract a penalty tax of 1% per month for as long as they remain in the plan, shared among the subscribers.

Q: How much does the government put into an RESP?

Every family receives the basic Canada Education Savings Grant: 20 cents for each dollar on the first $2,500 contributed annually, capped at $500 a year and $7,200 across the child's lifetime. Families below the income thresholds may also receive the Additional CESG, adding $50 or $100 a year on the first $500 contributed, and the Canada Learning Bond, worth as much as $2,000 and payable without any contribution from the family.

Q: When is the RESP deadline each year?

For grant purposes the date is 31 December, because grant entitlement accrues by calendar year and only one year of missed entitlement can be recovered in any later year. Two structural deadlines also apply to the plan itself: contributions cease after the year containing its 31st anniversary, and the plan must be wound up by the end of the year containing its 35th.

Q: How much can a student withdraw from an RESP at once?

Educational Assistance Payments are limited to $8,000 across the first 13 consecutive weeks of full-time enrolment, and to $4,000 in any 13-week window for part-time study; the ceiling is removed once those first 13 weeks of full-time study are complete. Money returned to the subscriber as a refund of contributions is neither capped nor taxable.

Every limit, threshold and deadline that governs a Registered Education Savings Plan this year, in one place — with the figure, the rule behind it, and the trap that catches families.

Last checked 4 September 2026 against canada.ca. Written by Harpreet Singh, an LLQP-licensed insurance advisor in London, Ontario.

The limits that matter in 2026: $50,000 lifetime per child, with no annual cap. The basic grant is 20% on the first $2,500 you put in each year — $500 a year, $7,200 over a lifetime. You can pay in until the end of the year containing the plan’s 31st anniversary, and the plan has to close by the end of its 35th.

What you can put in

The lifetime limit is $50,000 per beneficiary. Not per plan, not per parent — per child, counting every plan anyone has ever opened for them. There is no annual limit; you could put in $50,000 on day one if you had it.

Go over and the penalty is 1% per month on the excess, for every month it stays in. Each subscriber pays their share. This is the single most common expensive mistake, and it usually happens the same way: a grandparent opens a second plan for the same grandchild without telling the parents, or without asking what is already in the first one.

The trap

Nobody warns you. The Canada Revenue Agency works out the over-contribution after the fact, and the 1% has been running the whole time. If more than one person is putting money in for the same child, one of you has to be keeping the running total. See RESP rules for grandparents for how to have that conversation cleanly.

What the government adds

The basic grant, for everyone

The Canada Education Savings Grant pays 20% on the first $2,500 you contribute in a year — up to $500 a year and $7,200 over the child’s lifetime. Income is irrelevant for this part. It is paid until the end of the year the child turns 17, with extra conditions in the last two years.

The extra grant, if your income qualifies

On top of that, the Additional CESG pays more on the first $500 you contribute each year, based on the primary caregiver’s adjusted family income. For the 2026 benefit year:

Adjusted family income	Extra on the first $500	Worth
$58,523 or less	An extra 20%	$100 a year
Over $58,523, up to $117,045	An extra 10%	$50 a year
Over $117,045	None	—

The Canada Learning Bond, which needs none of your money

The Canada Learning Bond pays $500 in the first year of eligibility, then $100 a year to age 15, up to $2,000 — and you do not have to contribute anything to get it. For the benefit year running 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, a family with one to three children qualifies at an adjusted family income of $58,523 or less; $66,036 with four children, $73,577 with five.

It is the most under-claimed money in the system, because it requires someone to open a plan, and the families it is aimed at are the least likely to have done so. More in the Canada Learning Bond guide.

Who can open one, and the rules that come with it

Anyone can be the subscriber — a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, a godparent, a family friend. What you need before you start is the child’s Social Insurance Number. Without it the plan cannot be registered and no grant can be paid.

