RESP grant: 20% of $2,500 a year, up to $7,200 per child

For 2026, the RESP grant (the Canada Education Savings Grant) is 20% of the first $2,500 contributed per child each year, so $500, up to $7,200 per lifetime. Families with adjusted net income under $58,523 get $100 more, and under $117,045 get $50 more. Unused room carries forward, to $1,000 of grant a year.

How much CESG does each income tier get in 2026?

Every child gets the basic CESG: 20% of the first $2,500 contributed each year, so $500. The additional CESG adds 20% or 10% of the first $500, depending on adjusted family net income. ESDC has published the 2026 thresholds canada.ca.

Adjusted family net income	2026 threshold	2025 threshold	Basic CESG	Additional CESG	Maximum a year
Lower	Under $58,523	Under $57,375	$500	$100 (20% of $500)	$600
Middle	$58,523 to $117,045	$57,375 to $114,750	$500	$50 (10% of $500)	$550
Higher	Over $117,045	Over $114,750	$500	None	$500

As of October 2026 the CRA's CESG page still shows the 2025 thresholds, so expect to see both figures quoted canada.ca. For contributions made in 2026, use ESDC's numbers.

A middle income family that puts in $2,500 in 2026 gets $500 of basic CESG plus $50 of additional CESG, so $550. Contributing $500 alone still earns the full $50 additional amount, but only $100 of basic grant.

How does unused grant room catch up? A worked example

Each child under 18 who is resident in Canada builds $500 of CESG room a year (for 2007 and later), whether or not an RESP exists yet canada.ca. Unused room lets a contributor put in up to $5,000 a year and get 20% of it, so the grant tops out at $1,000 per calendar year canada.ca.

Take a child born in 2020 whose family earns over $117,045, so only the basic grant applies. The RESP opens in 2026, by which point the child has built seven years of room (2020 to 2026), $3,500. The parents contribute $5,000 a year.

Year	Room available	Contribution	CESG paid	Room left	CESG to date
2026	$3,500	$5,000	$1,000	$2,500	$1,000
2027	$3,000	$5,000	$1,000	$2,000	$2,000
2028	$2,500	$5,000	$1,000	$1,500	$3,000
2029	$2,000	$5,000	$1,000	$1,000	$4,000
2030	$1,500	$5,000	$1,000	$500	$5,000
2031	$1,000	$5,000	$1,000	$0	$6,000
2032	$500	$2,500	$500	$0	$6,500
2033	$500	$2,500	$500	$0	$7,000
2034	$500	$1,000	$200	$300	$7,200

The $7,200 lifetime cap binds in 2034, the year the child turns 14, after $36,000 of contributions. Anything put in after that earns no grant, though it still grows tax sheltered. Total contributions stay well under the $50,000 lifetime limit per beneficiary canada.ca.

Why can a contribution at 16 or 17 earn no grant?

The beneficiary needs a SIN, must be resident in Canada when the contribution is made, and must be named on the RESP. The grant is paid on contributions up to the end of the calendar year the child turns 17 canada.ca.

The trap is ages 16 and 17. A contribution in those years earns CESG only if, before the end of the year the child turned 15, at least $2,000 had been contributed and not withdrawn, or at least $100 had been contributed and not withdrawn in any four years canada.ca. A client who opens a plan for a 16 year old with no history gets no grant at all, however much room is left.

Watch the contribution side too. There's no annual limit, but the lifetime cap is $50,000 per beneficiary across all RESPs, contributions aren't deductible, and an excess costs each subscriber 1% a month on their share until it's withdrawn, reported on Form T1E-OVP and payable within 90 days after the end of the year canada.ca. Contributions are generally allowed only while the beneficiary is under 31.

Which other grants land in an RESP without a contribution?

Three more grants can land in the same RESP. None of them requires a matching contribution.

Grant	Amount	Who gets it
Canada Learning Bond	$500 the first year, then $100 a year through age 15, up to $2,000	Children born on or after January 1, 2004 in lower income families
B.C. Training and Education Savings Grant	$1,200 once	B.C. resident children, applied for from the 6th birthday to the day before the 9th
Quebec Education Savings Incentive	Up to $3,600 lifetime	Quebec beneficiaries

For July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, the CLB income limit is $58,523 for a family with one to three children, $66,036 with four and $73,577 with five canada.ca. The primary caregiver can request it until the day before the child turns 18, and the beneficiary can then request it until the day before turning 21.

Starting in April 2028, ESDC plans to open an RESP automatically for eligible children born in 2024 or later who have no RESP by age 4, with an opt out available from 2027 canada.ca. The B.C. grant needs no matching contributions, only an RESP with a participating provider www2.gov.bc.ca.

The grant is taxed as the student's income when it comes out

The CESG and the growth leave the plan as educational assistance payments. EAPs go into the student's income under ITA 146.1(7) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, and the promoter reports them in box 042 of a T4A canada.ca. Students often pay little or no tax on them because their other income is low.

There's a cap at the start of school: $8,000 of EAPs for the first 13 consecutive weeks of a full time program, and $4,000 per 13 week period for part time study canada.ca. The subscriber's own contributions come back tax free at any time.

Taking contributions back when the beneficiary isn't eligible for an EAP normally means repaying CESG. The exception is a withdrawal that only removes an overcontribution of $4,000 or less. Above $4,000, CESG is repayable on the whole amount withdrawn, and repaid grant doesn't restore room canada.ca.

What if the child never goes to school?

The CESG can move to a sibling who has CESG room. Otherwise it goes back to the federal government, as does any unused CLB, and provincial grants go back to the province when the plan closes canada.ca. The contributions return to the subscriber tax free.

The growth can come out as an accumulated income payment once the year of the plan's 9th anniversary has passed and every beneficiary is 21 and not eligible for an EAP. An AIP is taxed at the subscriber's regular rate plus 20% (12% for Quebec residents), calculated on Form T1172 canada.ca. Putting the AIP into the subscriber's or spouse's RRSP shelters it from the extra tax, up to $50,000 per lifetime, so check the client's room on the RRSP limit page canada.ca.

A beneficiary with a disability can sometimes roll the growth into an RDSP instead, but the CESG and CLB must be repaid to ESDC first canada.ca. The RDSP side has its own grants, covered in RDSP grant and bond.

Yes. In a family plan, CESG paid for one child can be used by a sibling who has CESG room, and a sibling can be added without repaying grants already paid. Adding a beneficiary who isn't a sibling means repaying the grants canada.ca.

Not if they start by the year the child turns 10 and put in $5,000 a year. Room builds at $500 a year from birth and catch up is capped at $1,000 of grant a year, so a family that starts with $3,500 of room still reaches $7,200 by age 14 in the worked example above canada.ca. Start later and the $1,000 yearly cap, plus the age 17 cutoff, leaves grant unclaimed.

The student, when the grant comes out as an EAP for school, reported on a T4A canada.ca. If it never goes to school, the grant goes back to the government, so no one is taxed on it.