Let’s fast-forward to what happens when Emma is ready to reap the rewards of her RESP. A lot has changed since we last checked in with her. For one, she’s grown even taller than her mom! And Emma has exciting news: she’ll be attending one of Canada’s top engineering schools.

Emma’s thoughts have shifted to dorm life, cafeteria food, and what kind of laptop she should get. Having planned for this many years ago, her parents are relaxed, knowing Emma’s RESP has grown to help pay for everything she needs, and now it's time to withdraw EAPs.

So, what is an EAP? It stands for Educational Assistance Payment and helps you and Emma pay for post-secondary education. It’s made up of government grants and earnings, and it’s the money your child can withdraw once they’re officially enrolled in an eligible post-secondary program. In fact, Emma can apply for her EAPs as soon as she’s enrolled.

But how does Emma actually get the money from her RESP to pay for tacos and other brain fuel for late-night study sessions? All she has to do is reach out to her RESP provider (that’s us!) with proof that she’s enrolled in her engineering program.

And that’s it! The money will be deposited into Emma’s bank account. In the first 13 weeks of her full-time program, Emma can receive up to $8,000 in EAPs. After that, Emma can withdraw as much EAP money as she requires, at any time she wants for her education-related expenses, until it’s all used up.

And once the EAPs have been put to good use, it’s up to the Joneses to decide what to do with the remaining principal. After all, they’re the ones who opened that RESP and made regular contributions to it.

However the Joneses decide to spend their RESP money, whether that’s giving it to Emma for school expenses, that summer trip to Europe or spending it on renovating the kitchen, one thing is for sure: they’re pretty happy they started that CST Spark RESP years ago. Well done!

CST Spark Education Portfolios are sold only by Prospectus.