Ages 13–15

Where your education money lives

Somebody has been saving for your education, or has not been able to yet. Read the statement together at fourteen rather than finding out at eighteen.

About 20 minutes Read it themselves Earns The Statement Reader Badge

The Quest

For the kid

There is an account in Canada that exists only to pay for education after high school: an RESP, a Registered Education Savings Plan. If your family has one, there is money in it with your name on it.

The part worth knowing at fourteen: some of that money came from the government, because your family put money in.

  • For every dollar contributed, the federal government adds 20 cents.
  • Up to $500 a year, to a lifetime maximum of $7,200 per child.
  • It is called the Canada Education Savings Grant.
  • Lower-income families can qualify for more, and some children qualify for the Canada Learning Bond, which pays in with no family contribution at all.

Reading the statement

An RESP holds three piles of money, and they behave differently later:

Pile What it is What happens when it comes out
Contributions What your family put in Already taxed. Comes back tax free, income to nobody
Grants What the government added Paid out together as an Educational Assistance Payment
Growth What it earned by sitting there An EAP counts as your income in the year you receive it

Most full-time students earn very little, so the tax on an EAP is usually small or nothing.

Your mission

Find three numbers on your family's statement: total contributions, total government grant, total value today. Then work out the government's share.

If your family does not have one, grant room carries forward, and the Canada Learning Bond can be claimed back to birth for children born in 2004 or later who qualify. Take our RESP page to your parent.

The Parent Playbook

For you — read before you start

This is the level parents skip. Money is private, and the number might be smaller than you wanted.

Have the conversation anyway. Your kid finds out at seventeen otherwise, mid-way through picking a school. Fourteen leaves three years to act on it.

What to say

If there is a healthy RESP:

"This is what we have saved for your education, and this part is what the government added because we saved it. It will cover about this much of a program like the one you are thinking about, and the rest comes from you working, scholarships, or living at home."

If there is little or nothing:

"We don't have much in one yet, and I want to tell you rather than have you find out later. Here is what we can do from here, and what it means you and I each need to plan for."

The second conversation is harder and more valuable.

Mistake to avoid

Do not promise a number you have not checked. "Don't worry, it's covered" is the most expensive sentence in this course. Open the statement first, then speak.

Do not let the shape of it become a verdict on you. A parent who arrived in Canada when their child was nine did not have eighteen years of grant room to use. Your kid will take that as calmly as you do.

Do It Together

The 20-minute activity

Open the statement together 20 minutes · the most recent RESP statement, or the provider login

  1. Get the actual statement out. Paper or the real screen, not a recollection.
  2. Find the three piles and write them on a sheet. Providers name them differently; finding them is part of the exercise.
  3. Work out the government's share as a percentage. Let them do it.
  4. Check the grant room. Your provider or CRA correspondence can say whether unused CESG room is sitting there.
  5. Price one real program — tuition plus housing plus books for something they want. Compare it to the balance and say the gap out loud.
  6. Write the three-line plan: what the RESP covers, what they will cover, what is still open. Put a date on it to revisit in a year.

Done? That is the Growers tier complete. Next: the Makers tier — adult money, one year early.

Done with level 06?

Fills in one leaf on the Growers map and earns The Statement Reader Badge. Kept in this browser only — nothing about your child is sent anywhere.

Financial education, not advice. It describes how Canadian accounts and programs work and recommends no product, provider or investment. Dollar figures are statutory.