Registered Education Savings Plan - Early Withdrawals

Early Withdrawals

Any principal contributed to the RESP can be withdrawn at any time by its contributor. In this case, any eligible CESG payments on those contributions must be repaid to the Government. If the beneficiary has also received additional CESG, none of the beneficiaries in the plan will be eligible for additional CESG for the next 2 years. If the student elects to not attend a post-secondary institution, any accumulated interest may be withdrawn by the contributor; this is called an AIP (Accumulated Income payment). To receive this AIP, the plan must be in place for at least 10 years and all beneficiaries must be over 21 years old. This AIP is taxed as income unless it is rolled into a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), subject to individual contribution limits and applicable rules.