Just like that in the blink of an eye your baby has graduated high school and soon will embark in their next life stage. Having contributed to their RESP over the years (Subscriber), you are now looking to withdraw funds to pay for their post-secondary education (Beneficiary).
There are 2 parts to the RESP withdrawals:
1) Post Secondary Education Payments (PSE) are the withdrawals of the contributions made by the Subscriber.
and
2) Education Assistance Payments (EAP) are the withdrawals of the investment income and government grant portion of the RESP.
The PSE payments are not taxable but the student will be taxed on EAP payments. A good strategy is to withdraw the EAP portion first as the student most likely has a lower income at this point in time. There is no limit to the amount of PSE you can withdraw but the EAP is limited to $5,000 (full-time) or $2,500 (part-time) for the first 13 weeks of school.
You must provide the financial institution with proof of your child’s full-time or part-time enrolment in an approved post-secondary institution.
Give yourself a few extra days to get this done before the installment deadline as it may take a few days for the funds to appear in the account and then you’ll need a few days for the school to receive the funds.
