Most personal finance accounts in Canada ask you to trust the government with your money and take the tax benefit on faith. The RESP is one of the few where the government just hands you cash. Contribute, and Ottawa deposits a 20% match into the account — no clawback, no means test for the basic grant, no strings beyond “the kid eventually enrols in something.” I’m generally skeptical of anything marketed as “free money.” This is the rare case where the label is accurate.

The Registered Education Savings Plan is also one of the most misunderstood accounts in the country. People over-contribute and get penalized. They front-load and quietly forfeit thousands in grants. They panic when a kid takes a gap year, or moves abroad, or decides university isn’t the plan — and they make expensive withdrawal decisions because nobody explained the three buckets of money inside the account. And for the readers of this site — incorporated, mobile, thinking about jurisdiction — there’s a whole layer that the mainstream RESP guides never touch: what happens to this account when you or your child stop being a Canadian resident.