Moving an RESP to another provider without losing the grants
You are allowed to move it. Whether the government money moves with it depends on one question most families never think to ask — and getting it wrong can mean repaying every dollar of grant in the plan.
An RESP can be transferred to another provider. The transfer is “eligible” — meaning the grants come across intact — only if the two plans share a beneficiary, or the beneficiaries are siblings, and every incentive in the plan can move proportionately. If the receiving provider will not administer one of them, the grant balance has to be repaid to the government before the transfer goes through.
The rule almost nobody is told
The Canada Education Savings Program’s pre-transfer repayment policy is explicit: if the receiving provider cannot or will not administer the Additional CESG, then the full balance of both the Basic CESG and the Additional CESG must be repaid before the transfer proceeds.
Read that again. Not the Additional CESG alone — the whole grant. A family that has collected the full $7,200 and moves to a provider that does not handle the Additional CESG can hand all of it back, and nobody in the transaction is obliged to raise it first.
“Do you administer the Additional CESG, and will you accept it under the sibling-only condition?”
If the answer is no, or vague, stop. Get it in writing before any paperwork is signed. Ask the same question about the Canada Learning Bond and about any provincial grant in the plan.
What makes a transfer eligible
Two things have to line up.
1. The beneficiaries have to connect
A transfer is clean when the plan you are leaving and the plan you are joining share a beneficiary. It is also clean when a beneficiary of the old plan has a brother or sister who is a beneficiary of the new one — provided that sibling was under 21 when the receiving plan was opened, unless the receiving plan is a family plan.
Outside those two situations the contribution history follows the beneficiary into the new plan, which is how families quietly end up over the $50,000 lifetime limit and paying 1% a month without realising it.
2. Every incentive has to be able to move
A transfer is eligible when all the incentives in the plan — the CESG and any designated provincial grant — can transfer proportionately. If one of them cannot, the transfer is treated as ineligible and the provider you are leaving repays it before the money moves. Earnings on a repaid grant stay in the plan and come across with everything else.
The Canada Learning Bond sits slightly apart: it does not have to transfer, and it does not make a transfer ineligible. But it is tied to one child, so it cannot be moved to a plan for a different child.
Partial transfers work the same way
Moving part of a plan does not avoid any of this. The incentives move in proportion to what you move, and the same eligibility test applies. There is no version of this where you take the contributions and leave the awkward part behind.
If you are leaving a group or scholarship plan
This is where most transfer questions start. Group plans pool contributions and run to a fixed schedule, and families often want out once they understand what they signed. Everything above still applies — and two more things do too.
- Enrolment and sales fees are usually not refundable. They were charged up front, out of your early contributions. Leaving does not bring them back. Read the plan’s own disclosure document for the exact treatment; every plan differs and none of it is guesswork you should be doing on the phone.
- Ask for a written statement of what will actually arrive at the new provider: contributions, grant by type, and earnings, as separate figures. If the numbers cannot be given in writing before you commit, that is your answer.
How group plans differ from the alternatives is set out in group RESP plans and comparing RESP options.
The order to do it in
- Get a current statement from the plan you hold, broken down into contributions, each grant type, and earnings.
- Ask the receiving provider, in writing, whether they administer the Additional CESG, the Canada Learning Bond, and any provincial grant in your plan.
- Confirm the beneficiary connection — same child, or siblings, with the under-21 condition met if it applies.
- Ask the receiving provider to confirm the total contribution history that will follow the child, and check it against the $50,000 limit.
- Only then sign the transfer form. The receiving provider normally initiates it; you should not be closing the old plan yourself.
Do not withdraw the money and re-deposit it into a new plan. That is not a transfer — it is a withdrawal, the grants are repaid, and the contribution room is not restored. The plans have to talk to each other.
Common questions
Can I transfer my RESP to another provider?
Yes. RESPs can be transferred in full or in part. The question is whether the transfer is eligible, meaning the grants move with the money. That requires the two plans to share a beneficiary or have sibling beneficiaries, and every incentive in the plan to be capable of transferring proportionately. If one cannot, it is repaid to the government first.
Will I lose the government grant if I move my RESP?
Only if the transfer is ineligible. The situation to watch is a receiving provider that does not administer the Additional CESG — in that case the full balance of both the Basic and the Additional CESG has to be repaid before the transfer. Ask the question in writing before you sign anything.
Can I transfer an RESP from one child to another?
Between siblings, usually yes, subject to the receiving beneficiary’s age and the grant limits. Outside a sibling relationship the contribution history follows the child and the grants generally have to be repaid. The Canada Learning Bond is tied to one child and cannot be moved to a plan for a different child.
Can I get out of a group RESP without losing everything?
The contributions and grants can transfer if the transfer is eligible. Enrolment and sales fees already charged are generally not refunded, because they came out of early contributions rather than sitting in the plan. Ask for a written statement of exactly what will arrive at the receiving plan before you commit to anything.
Before you move it, have someone read the statement
A transfer is one of the few RESP decisions that is difficult to undo. It takes one conversation to check the beneficiary connection, the grant types in the plan, and whether the receiving provider can take all of them.
A free, no-obligation call with Harpreet Singh, an LLQP-licensed insurance advisor serving families across Ontario. No jargon, no pressure.
Related guides
- RESP rules in 2026Every limit, threshold and deadline in one place.
- Group RESP plansHow they work, and what the fees actually buy.
- Comparing RESP optionsBank, group plan, or a plan through an advisor.
- Family or individual planThe sibling rule, side by side.
- Taking the money outEAPs, contribution refunds, and the right order.
- How RESPs really workThe plain-language explanation, start to finish.
Verified against canada.ca on 4 September 2026: the Canada Revenue Agency’s guidance on RESP payments, transfers and rollovers, and the Canada Education Savings Program’s Pre-Transfer Repayment Policy. Rules change — this page records the date it was last checked. General information only, not financial, investment, insurance or tax advice. Fee treatment varies by plan; read your own plan’s disclosure document.