There are two shapes of plan, and the difference matters more than most families realise:

	Individual plan	Family plan
Beneficiaries	One	More than one
Relationship needed	None	Blood relationship or adoption to every living subscriber
Age when named	Older is allowed	Must be under 21
Additional CESG and Canada Learning Bond	Always available	Only if every beneficiary is a sibling

The trap

That last row costs real money and almost nobody knows it. Put two sets of cousins in one family plan and the Additional CESG and the Canada Learning Bond are off the table — for every child in it, not just the cousins. Cousins belong in separate plans. Siblings can share one.

Which shape suits your family is covered in family or individual RESP.

The deadlines

Grant eligibility ends at the end of the year the child turns 17, with extra conditions attached to the years they turn 16 and 17.
Contributions stop at the end of the year containing the plan’s 31st anniversary. Into a family plan, only while a beneficiary is under 31.
The plan closes by the end of the year containing its 35th anniversary.
31 December is the practical one. Grant room is annual: a year you do not use is a year you can only partly recover later, because catch-up is capped at one extra year’s grant per year. If you are behind, see starting late.

Taking the money out: two different withdrawals

Once the child is in a qualifying programme, money comes out in two forms, taxed completely differently. Getting the order wrong is expensive.

Educational Assistance Payments

This is the grant money and the growth. It is taxable in the student’s hands and reported on a T4A. Students usually pay little or no tax on it, which is exactly the point. The cap is $8,000 in the first 13 consecutive weeks of a full-time programme, or $4,000 per 13-week period for part-time studies. After the first 13 weeks of full-time study, the cap comes off.

Refund of contributions

This is your own money coming back. It is tax-free and no T4A is issued, because it was never deducted going in.

Do this in the right order

Take the taxable money out first, while the student is a student and their income is low. Contributions can come back at any time and carry no tax. Families who drain their contributions first often find the grant and growth still sitting there after graduation, when the student is earning — and taxable. More in RESP withdrawals.

What if they do not go?

The grant goes back to the government. Your contributions come back to you tax-free. The growth can be moved to your RRSP if you have room, up to $50,000, subject to conditions — otherwise it is taxable and carries an extra 20% charge. The full picture is in what happens if they don’t go.

Common questions

What is the RESP contribution limit for 2026?

$50,000 over the child’s lifetime, with no annual limit. The limit belongs to the child, not to the plan or to you, so it counts every plan anyone has opened for them. Excess contributions are taxed at 1% per month until they are withdrawn, and each subscriber pays their share.

How much does the government put into an RESP?

The basic grant is 20% on the first $2,500 contributed each year — $500 a year, $7,200 over a lifetime. Lower-income families can also receive the Additional CESG, worth $50 or $100 a year on the first $500, and the Canada Learning Bond, worth up to $2,000 and requiring no contribution at all.

When is the RESP deadline each year?

31 December. Grant room is granted per calendar year, and unused room can only be caught up one extra year at a time, so a missed year is rarely fully recoverable. The hard structural deadlines are the plan’s 31st anniversary for contributions and its 35th for closing.

How much can a student withdraw from an RESP at once?

Educational Assistance Payments are capped at $8,000 during the first 13 consecutive weeks of a full-time programme, or $4,000 in any 13-week period for part-time study. After that first 13 weeks of full-time study there is no cap. A refund of your own contributions is not capped and is not taxed.

Not sure which of these applies to you?

Most families are leaving something on the table — usually grant room, sometimes the Canada Learning Bond, occasionally a family plan set up in a way that quietly costs them two benefits. It takes one conversation to find out which.

Book a free call → Or estimate your grants first

A free, no-obligation call with Harpreet Singh, an LLQP-licensed insurance advisor serving families across Ontario. No jargon, no pressure.

Related guides

Figures verified against canada.ca on 4 September 2026: Canada Revenue Agency guidance on RESP contributions, how an RESP works and RESP payments; and Canada Education Savings Program material on grant and bond amounts and the income thresholds for the 2026 benefit year. Government limits and thresholds change — this page records the date it was last checked. This is general information, not financial, investment, insurance or tax advice.