Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs)¹

A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a plan that you save for your child’s post-secondary education. The savings within your RESP grow tax-free until withdrawn. Even better, the federal government will match a percentage, subject to certain limits, of every eligible contribution made by you, the plan subscriber. 

With Scotia iTRADE, you have a range of RESP-eligible investments from which to choose. In fact, any investment that’s eligible for your RRSP is also eligible for an RESP – from equities to Canadian mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and GICs.

A self-directed RESP brokerage account is the same as a regular RESP account, except that you can direct your own investments.

To contribute to your Scotia iTRADE RESP account from any financial institution, including your own Scotiabank account, you have a few options.

• Bill payment submitted online by adding your Scotia iTRADE RESP account as a Bill Payee and submitting a bill payment request. Select Scotia iTRADE as the Payee and use your 10-digit account number located on your Scotia iTRADE account statements. This method will allocate the funds between multiple beneficiaries based on the last contribution made.

• Cheque¹ with a Letter of Direction (that includes your account number, amount of allocation for each beneficiary, signature and date). The address to send cheques is:

    Scotia iTRADE
    PO Box 4002 Station A
    Toronto, ON M5W 0G4

• Call in and speak to a Scotia iTRADE representative to make the contribution request. You may contact us by:
  

    Toll-Free (Canada/USA), Monday – Friday (8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET) at 1-888-872-3388

    Email at service@scotiaitrade.com

• To setup an automatic RESP Pre-Authorized Contribution you will be able to complete and submit the following form: RESP Pre-Authorized Contribution Agreement (SiT27). The address to send completed forms is:
  

    Scotia iTRADE
    PO Box 4002 Station A
    Toronto, ON M5W 0G4

¹ Third party cheques will not be accepted for contribution into RESPs.  Contributions to an RESP must be made by the Subscriber of the RESP plan.

To withdraw money from your Scotia iTRADE RESP is easy. The process to follow will depend on the type of payment you’re seeking – Educational Withdrawal or Non-Educational Withdrawal.

All original, completed and signed documents may be mailed to Scotia iTRADE at the following address:

Educational Withdrawals

This withdrawal type is for students attending a qualified post-secondary institution² and structured as either an Educational Assistance Payment (EAP)³ or Capital Contributed withdrawal.

To initiate either an Education Assistance Payment or a Capital Contributed payment, a subscriber must:

• Complete and submit the following RESP Withdrawal Request Form (SiT106)
• Provide Scotia iTRADE with either:

RESP funds withdrawn may be made out to the beneficiary or subscriber, in the form of either a cheque or a deposit to a Scotiabank account. It cannot be sent to another financial institution’s bank account. 

A T4A slip will be issued for EAP withdrawals in the name of the beneficiary (to reflect any grant and income received). For Capital Contributed withdrawals, as this is money you contributed, this amount is not taxable to beneficiary or subscriber.

Capital (Non-Educational) Withdrawal

For beneficiaries not attending a qualified post-secondary institution the subscriber may withdraw the RESP money. This type of withdrawal will be structured as a Capital withdrawal (money that you have contributed) and an AIP withdrawal (any  earnings accrued on the contributions made to the plan). 

To initiate either an AIP and/or Capital Withdrawals, a subscriber must:

• Complete and submit the following RESP Withdrawal Request Form (SiT106), and for:

Capital Withdrawals refund 20% of the requested withdrawal from CESG grant remaining in the plan and as such, is not subject to tax.

AIP withdrawals must have all beneficiaries over the age of 21, Canadian residents, and the plan must be open for more than 10 years. Additionally, 

• Straight withdrawal will be subject to 10-30% de-registration tax plus additional 20% surtax;
• Rollover to RRSP is non-taxable (must also complete and submit CRA form T1171)
• RESP plan must be closed March 1 of the following year in which the AIP withdrawal is processed.

Employment and Social Development Canada maintains a list of designated post secondary educational institutions.

For Beneficiaries in full-time post-secondary studies, the EAP limit is:

• $5,000 for the first 13 weeks.
• For Beneficiaries in part-time post-secondary studies, the EAP limit is $2,500 less the total amount of EAPs received in the preceding 13-week period.

The maximum EAP (Grant + Income) for a beneficiary for the 2022 calendar year is $25,268.00 without providing paid receipts/invoices)

Yes, your RESP contribution money grows tax-free while it is in your account.

No, there is no tax deduction for the money you contribute to your child’s RESP. Also, the money your RESP earns won’t be taxed until a deposit has been paid to pay for your child’s education.

The yearly maximum you can contribute to an RESP is $2500. The maximum amount you can contribute to your RESP in a lifetime is $50,000 per beneficiary. Also, it is important to note that you can only contribute to a RESP for 31 years and your plan can be open for a maximum of 35 years.   

The federal government contributes up to $7,200 towards your child’s RESP account for post-secondary education.

Once you decide you want to open a self-directed RESP for your child, you may go to our online application here.

No, you cannot open an RESP before your child is born. In order to open your child’s RESP, your child must have a social insurance number (SIN) 

You can have as many RESP account as you want. However, there is a lifetime contribution limit per beneficiary of $50,000 that you cannot exceed. This applies to all contributions made in all of your RESP accounts combined.