Wealthsimple RESP: fees, government grants, transfers and withdrawals

A Wealthsimple RESP is a registered education savings plan you open in the Wealthsimple app, either self-directed (you buy the stocks and ETFs) or managed (Wealthsimple builds the portfolio). The account is the easy part. The money that matters most is the federal grant, and how much of it you collect depends on when and how much you contribute, not on which app you use. This guide covers both, so you can decide whether Wealthsimple is the right home for your child’s RESP and how to collect every grant dollar. YieldMaple checked Wealthsimple’s RESP, pricing and transfer pages, its help centre’s transfer timelines and the Government of Canada’s RESP pages on September 23, 2026.

Wealthsimple RESP at a glance

Wealthsimple RESP: self-directed vs managed (September 2026)

	Self-directed RESP	Managed RESP
What Wealthsimple charges	$0 commission on Canadian and US stocks and ETFs	0.50% a year (Core); 0.40% a year from $100,000 in assets
Federal grant (CESG)	20% of the first $2,500 a year, up to $7,200 per child	20% of the first $2,500 a year, up to $7,200 per child
Who picks the investments	You: stocks and ETFs, with fractional shares	Wealthsimple, from your goals and timeline
Moving an RESP in	6–8 weeks on average; individual RESPs transfer into a managed Wealthsimple RESP	6–8 weeks on average
Lifetime contribution limit	$50,000 per child	$50,000 per child
Investor protection	securities eligible for CIPF coverage up to $1M per defined account	securities eligible for CIPF coverage up to $1M per defined account

The deciding difference between the two versions is cost versus effort: the self-directed RESP charges $0 commission on Canadian and US stocks and ETFs, while the managed RESP costs 0.50% a year on the Core plan (0.40% a year once you have $100,000 or more with Wealthsimple). Both versions collect the same government grant: 20% of the first $2,500 you contribute each year, up to $7,200 per child. Both follow the same lifetime contribution limit of $50,000 per child. Moving an existing RESP in takes 6–8 weeks on average. For its investment accounts, Wealthsimple lists securities eligible for CIPF coverage up to $1M per defined account.

How does the Wealthsimple RESP work?

You open it in the Wealthsimple app, add your child with their Social Insurance Number, contribute, and the government adds a 20% grant on top.

Three parties make up every RESP, and the jargon shows up on every form:

• Subscriber: you, the person who opens the plan and contributes. Per the Government of Canada, anyone can be a subscriber: parents, guardians, grandparents, other relatives or friends.
• Beneficiary: the child who will use the money for school after high school.
• Promoter: the institution holding the plan. Here that’s Wealthsimple, which appears on the Government of Canada’s list of RESP promoters on canada.ca.

When you open the plan, canada.ca says the promoter helps you apply for the federal and provincial grants at the same time. It also says the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) is deposited within 6 to 8 weeks of an eligible contribution, once the application is processed, and the child needs a SIN before any grant can be paid.

The tax deal is different from an RRSP. Contributions are not tax-deductible, but growth inside the plan isn’t taxed while it stays there. When the student later withdraws the grant and the growth, it counts as the student’s income, and canada.ca notes that students with little other income can usually take it out with little or no tax. The plan can accept contributions for up to 31 years and can stay open until the end of the year that includes the plan's 35th anniversary, so there’s no rush if your child takes a gap year or starts school later.

Self-directed or managed: which Wealthsimple RESP should you pick?

Pick self-directed if you’ll choose and adjust your own ETFs for $0 commissions; pick managed if you’d rather pay 0.50% a year for Wealthsimple to build and rebalance the portfolio.

Self-directed works like Wealthsimple’s other trading accounts. There’s no account minimum, fractional shares let small contributions be fully invested, and Canadian-listed ETFs trade in Canadian dollars. Buying US-listed stocks or ETFs with Canadian dollars costs a 1.5% currency conversion fee, a cost that Canadian-listed funds avoid. If you’d like a single-fund option, see how to buy XEQT on Wealthsimple; XEQT’s MER is 0.19%, which works out to about $38 a year on a $20,000 RESP.

The catch is timing. An RESP has a known end date, the year your child starts school. An all-equity fund can fall sharply the year before tuition is due, so self-directed investors who want to limit that risk have to shift part of the balance toward bonds or cash themselves as that date approaches.

Managed means Wealthsimple builds the portfolio from the goals and timeline you give it and rebalances it for you. On the Core plan the fee is 0.50% a year, which is about $100 a year on a $20,000 RESP, plus the ETFs’ own costs inside the portfolio. Wealthsimple’s RESP page doesn’t describe an automatic shift toward safer holdings as enrolment nears, so review the risk level with them as school gets closer.

