Total Contributions to all RESPs should not exceed $50,000 per beneficiary over the plan’s lifetime. If you over-contribute to an RESP, you’ll be charged 1% on the additional contribution amount per month by the federal government, at the end of the year. So if you’ve contributed $1,000 too much on July 1, you’ll be charged $60 (that’s $10 multiplied by six months).

But don’t worry, we’ve got your back—we’ll alert you if you’ve contributed too much to the CST Spark Education Portfolios, but we don’t track any other RESPs you have. As long as you take out the excess contribution by the end of the year, you won’t have to pay any penalties to the federal government.