Mr. Speaker, the conditions surrounding the payment of an education assistance payment EAP, from a registered education savings plan RESP, which contains Canada education savings grant CESG, is governed by the Income Tax Act and is administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA. One of the conditions for payment of an EAP is that the post-secondary institution be “designated”. Domestic institutions listed for designation purposes are identified by the provinces and maintained by the Canada student loans program for student loan purposes. These lists are sent to CRA for use in administering both Section 118.5, Tuition Credits and Section 146.1, RESPs of the Income Tax Act. Foreign institutions qualifying for tax credits are identified and listed as designated by the international tax office in CRA.
Neither CRA nor the Canada student loans program is aware of any delisting of foreign education institutions. Foreign institutions are normally only delisted if there have been no Canadian students attending the institutions for a specific number of years. Furthermore, though delisting of a foreign institution may affect a students ability to claim their education related expenses on their tax return under S. 118.5 of the ITA, it usually will not necessarily impact eligibility for an EAP as the rules surrounding designation for EAP are different.
If a previously accredited educational institution becomes delisted then a student will not be able to withdraw the money that they have in their RESP to pay their education costs while the institution remains delisted. A student can request that the institution become part of the list designated institutions for EAP purposes.