One way to lower the managed fee: Wealthsimple’s Households page says that when you join a household, your combined assets count toward a client plan. Household members must all be Wealthsimple clients who share a residential address. A household that reaches $100,000 together pays the Premium rate of 0.40% a year. The trade-offs are compared in more depth in managed vs self-directed investing at Wealthsimple.

How much is the RESP grant, and how do you get all of it?

The basic Canada Education Savings Grant pays 20% on the first $2,500 you contribute per child each year: $500 a year, up to $7,200 per child.

That’s the headline, but four government programs can pay into an RESP. According to the Government of Canada’s RESP benefits page:

• Basic CESG: 20% of the first $2,500 a year, for every family regardless of income, paid until the end of the calendar year the child turns 17.
• Additional CESG: an extra 10% or 20% on the first $500 contributed each year. For 2026 that means an extra 20% if adjusted family net income is under $58,523, an extra 10% between $58,523 and $117,045, and no extra above $117,045, so the yearly maximum becomes $600 (lower income), $550 (middle income) or $500. The lifetime cap stays $7,200.
• Canada Learning Bond: for lower-income families, $500 for the first eligible year, then $100 for each eligible year up to and including age 15, up to $2,000. No contribution is needed. For July 2026 to June 2027 the cut-off is adjusted family income of $58,523 or less (families with 1 to 3 children).
• Provincial programs: British Columbia’s grant is $1,200 (one-time, for eligible B.C. children aged 6 to 8), paid only through participating institutions; Québec’s QESI adds up to $3,600 over a child’s lifetime.

Wealthsimple’s RESP page advertises the 20% match and mentions “additional eligible grants” without listing them. Canada.ca tells families to ask a promoter which benefits it offers before opening, so if you’re counting on the Learning Bond, the B.C. grant or QESI, confirm with Wealthsimple first.

Two rules catch families out. Unused grant room carries forward: in a year with room left over, a $5,000 contribution can collect up to $1,000 of grant. And a child aged 16 or 17 only qualifies if, before the end of the year they turned 15, at least $2,000 was contributed (and not withdrawn), or at least $100 a year in any four earlier years.

Three grant plans, worked out

These examples use canada.ca’s rules to show how the contribution pattern decides the grant.

1. Start at birth, steady contributions. Put in $2,500 every year and collect $500 a year. Fourteen years of that, plus $1,000 in year fifteen, adds up to $36,000 of contributions and the full $7,200 grant.
2. Start late and catch up. If the RESP opens in the year your child turns 10, and the child has unused grant room from every year since birth, contributing $5,000 a year collects $1,000 a year. Eight catch-up years, ages 10 to 17, are enough to reach the full $7,200. Start in the year the child turns 11 and, for a family that doesn’t get the additional grant, the most you can collect is $7,000. Without the additional grant, the year a child turns 10 is the last start that can still reach the lifetime maximum.
3. Lower-income family. With the additional grant and the Learning Bond, up to $9,200 in federal money can land in the RESP, and the Learning Bond part needs no contribution at all.

The grant works on calendar years, so a contribution has to land by December 31 to count toward that year’s room.

Family, individual or joint: which RESP can you open at Wealthsimple?

Wealthsimple publishes CRA-approved terms for both family and individual RESPs; a “joint” RESP means two subscribers, which CRA allows for spouses or common-law partners.

• Family plan: covers one or more children related to you by blood or adoption (your children, stepchildren, grandchildren or siblings, per canada.ca). Each child must be under 21 when added to the plan. Growth can be shared among the children, and grant money can go to any eligible child in the plan, up to $7,200 each. The Learning Bond isn’t shared the same way: canada.ca says it can only be paid to eligible children, and unused bond money goes back to the government.
• Individual plan: one child, who doesn’t have to be related to you. It suits an aunt, uncle or family friend saving for a child.
• Joint subscribers: CRA allows spouses or common-law partners to be joint original subscribers, and separated or divorced parents who are both legal parents can open one together. Wealthsimple’s Households page lists the RESP under a “joint accounts” heading, but the same list also includes the RRSP and RRIF and gives no RESP-specific rules, so it doesn’t confirm a joint RESP. The RESP page doesn’t spell out joint-subscriber rules either, so confirm in the app before you open.
• Group plans: Wealthsimple’s account-agreements page lists family and individual RESP terms only. Group plans, which pool savings for children born the same year and can charge fees if you stop regular payments, are provided by group plan dealers, per canada.ca.

If grandparents open their own RESP for the same child, every contribution still counts toward the same lifetime limit of $50,000 per child. Canada.ca also notes that the grant is paid to the plan that receives the earliest contribution, so coordinate who contributes first each year.

How do you transfer an RESP to Wealthsimple?

Open a Wealthsimple RESP, then set up a transfer request; Wealthsimple puts the average RESP transfer at 6–8 weeks, versus 2–4 weeks for most other accounts.

