• Accumulated income payment (AIP): Payment to the subscriber out of the plan consisting of the investment earnings on contributions and government grants.
• Beneficiary: Individuals named by the subscriber and to whom, or on whose behalf, the promoter agrees to make educational assistance payments when they qualify for these payments under the terms of the plan.
• Designated Educational Institution: A university, college or other educational institution in Canada which has been designated by the appropriate government minister as a specified institution for government-sponsored student loans.
• Educational assistance payment (EAP): Amount paid or payable under an RESP to or for an individual (the beneficiary) to assist with the individual’s post-secondary education. These amounts consist of the grants and the earnings on the grants and contributions.
• Family plan: A type of RESP established for more than one beneficiary. All beneficiaries must be related to the original subscriber by blood or adoption.
• Group plan: Group plans, also referred to as education funds or scholarship funds, are a set of individual plans that are administered on an age group concept by scholarship or group plan dealers.
• Individual plan: A type of RESP that’s established for only one beneficiary. The beneficiary does not have to be related to the subscriber.
• Post-secondary education (PSE) withdrawal: Payment of RESP contributions to or on behalf of a beneficiary to help finance the beneficiary’s post-secondary education.
• Promoter: The promoter is the person or organization that offers an education savings plan (ESP) and applies to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for registration as an RESP. The promoter administers all amounts paid into the RESP to pay EAPs to or for one or more plan beneficiaries.
• Qualified, Non-Qualified and Prohibited Investments: Qualified Investment are investments permitted in an RESP (e.g., GICs, mutual funds, bonds). Non-Qualified Investment are not permitted and subject to special tax. Prohibited Investments involving close associates (e.g., subscriber’s own company) are not allowed and could trigger penalties.
• Specified plan: A specified plan is essentially a single beneficiary RESP (non-family plan) under which the beneficiary is entitled to the disability tax credit for the beneficiary’s tax year that includes the 31^st anniversary of the plan. Furthermore, a specified plan cannot permit another individual to be designated as a beneficiary under the RESP at any time after the end of the year that includes the 35^th anniversary of the plan.  In addition, no contributions (except transfers from another RESP) may be made to the plan at any time after the end of the year that includes the 35^th anniversary of the plan, and the plan must be completed by the end of the year that includes the 40^th anniversary of the plan.
• Subscriber: The subscriber (or a person acting for the subscriber) is the individual who sets up an RESP, names one or more beneficiaries, and makes contributions to it. A subscriber must be an individual(s); corporations and trusts are not allowed to be a subscriber (unless the trust is the estate of a deceased subscriber).