RESP can get government match up to 20%, but you contribute after-tax money. My order of contritution to RRSP and RESP is: First contribute to all my RRSP room which can be matched by my employer; Then I still contribute to RRSP because I can borrow from it to pay for home-purchase down payment (thus your down-payment is tax-shielded). The last thing I consider is RESP. For principle guarantee, are they guranteeing positive growth for every year, or over the life of the investment? if it is the latter, it's no big deal at all. chances of well diversified fund earning less than interest rate over a long period is next to zero. Paying membership fee might be a little better than a higher management fee, only if you contribute the top amount every year.