Wealthsimple’s RESP page lays out three steps: open the RESP, set up the transfer request (choosing in-kind, where holdings move as they are, or cash), and let Wealthsimple work with your old institution. Before you start, check three things:

1. Where it lands. Wealthsimple’s help centre notes that individual RESPs transfer into a managed Wealthsimple RESP, and that an individual RESP can only be transferred manually. If you want to run the RESP yourself after the move, confirm your options first.
2. Fees. Your old provider may charge a transfer-out fee. Those fees are reimbursed on transfers of $25,000 or more, up to $150 per account. Wealthsimple’s transfer-match page names TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, personal, corporate, managed and crypto accounts as eligible but doesn’t name the RESP, so don’t count on its transfer match (1% of the net amount transferred) without asking.
3. Timing. At 6–8 weeks, a transfer started in late summer can still be in progress when first-term tuition is due. If your child starts school soon, move the RESP after the first withdrawal, not before.

Never withdraw from the old RESP to re-deposit at Wealthsimple. CRA says most direct transfers between RESPs for the same beneficiary have no tax consequences, while canada.ca says taking contributions out generally means repaying grant money. The full process for every account type is in how Wealthsimple transfers work.

How do Wealthsimple RESP withdrawals work?

Once your child enrols in a qualifying program, you request the money from Wealthsimple with proof of enrolment; grant and growth come out as taxable Educational Assistance Payments.

An RESP holds two kinds of money, and they come out differently:

• Your contributions can be returned tax-free, to you or to the student. Take them out while the student is enrolled: canada.ca says withdrawing contributions otherwise generally means repaying grant money.
• Educational Assistance Payments (EAPs) are the grant plus investment growth. They go to the student and count as the student’s income. For full-time study, EAPs are capped at $8,000 in the first 13 consecutive weeks. After that there’s no cap, unless a 12-month stretch passes without 13 straight weeks of qualifying study, which resets it. Part-time study is capped at $4,000 per 13-week period.

A qualifying full-time program in Canada lasts at least three consecutive weeks with at least 10 hours a week of courses or work, and payments can continue for up to six months after enrolment ends, if the plan allows it. The promoter confirms the school is eligible and asks for official proof of enrolment. Wealthsimple’s RESP page says withdrawing “only takes a few taps” but doesn’t list the steps, so check the app or its help centre for the current process and any form it requires.

Because EAPs are taxed in the student’s hands, spreading them across the school years, while the student’s income is low, usually keeps the tax bill small. Each student can receive at most $7,200 in grant over their lifetime, so in a family plan, track who has received what.

What if your child doesn’t go to post-secondary?

Contributions come back tax-free, grants return to the government, and growth is paid to you, taxed with an extra 20% on top of regular income tax (12% in Quebec).

That growth payment is called an Accumulated Income Payment (AIP). Closing the plan is only one option, though. Canada.ca lists four:

1. Wait. The plan can stay open until the end of the year that includes the plan's 35th anniversary, so a later start at school can still use it.
2. Change the beneficiary. Grant money can move to a sibling who still has grant room; otherwise it goes back.
3. Move the growth to your RRSP. If you have RRSP room, up to $50,000 of RESP growth can go to your RRSP, which reduces the extra tax. CRA’s usual conditions: the plan is past the year of its 9th anniversary, and every beneficiary is 21 or older and not eligible for EAPs.
4. Close it. Contributions come back tax-free and the growth is paid out and taxed.

The extra tax is steep. Outside Québec, the additional tax alone on $10,000 of growth is about $2,000, before regular income tax, unless you shelter it in an RRSP.

Wealthsimple vs Justwealth: which RESP is better?

Justwealth suits parents who want a portfolio that automatically turns more conservative as enrolment nears; Wealthsimple suits parents who want a self-directed option or one app for everything.

Where Justwealth wins:

• Target-date portfolios built for school. Justwealth says it is the only online investment manager in Canada offering Education Target Date Portfolios, which shift automatically and “mature” in the year your child starts post-secondary. That solves the timing problem self-directed investors have to manage themselves.
• Your own advisor. Justwealth’s FAQ says every client has access to a Personal Portfolio Advisor, a registered advising representative who oversees the account.
• No RESP minimum. Justwealth’s FAQ says RESP accounts have no minimum investment.

Where Wealthsimple wins:

• A self-directed option. Justwealth is a registered portfolio manager: its advisors recommend a portfolio and Justwealth makes the trades. Wealthsimple offers managed portfolios too, but it also lets you pick your own ETFs for $0 commission.
• Everything in one app. The RESP sits next to your Wealthsimple TFSA, FHSA and chequing account, and household assets can combine toward the lower Premium fee of 0.40% a year.

