Skip to main content
MENU

Investment FAQs

Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)

Select Category: General Opening an Account Contributions Withdrawals Managing Your Investments Online

General

The Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a tax-sheltered plan that helps you save for a child’s post-secondary education. An RESP combines flexibility, tax-deferred investment growth and direct government assistance to help you reach your education savings goals for your children.

An RESP can be set up for any “beneficiary,” including your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or family friends. Each beneficiary must be a Canadian resident and have a Social Insurance Number (SIN), which can be obtained from a Service Canada.

An RBC RESP can hold a variety of investments, including Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), mutual funds, portfolio solutions and savings deposits. You can also hold stocks and bonds through RBC Direct Investing™ and RBC Dominion Securities

There is no charge to open an RESP with RBC Royal Bank.

In addition to the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), there are Federal and Provincial government incentives available to help lower- and middle-income Canadian families save for a child’s education if eligible. See RESP Grants and Bonds.

There is a service fee of $25.00 ($50.00 if transferred in the first twelve months of operation) for the transfer of property from an RESP to a company that is not a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada. This fee is subject to change. In the event this fee changes or new fees are introduced, RBC will notify clients by mail or electronically at least 30 days before the effective date of the change.

Opening an Account

Please visit your branch to open a new RESP. We recommend booking an appointment ahead of time by calling us at 1-800-769-2511.

Contributions

You can contribute any amount to an RESP, subject to a lifetime limit of $50,000 per beneficiary. You can contribute to an RESP for up to 31 years, and the plan can remain open for a maximum of 35 years.

You can:

Yes, you can set up an RBC RESP-Matic®, which lets you specify automatic contributions (weekly, monthly, etc.) to your RESP using funds from your RBC Royal Bank chequing or savings account.

You can start, change, pause or stop your RESP-Matic contributions in one of three ways:

If you don't contribute enough to receive the maximum $500 grant in a given year, the unused entitlement can be carried forward to the next year. Families with a net family income below $45,282 in 2016 (the threshold is adjusted every year) may qualify for a special enhanced CESG of 40% on the first $500 contributed each year.

Yes! An RBC RESP Gift Cheque can be used to invest in a child’s future. RESP Gift Cheques can be deposited into new or existing RBC RESP accounts.

Withdrawals

Once an RESP beneficiary is enrolled in a qualifying post-secondary education or training program, the accumulated income, grants and bonds within the RESP can be paid out to the student as an Educational Assistance Payment (EAP) at the discretion of the subscriber (person who opened the RESP).

An RESP beneficiary must claim all Educational Assistance Payments (EAPs)—as income on his or her tax return in the year that they are received. Usually, this results in little or no tax since students tend to be in the lowest tax bracket and can claim tax credits for the personal amount and education-related expenses. Contributions can be withdrawn tax-free.

Managing Your Investments Online

You can view your RESP account information, balances, Investor Profile, transaction history and download documents through RBC Online Banking.

To contribute to your RESP online Sign in to Online Banking, choose your RESP, and click "Contributions" from the left menu.

Yes, you can set up an RBC RESP-Matic®, which lets you specify automatic contributions (weekly, monthly, etc.) to your RESP using funds from your RBC Royal Bank chequing or savings account. To start, change, pause or stop your RESP-Matic contributions Sign in to Online Banking, choose your RESP, and click "Manage Pre-Authorized Contributions" from the left menu.

You can switch investment product types within your RESP through RBC Online Banking.

Mutual Funds are sold by Royal Mutual Funds Inc. (RMFI). There may be commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the Fund Facts/prospectus before investing. Mutual fund securities are not insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation. For funds other than money market funds, unit values change frequently. For money market funds, there can be no assurances that a fund will be able to maintain its net asset value per security at a constant amount or that the full amount of your investment in a fund will be returned to you. Past performance may not be repeated. RMFI is licensed as a financial services firm in the province of Quebec.


Financial planning services and investment advice are provided by Royal Mutual Funds Inc. (RMFI).  RMFI, RBC Global Asset Management Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Trust Corporation of Canada and The Royal Trust Company are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. RMFI is licensed as a financial services firm in the province of Quebec.