Taxes & Accounts

RESP

An RESP is a registered education savings plan for a beneficiary. Contributions are not deductible, and government education incentives and investment earnings have their own rules.

4 min

Taxes 101 • 09

RESP stands for Registered Education Savings Plan.

It is an account used to save for a beneficiary’s future post-secondary education.

RESP contributions are not tax-deductible.

The account can receive contributions, investment growth and eligible government education savings incentives.

An RESP can involve

01A subscriber who opens the plan02One or more beneficiaries03Contributions04Government grants or bonds when eligible05Educational assistance payments

Contributions and education payments are not the same pool.

Original contributions

Can generally be returned under RESP rules without being included in the subscriber’s income.

Educational assistance payments

Can include grants and investment earnings and are generally taxable to the student beneficiary.

The account can hold several sources of money.

Family contributionsOne source

Government incentivesPossible second source

Investment earningsPossible third source

Withdrawal treatmentDepends on which pool the money comes from

The grant rules are separate from the investment decision.

An RESP can receive incentives and still hold investments that rise or fall.

Before contributing, understand

01Who the beneficiary is02Contribution rules03Grant eligibility04What the RESP is invested in05How education withdrawals work

Remember this

An RESP is an education account with multiple money layers.

Keep contributions, government incentives and investment earnings separate in your head.

Lesson complete

Reviewed 2026-08-18

Sources

Canada Revenue AgencyRegistered Education Savings Plan ↗Canada Revenue AgencyRegistered Education Savings Plans contributions ↗

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