On cost, the managed options are close. Justwealth’s pricing page lists an annual management fee of 0.50%, the same as Wealthsimple’s Core rate of 0.50% a year, plus ETF costs that average about 0.20% and a minimum fee of $2.50 a month on RESPs. That minimum matters for small plans: below about $6,000, the $30-a-year minimum costs more than 0.50% would. Transfer-fee cover is a tie: Wealthsimple’s transfer-out fees are reimbursed on transfers of $25,000 or more, up to $150 per account, and Justwealth’s FAQ offers a reimbursement with the same cap and minimum account size. If you later leave Justwealth, its FAQ lists a transfer-out fee of $150 for a full account transfer ($50 for a partial transfer). Check both pricing pages against your balance before you choose. If you’re weighing other robo-advisors too, see the best robo-advisors in Canada.

Does Wealthsimple have a kids or teens account?

Not as of September 23, 2026, when Wealthsimple’s kids and teens page still said the accounts are coming soon, due in fall 2026, with a card for the child.

What Wealthsimple has published so far:

• Who can open one: a Wealthsimple client who is the legal guardian of a child under 18; non-clients can sign up first.
• What it is: Wealthsimple’s published legal terms describe a Kids and Teens Chequing Account with a prepaid card, held in a bare trust. The parent is the trustee and legal owner; the child is the beneficial owner of the money.
• A second helper: the parent can invite another person, who must already be a Wealthsimple client with an open chequing account, to help manage the account as an authorized user. Only the parent, as trustee, can close it.
• Québec: Wealthsimple expects the launch there to be delayed by provincial rules.

So the “Wealthsimple kids account” is a spending and saving account, not an investment account, and no fees or interest rate for it were published on the pages YieldMaple checked. To invest for a child’s education at Wealthsimple today, the RESP is the account built for it, and it’s the one that earns the 20% grant. Wealthsimple’s Households page also lists authorized trading, investing on behalf of a loved one, as coming soon.

What are the downsides of a Wealthsimple RESP?

The main drawbacks are limits on transferring an existing individual RESP, transfers that average 6–8 weeks, no published glide path toward school, and grant programs you must confirm yourself.

• Transfer destination. Because individual RESPs transfer into a managed Wealthsimple RESP, a parent moving an existing plan who wants to pick their own ETFs should confirm the options before starting.
• Slow transfers. RESP moves average 6–8 weeks, compared with 2–4 weeks for most Wealthsimple transfers.
• Risk near enrolment. In a self-directed RESP nothing shifts the portfolio for you, and even the managed RESP page doesn’t describe a target-date glide path.
• Unlisted grant programs. The RESP page doesn’t say which extra programs (Learning Bond, B.C. grant, QESI) it supports.

Who should (and shouldn’t) open a Wealthsimple RESP

Pick the Wealthsimple self-directed RESP if:

• You’re comfortable choosing a Canadian-listed ETF and moving toward safer holdings as school approaches
• You want $0 commissions and no account minimum
• You already use Wealthsimple for a TFSA, FHSA or chequing

Pick the Wealthsimple managed RESP if:

• You want a hands-off portfolio and accept 0.50% a year on Core
• Your household has, or will have, $100,000 or more with Wealthsimple, bringing the fee to 0.40% a year

Pick Justwealth if:

• You want the portfolio to de-risk automatically on a schedule tied to your child’s first year of school
• You’d like your own portfolio advisor overseeing the account

Keep your current RESP for now if:

• Your child needs a withdrawal within the next two months, given the 6–8 weeks transfer time
• You rely on the Learning Bond, the B.C. grant or QESI and haven’t confirmed Wealthsimple supports it

This guide is general education, not financial advice. The right RESP depends on your child’s age, your family income and how hands-on you want to be.

Before you open: a Wealthsimple RESP checklist

1. Get your child’s SIN. CRA requires it before contributions can be made for the child, and grants can’t be paid without it.
2. Pick family or individual. Family plans suit siblings; individual plans suit a single child or a non-relative.
3. Pick self-directed or managed. Decide who will manage risk as school approaches.
4. Check the extra grants. Compare your family income to the 2026 tiers above and ask Wealthsimple which programs it supports.
5. Coordinate with other contributors. The lifetime limit ($50,000 per child) covers every RESP opened for the child, and going over costs 1% a month on your share of the excess until it is withdrawn.
6. Contribute by December 31. Grant room works on calendar years.
7. Transfer, don’t withdraw. Move an existing RESP with a direct transfer request.

Read next

• Our complete Wealthsimple guide
• Every Wealthsimple account type, explained
• Wealthsimple TFSA: rules, fees and how it works
• Wealthsimple FHSA for first-time home buyers
• Wealthsimple vs Questrade for self-directed investing