RESP planning — Clarington
RESPs in Courtice: what local families should actually do
Courtice sits between two of Ontario's fastest-growing campuses. Most families here are starting from scratch with young children — which is exactly when the grant math is most forgiving.
Short answer
How much should a Courtice family put into an RESP?
If your child is under five, you are in the best possible position: there is still time to capture the entire $7,200 lifetime CESG at $2,500 a year without ever needing a catch-up contribution. The single most valuable action for a Courtice family with a newborn or toddler is a $208 monthly pre-authorized contribution set up now and left alone.
Reviewed by Johnathan Pollock · Updated 2026-01-15
Start early, and the market does the heavy lifting
The difference between starting at birth and starting at age seven is not just seven years of contributions — it is seven years of grant, and the compounding on both.
At a 5% net return, $208 a month plus grant from birth is roughly $85,000 at 18. The same contribution starting at seven reaches roughly $42,000, and part of the lifetime grant is now unreachable because the catch-up ceiling is $5,000 of contributions per year.
Behind already? The catch-up rules still work
Unused grant room carries forward, but only one extra year can be claimed annually — a maximum of $5,000 of contributions and $1,000 of grant per year. Families who start at 10 can still recover the full $7,200 if they sustain $5,000 a year.
The hard stop is age 15: to receive any grant at 16 or 17, at least $2,000 must have been contributed before the end of the year the child turned 15, or $100 in each of four prior years. Our teen catch-up page maps the recovery schedule.
Run your Courtice numbers
Enter your child's age and monthly amount to see the projected balance at 18, total grant captured, and how it compares with costs at Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Trent Durham.
Open the RESP calculatorFrequently asked questions
- How much should I put in monthly for a newborn in Courtice?
- $208 a month — $2,500 a year — captures the maximum $500 annual CESG. Sustained from birth for 14 years plus one $1,000 top-up year, that fully harvests the $7,200 lifetime grant.
- Do I have to live in Courtice to work with a local RESP advisor?
- No. We meet families across Durham, Northumberland, Quinte and the Kawarthas in person at our Oshawa office or by video. The RESP rules are federal — what changes locally is the cost of the programs your child is likely to attend and whether they will live at home.
- How much should a family contribute each year?
- $2,500 per child per year captures the full $500 Canada Education Savings Grant. That is the target for most families. Contributing more in a single year does not increase the grant, it just uses up the $50,000 lifetime limit faster.
- Can you move an existing RESP from my bank?
- Yes. A direct plan-to-plan transfer preserves the CESG as long as the beneficiary stays the same or is an eligible sibling. We handle the forms; the grant is never withdrawn and re-deposited.
Sources
Written and reviewed by Johnathan Pollock
Managing Partner, Thompson & Pollock Wealth Inc. — Amazon best-selling author of The Entrepreneur's Toolkit.
Last reviewed 2026-01-15
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