RESP grants: how to get the full CESG before December 31

Last updated Oct 2026.

If you have a child, the RESP grant is one of the few places in Canadian personal finance where the government simply adds money on top of yours. But the grant works on a calendar year, and unused grant doesn't fully roll over the way TFSA room does. So the end of the year is a good moment to check whether you've left anything on the table.

Here's how it works, and how to make sure you collect it. When you want to see the numbers for your own family, try the RESP calculator.

The basic grant: 20% on the first $2,500

The Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) adds 20% of the first $2,500 you contribute to an RESP for a child each year. That's $500 a year, for every eligible child, no matter what your family earns.

A few things to know:

• It's per child, per calendar year. Contributions you make between January 1 and December 31 count toward that year's grant.
• You have to contribute to get it. No contribution, no grant.
• The lifetime maximum is $7,200 per child. At $500 a year, it takes about 14.4 years of $2,500 contributions (around $36,000 in total) to collect it all.
• The child needs a Social Insurance Number and must be a resident of Canada, and they must be named as the RESP beneficiary.

The extra grant for low and middle incomes

On top of the basic grant, families with lower or middle incomes get an Additional CESG on the first $500 contributed each year. For 2026, the income brackets are based on adjusted family net income:

The Additional CESG counts toward the same $7,200 lifetime cap. Our RESP calculator includes these brackets, so you can see your own total.

Missed years? You can catch up, slowly

Here's the part a lot of parents don't know. Every child who is a resident of Canada builds up $500 of grant room each year, even if no RESP exists yet. Unused room carries forward until the end of the year the child turns 17.

The catch is the yearly speed limit. If you have unused room, you can contribute up to $5,000 in a year and get 20% on it, so the most basic CESG you can collect in one year is $1,000. That means:

• If you start late, you can't grab all the missed grant at once. You need several years of bigger contributions to catch up.
• If you skip a year, you haven't lost that $500 for good, but you'll need to put in more later to recover it.

So if your child is 8 and you're just opening an RESP, you could have $4,500 of room already. At up to $1,000 a year, catching up takes time, which is why starting sooner rather than later matters.

One more catch: the Additional CESG (the extra $50 or $100) can't be carried forward. If you qualify for it, it's worth putting in at least $500 every single year.

The age 16 and 17 rule

The CESG is available until the end of the calendar year the child turns 17. But there's a rule for teenagers that catches people out. A child who is 16 or 17 can only get the grant if, before the end of the year they turned 15, at least one of these happened:

• at least $2,000 in total was contributed to their RESP (and not withdrawn), or
• at least $100 a year was contributed (and not withdrawn) in any four earlier years.

If your child is 14 or 15 and the RESP has very little in it, this is the year to check.

The Canada Learning Bond: free money, no contribution needed

If your family has a lower income, your child may also qualify for the Canada Learning Bond (CLB). It's separate from the grant and doesn't require you to contribute anything:

• $500 in the first year of eligibility, then $100 each eligible year up to and including age 15, to a lifetime maximum of $2,000.
• The child must be born on or after January 1, 2004, and have a SIN. The primary caregiver must be eligible for the Canada Child Benefit and have filed their tax returns.
• For July 2026 to June 2027, families with 1 to 3 children qualify with an adjusted family income of $58,523 or less (higher limits apply for larger families).
• It's retroactive. A primary caregiver can request it until the day before the child turns 18, and young adults can request it for themselves until they turn 21.

If you think your child might qualify, it's worth opening an RESP even if you can't contribute right now. The bond is deposited into the RESP, so no RESP means no bond.

Families in British Columbia and Quebec may also get provincial money on top: B.C. has a one-time $1,200 grant for children aged 6 to 8, and Quebec has its own tax credit paid into the RESP.

A simple year-end checklist

1. Check what you've contributed this calendar year for each child. Your RESP provider can tell you.
2. Aim for $2,500 per child to get the full $500 basic grant. If money is tight and you qualify for the extra grant, even $500 gets you that extra $50 or $100.
3. Have catch-up room? Consider up to $5,000 to collect $1,000 of grant.
4. Get it in before December 31. Your provider may need the money a few business days before year-end to process it, so don't leave it to the last day. Ask them for their cutoff.
5. Teenager turning 15 this year? Make sure the $2,000 or four-years-of-$100 rule is met.
6. Lower income? Make sure the Canada Learning Bond has been requested.

If cash is tight, don't drain your emergency savings to hit the grant. Getting a cushion in place first is usually the safer move; the emergency fund plan walks through it.

What happens if your child doesn't go to school?

You're not stuck. Your own contributions can come back to you tax-free. The grant and the Learning Bond go back to the government. The investment growth can usually be paid to you as an "accumulated income payment," which is taxed as income plus an extra 20% (12% in Quebec), though you may be able to move up to $50,000 of it into your RRSP if you have room, which avoids that extra tax. You can also often switch the beneficiary to a sibling. Your provider and the CRA's RESP guide explain the conditions.

FAQ

Is there a limit on how much I can put in an RESP?
There's no yearly limit, but there's a $50,000 lifetime limit per child across all RESPs. Only the first $2,500 a year (or $5,000 with catch-up room) earns the grant, though.

Do RESP contributions give me a tax deduction?
No. Unlike an RRSP, you can't deduct RESP contributions. The benefit is the grant plus tax-sheltered growth.

Can grandparents open an RESP?
Yes. Almost anyone can open an RESP for a child. Just coordinate with the family, because the $7,200 grant cap and the $50,000 contribution limit are shared across every RESP for that child.

Who pays tax when the money is used for school?
The grant, the bond and the growth come out as educational assistance payments, which are taxed in the student's hands. Many students have little other income, so the tax is often small.

If I contribute on January 2, does it count for last year?
No. Unlike the RRSP, there's no 60-day window. The grant follows the calendar year.

This post is for educational purposes only and isn't financial, tax or investment advice. Rules, limits and income brackets can change. Confirm current details with Canada.ca or your RESP provider, and consider speaking with a qualified professional about your situation.