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By Jason Heath, CFP on May 12, 2025
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

By Jason Heath, CFP on May 12, 2025
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

RESPs often fall short of funding a child’s full education, but sometimes an account holder ends up with unused education savings. Here’s what to do if you have an excess or shortfall in RESP funds.

Registered education savings plans (RESPs) are the best way to save for a child’s post-secondary education. Contributions attract government grants, and the accounts grow tax-deferred. Withdrawals can be used for trade school, college or university funding in Canada and abroad.

According to Statistics Canada, for the 2024/2025 school year, the national average cost of undergraduate tuition for Canadian students was $7,360. The costs can be greater or smaller depending on the program of study, and tuition represents only a portion of the total cost of post-secondary education. Families will also need to save for expenses such as residence or rent, groceries, textbooks, school supplies, transportation and more.

Planning for RESP withdrawals can be more art than science. A child’s post-secondary aspirations or program, their scholarship entitlement, or the performance of an RESP account’s investments could lead to an excess balance in the account. More commonly, there is a shortfall, and that leaves parents and especially students in a position where other sources of education financing need to be considered.

In these situations, using funds from a tax-free savings account (TFSA), a

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