The benefit year is 2026. Every amount and income threshold on this page is a 2026 figure, checked against the Government of Canada's RESP amounts page at build time on November 9, 2026. The thresholds are indexed every year, so a 2026 threshold is not a 2027 threshold.
The basic grant. The Canada Education Savings Grant adds 20% of the first $2,500 contributed to the RESP each year, up to $500 a year. The lifetime maximum is $7,200 per child. Contributions must be made to the RESP to get the grant. Unused grant amounts from earlier years carry forward until the end of the year the child turns 17, so if you did not receive the maximum in a given year you can contribute more later and receive up to $1,000 of grant in one year. This tool shows the standard year on the first $2,500 and notes the catch-up; it does not track your unused room.
The additional grant. Children from middle- and low-income families can receive an additional 10% or 20% on the first $500 contributed each year. For 2026 adjusted family net income less than $58,523, the additional amount is 20%, which is $100. From $58,523 to $117,045, it is 10%, which is $50. Above $117,045 there is no additional grant. The maximum yearly grant is $600, $550, or $500 by those three bands, and the lifetime maximum stays $7,200 in every band.
The contribution limit. There is no annual limit on what you can contribute to an RESP, but the lifetime limit is $50,000 per beneficiary across all RESPs for that child. Grants and investment growth do not count toward the $50,000; only money you contribute does. If contributions for a child go over $50,000, a tax of 1% per month applies to the excess until it is withdrawn, so track contributions across every RESP for the same child. Children aged 16 or 17 can still receive the grant only if, by the end of the year the child turned 15, at least $2,000 had been contributed to the RESP and not withdrawn, or at least $100 a year had been contributed in at least four earlier years.
The Canada Learning Bond. The Bond is for children born on or after January 1, 2004, from low-income families, and it needs no contribution. It pays $500 in the first eligible year, then $100 for each further eligible year up to and including age 15, to a lifetime maximum of $2,000. For July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, the income eligibility amount for a family with 1 to 3 children is $58,523 or less. The Bond is retroactive and can be requested until the day before the child turns 18, and must be claimed before the child turns 21.
Years to the cap and total grants to age 17. The years to the $7,200 lifetime cap are the cap divided by this year's total yearly grant, rounded up, and capped at the number of grant years left, which runs from the child's current age to the end of the year the child turns 17. The total grants to age 17 are the yearly grant times the years left, capped at $7,200, plus the Bond still to come, which is $500 in the first eligible year and $100 a year after that to age 15, capped at the $2,000 lifetime maximum. Children aged 16 or 17 must meet the conditions in the contribution-limit paragraph above to stay eligible for the grant.
Provincial grants are out of scope. British Columbia and Quebec offer their own education savings benefits on top of the federal grants. The British Columbia Training and Education Savings Grant is a one-time $1,200 for eligible children aged 6 to 8 who are residents of British Columbia. The Quebec Education Savings Incentive has a lifetime maximum of $3,600. This tool does not calculate either one; it notes them here so a reader in those provinces knows to check them.
Worked examples. A 5-year-old, a $2,500 contribution, $50,000 of adjusted family income, and a first eligible year for the Bond: the basic grant is 20% of $2,500, which is $500, and the additional grant is 20% of $500, which is $100, for a yearly grant of $600. The Bond pays $500 this year. The years to the $7,200 cap are $7,200 divided by $600, which is 12 years, inside the 13 grant years left to age 17. Total grants to age 17 are $7,200 of grant plus $1,500 of Bond, which is $8,700. A 10-year-old, a $1,000 contribution, $130,000 of income, and no Bond: the basic grant is 20% of $1,000, which is $200, and there is no additional grant, for a yearly grant of $200. The years to the cap are 36, but only 8 grant years are left, so total grants to age 17 are $1,600.
What this estimator leaves out. Unused grant room from earlier years, which can raise one year's grant to $1,000; the British Columbia and Quebec provincial benefits; and any change to the amounts or thresholds after 2026.
Sources: Government of Canada, How much money can be added to Registered Education Savings Plans (the $2,000 lifetime Bond maximum, the $500 first year and $100 a year to age 15, the $7,200 lifetime grant maximum, the $500 yearly grant maximum and up to $100 more, the 20% on the first $2,500 and the additional 10% or 20% on the first $500, the 2026 income thresholds of $58,523 and $117,045, the grant available to the end of the year the child turns 17, the $1,200 British Columbia grant, and the $3,600 Quebec lifetime maximum), opened at build time on November 9, 2026. The $50,000 lifetime contribution limit, the 1% per month over-contribution penalty, and the $2,000-or-$100-a-year-in-four-years conditions for ages 16 and 17 are from the Government of Canada, Managing the Registered Education Savings Plan, taxes and transfers and How much money can be added to Registered Education Savings Plans, re-checked November 10, 2026. No figure on this page comes from anywhere else.