How to Fill Out and Submit the TD RESP Withdrawal Request Form

To withdraw money from a Registered Education Savings Plan held at TD, you complete the TD RESP Withdrawal Request Form by picking the type of withdrawal (an Educational Assistance Payment or a return of contributions), entering the dollar amount, giving banking details for the deposit, and attaching proof of enrollment from the student’s school. TD Direct Investing clients can submit through WebBroker, by phone at 1-800-465-5463, or at a TD Canada Trust branch; TD Mutual Funds and other branch-held plans are handled in person or by submitting the paper form directly.¹ A PDF of the form is on TD’s website.²

Pick the Right Withdrawal Type First

The form’s first real decision is which pool of money the request will come from. An RESP holds two, and they are taxed differently.

An Educational Assistance Payment (EAP) is made up of the Canada Education Savings Grant, the Canada Learning Bond, any provincial incentives, and all investment growth earned inside the plan. EAPs are taxable income to the student who receives them.³

A Post-Secondary Education (PSE) withdrawal is a return of the original contributions the subscriber paid in. Those dollars were contributed with after-tax money, so withdrawing them triggers no further tax and no T4A slip. The money goes back to the subscriber, not the beneficiary, though the subscriber can forward it afterward. There is no dollar cap on PSE withdrawals.⁴

Checking the wrong box can land the student with an unexpected tax slip, or draw down grant money when you meant to withdraw contributions. When the beneficiary’s income for the year will be low, which is common for full-time students, pulling EAPs first is usually the more tax-efficient move: the student pays little or no tax on the income, and the subscriber keeps contribution capital in reserve for a later year.

EAP Limits in the First 13 Weeks

For a full-time student in a qualifying educational program, the EAP cannot exceed $8,000 during the first 13 consecutive weeks of enrollment. After those 13 weeks, as long as the student stays enrolled, there is no cap on further EAP amounts. If the student later goes 12 months or more without being enrolled for 13 consecutive weeks, the $8,000 ceiling resets.⁵

Part-time students have their own ceiling: $4,000 for any 13-consecutive-week period of enrollment in a specified educational program.⁵ These numbers rose from $5,000 and $2,500 in 2023, so older guides may still show the older figures.

EAPs can also be paid for up to six months after enrollment ends, provided the expenses would have qualified during school.⁴

What to Have Ready Before You Start

A missing piece will stall the whole request, so collect these first.

Your TD RESP account number, from a statement or your online banking dashboard.
The subscriber’s SIN and the beneficiary’s SIN.
Banking details for the deposit: transit number, institution number, and account number for the bank account that should receive the funds. Check every digit; a wrong number sends the deposit into a holding queue.
A proof of enrollment document from the school’s registrar.

What Proof of Enrollment Must Show

TD will not release EAP funds without formal enrollment confirmation, because the plan promoter has to verify the beneficiary qualifies before paying out grant money and growth.⁶ At a minimum, the letter should include:

The student’s full legal name. A student ID number without the name is not enough.
The name of the post-secondary institution.
The semester or term start date, so TD can see whether the student is inside or past the 13-week window.
Explicit confirmation that the student is enrolled or registered. Vague language about course selection or payment does not count.
Official letterhead or a digital signature from the registrar’s office.

A tuition invoice or class schedule on its own usually will not qualify unless it carries explicit confirmation-of-enrollment wording. If you are requesting a PSE (contribution) withdrawal only, some institutions still ask for proof of enrollment, so have the letter ready either way.

Filling Out the Form

Start at the top: enter the RESP account number, the subscriber’s name, and the subscriber’s SIN. Then enter the beneficiary’s full name, date of birth, and SIN.

In the withdrawal type section, select EAP, PSE, or both, and write the dollar amount beside each. A combined withdrawal is fine; for example, $5,000 from the EAP bucket and $3,000 from contributions goes on two separate lines. Leaving one line blank while filling in the other works too.

The deposit section wants the transit number, institution number, and account number for the receiving account. For EAPs, the deposit typically goes to the beneficiary’s account. For PSE withdrawals it goes to the subscriber’s account, because the contributions legally belong to the subscriber.⁴

Fill in the academic year start date and the institution name so they match the proof of enrollment letter exactly. Sign and date the form. If you are submitting digitally, TD Direct Investing accepts documents sent to the email address printed on the form itself.

How to Submit It

TD offers three channels, depending on how the RESP is held.

WebBroker (TD Direct Investing only). Submit EAP and PSE requests online and upload the proof of enrollment when prompted.
Phone (TD Direct Investing only). Call 1-800-465-5463, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. An investment representative can process the request.
TD Canada Trust branch. Bring the completed form and proof of enrollment in. This is the standard route for TD Mutual Funds RESPs, and the only route for Accumulated Income Payments.¹

TD’s published materials do not give a specific processing time for RESP withdrawals. Build a buffer in. Investments inside the RESP may need to be sold and settled before cash is available to send, so submitting at least two weeks ahead of a tuition deadline leaves room for trade settlement, compliance review, and the deposit.

What Shows Up on the Student’s Tax Return

Every EAP paid out during the calendar year is reported on a T4A slip in box 042, which TD sends to the student.³ The student reports that amount as income for the year the payment was received. Between the basic personal amount, tuition credits, and typically modest student earnings, the actual tax owed on EAP income is often small or nothing. That is the planning case for drawing EAPs down while the beneficiary is still a student.

PSE withdrawals produce no tax slip. The money was taxed when the subscriber earned it, and no further reporting applies.⁴

If the Beneficiary Is Not Going to School

If the student does not pursue post-secondary education, or if investment growth is left in the plan after schooling ends, the subscriber may be able to take out that growth as an Accumulated Income Payment. This is a separate process, not an EAP or PSE withdrawal. AIPs are added to the subscriber’s income for the year and hit with an extra 20 percent tax on top (12 percent in Quebec), and any remaining government grants in the plan must be returned to the government.³ AIP requests cannot be submitted through WebBroker or by phone; they have to be done in person at a TD Canada Trust branch.¹

1
TD Canada Trust. Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) – TD Direct Investing
2
TD Canada Trust. Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) Withdrawal Request
3
Canada Revenue Agency. Registered Education Savings Plans Payments, Transferring and Rolling Over Registered Education Savings Plans Property
4
Government of Canada. Pay for Education Using the Registered Education Savings Plan
5
Canada Revenue Agency. Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) Bulletin No.1R3
6
TD Canada Trust. RESP Withdrawal Rules and Limits