Educational Assistance Payments (EAPs): Limits, Taxes, and Eligibility

To take money out of a Registered Education Savings Plan for a student, you ask the plan promoter for an Educational Assistance Payment, and the RESP educational assistance payment withdrawal rules set three things: the student must be enrolled in a qualifying post-secondary program, the payment is capped at $8,000 during the first 13 weeks of full-time enrollment, and the money is taxable to the student rather than to you. Everything else is detail layered on top of those three points.

The Two Pots Inside an RESP

An RESP holds two kinds of money, and only one of them is an EAP. The EAP side is investment earnings plus government incentives: the Canada Education Savings Grant, the Canada Learning Bond, and any designated provincial grant.¹ The other side is your original contributions, which come out through a separate channel called a Post-Secondary Education payment and are tax-free because you already paid tax on that money before depositing it.

When you file a withdrawal request, the promoter asks how much of each pot you want. Pulling from the EAP side creates taxable income for the student. Pulling from contributions does not. Those two choices sit at the heart of every withdrawal decision.

The Student Has to Be Enrolled

No enrollment, no EAP. The student has to be in one of two kinds of programs at a recognized post-secondary institution.

A full-time qualifying educational program lasts at least three consecutive weeks and requires at least 10 hours per week on courses or program-related work. Distance learning and correspondence courses count if the weekly hour requirement is met through a recognized institution.²

A part-time specified educational program also runs at least three consecutive weeks but drops the time requirement to 12 hours per month on coursework.¹ The lower hours come with lower withdrawal caps. If the student moves between full-time and part-time across semesters, confirm with the promoter which category applies to each request.

How Much You Can Take Out

The First 13 Weeks

During the first 13 consecutive weeks of enrollment in a qualifying program, the EAP cap is $8,000. For a specified (part-time) program, the cap is $4,000 measured over the 13-week period ending at the time of payment.¹ These were raised from $5,000 and $2,500 in 2023.³ Some older RESP contracts may still reference the old numbers if the promoter has not updated its plan terms.

After 13 Weeks

Once a full-time student has 13 consecutive weeks of enrollment behind them, the dollar cap on EAPs disappears for the rest of that stretch of continuous enrollment.³ If the student takes a break and goes 12 months without being enrolled in a qualifying program for 13 consecutive weeks, the $8,000 cap resets for the next round of enrollment.

The Annual Review Threshold

Even with no hard cap, the CRA sets an annual EAP figure above which promoters have to look harder. For 2026 that figure is $29,459. Below it, the promoter does not need to assess whether each expense is reasonable. Above it, the promoter must review the expenses and may ask for receipts, tuition invoices, or detailed estimates before releasing the funds.³ The threshold is adjusted for inflation each year.

Asking for More Than $8,000 Up Front

If a program has unusually high tuition or related costs, Employment and Social Development Canada can approve an EAP above the $8,000 initial cap. The promoter starts the process by calling the Canada Education Savings Program at 1-888-276-3624.² Approval is not automatic and depends on whether the program’s costs sit well above average.

What EAP Money Can Pay For

The CRA reads “educational expenses” broadly. Reasonable uses include tuition, textbooks and tools, student fees, on- or off-campus housing and utilities, moving costs to and from school, a computer or laptop, internet and phone, local transportation, and basic personal needs like food, clothing, and bedding. A car can qualify if it is in the student’s name and used to get to school.³

Unreasonable uses include visits to family and friends, gym memberships, spa treatments, entertainment, vacations, medical appointments, and down payments on property.³ The pattern is simple: if the cost supports the student’s daily life while enrolled, it generally qualifies; if it has nothing to do with being a student, it generally does not.

Keep receipts. The CRA can audit any EAP regardless of amount, and the Bulletin does not set a specific retention period, so holding documentation for at least six years after the tax year follows general CRA record-keeping expectations.

Making the Request

You, as the subscriber, request the withdrawal from the RESP promoter. The student does not. You will need the student’s Social Insurance Number, the name and address of the post-secondary institution, and proof of enrollment such as a registrar letter or tuition invoice. The promoter’s form asks you to specify the dollar amount and the split between the grant and earnings portions of the EAP.

Most institutions accept requests through a secure online portal; some still require mailed forms. Processing usually takes a few business days before funds land in the designated bank account. The promoter can pay contributions alongside or instead of the EAP, so you can combine both pots in a single request.¹

Take EAP Money Before Contributions

This is where families most often leave money on the table. The general approach: draw down the EAP side first, and leave the contributions for later in the degree or for the end.

Two reasons. First, if the student drops out or changes direction, any unused CESG and CLB has to go back to the government. Contributions always belong to the subscriber. Pulling the grants and earnings out while the student is enrolled and eligible locks in that money. Second, EAPs are taxable to the student, but students usually earn little; a student with modest part-time income and a reasonably sized EAP often lands below the basic personal amount once the tuition credit is applied, so little or no tax is actually paid. The contributions can stay invested and keep growing tax-sheltered until a later term, or until the plan needs to wind down.

Tax on the Student’s Return

The student, not you, reports the EAP as income. After year-end, the promoter issues a T4A with the EAP amount in box 042, and the student includes it on their annual return.¹ This flows from section 146.1 of the Income Tax Act, which requires educational assistance payments to be included in the beneficiary’s income for the year they are received.⁴

The tuition tax credit and the basic personal amount together often reduce the tax on an EAP to zero. The practical move is to size each year’s EAP against the student’s total income for that year. A student with a well-paid co-op term might take only contributions that semester and shift EAP withdrawals to a lower-income term.

The Six-Month Window After Enrollment Ends

Finishing or leaving school does not immediately close off EAPs. The student can keep receiving them for up to six months after ceasing enrollment, provided the payments would have qualified as EAPs had they been made while the student was still enrolled.¹ It is a useful window for final rent, moving costs, or other graduation-period expenses.

After six months, the door closes. No further EAPs until the student re-enrolls in a qualifying or specified program. For a planned gap year, timing the last withdrawal before that window expires is worth working into the plan.

Studying Outside Canada

EAPs can fund study abroad, but the rules split by institution type. A university outside Canada qualifies if the student is enrolled full-time in a course lasting at least three consecutive weeks. Other post-secondary institutions outside Canada require enrollment in a course lasting at least 13 consecutive weeks.¹

Residency changes the math. The grant portion of an EAP (CESG and CLB) is only available if the beneficiary is a Canadian resident at the time of payment.⁵ A student who has moved abroad and is no longer a Canadian resident loses access to the grant portion; the earnings portion is still available. A student overseas on a student visa who keeps Canadian residency keeps full access to both.

When Grant Money Gets Clawed Back

Grant money is not permanently yours until the student actually uses it. Several events trigger repayment of CESG and CLB back to the government:

The beneficiary never enrolls in post-secondary education.
The RESP is closed before the beneficiary uses the grants.
Funds are rolled over from the RESP to a Registered Disability Savings Plan; all RESP grants must be repaid to ESDC and the RESP must be closed by the end of February of the following year.
Certain transfers between individual RESPs held by siblings, where the receiving plan’s beneficiary is over age 20.

This is the backbone of the “take EAPs first” strategy. Every dollar of grant money paid out as an EAP while the student is enrolled is a dollar the government cannot later reclaim.

1
Canada Revenue Agency. Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP) Payments
2
Canada Revenue Agency. Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs)
3
Canada Revenue Agency. Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) Bulletin No 1R3
4
Justice Laws Website. Income Tax Act RSC 1985 c 1 (5th Supp) – Section 146.1
5
Justice Laws Website. Canada Education Savings Regulations