RRSP quiz: test your knowledge of the 2026 rules

Updated November 2026

Twelve questions on how RRSPs work in 2026. Try to answer each one before you open it. Every answer links to the page that explains the rule in full.

Contributions and limits

1. What is the RRSP dollar limit for the 2026 tax year?

Answer: $33,810. Your own limit is the lesser of 18% of your 2025 earned income or $33,810, minus any pension adjustment, plus unused room carried forward. The limit was $32,490 for 2025 and is $35,390 for 2027. See Contribution limits.

2. What is the last day to contribute and deduct for the 2026 tax year?

Answer: March 1, 2027, the end of the first 60 days of 2027. If you turn 71 in 2026, your last contribution to your own RRSP must be made by December 31, 2026. See the deadline.

3. You go $3,500 over your deduction limit. On how much do you pay the 1% monthly tax?

Answer: $1,500. The first $2,000 of excess is not taxed (if you were 18 or older in the previous year), so the tax is $1,500 × 1% = $15 a month until the excess is removed or absorbed. You file Form T1-OVP within 90 days after the year end. See over-contributions.

4. Your employer offers a 50% match on group RRSP contributions. Why should you usually take it first?

Answer: Because each dollar you contribute brings an extra 50 cents from your employer straight away, before any tax saving or investment growth. Matching money still uses your RRSP room. See Group RRSPs.

Tax and withdrawals

5. You contribute $5,000 and your marginal tax rate is 30%. About how much tax do you save?

Answer: About $1,500 ($5,000 × 30%). Marginal rates vary by province and income, so your figure may differ. See How an RRSP saves tax.

6. Outside Quebec, how much tax is withheld on a single $10,000 RRSP withdrawal?

Answer: 20%, or $2,000. The rates are 10% up to $5,000, 20% from $5,000.01 to $15,000 and 30% above $15,000 (in Quebec, 19%, 24% and 29% combined). Withholding is only a prepayment; the withdrawal is added to your income, and the room is lost. See withdrawing early.

7. By when must you close your RRSP, and what are the three choices?

Answer: By December 31 of the year you turn 71. You can take the cash (taxable), transfer to a registered retirement income fund (RRIF), or buy an annuity. See RRSP to RRIF at 71 and RRSPs explained.

Special plans

8. How much can each first-time buyer withdraw under the Home Buyers’ Plan, and over how long must it be repaid?

Answer: Up to $60,000 per person, repaid to your RRSPs over up to 15 years. Repayment normally starts in the second year after the first withdrawal; for first withdrawals from 2022 to 2025 it starts in the fifth year. See Home Buyers’ Plan.

9. What happens if you skip a required HBP repayment?

Answer: The missed amount is added to your income for that year and taxed. See repaying the HBP.

10. What are the Lifelong Learning Plan limits?

Answer: Up to $10,000 in a calendar year and $20,000 in total each time you participate, generally repaid over 10 years. See Lifelong Learning Plan.

11. You last paid into your wife’s spousal RRSP in 2026. From which year can she withdraw without the amount being taxed to you?

Answer: 2029, provided you make no spousal contributions in 2027, 2028 or 2029. A withdrawal is taxed to the contributor if they paid into any spousal plan in the withdrawal year or the two previous calendar years (Form T2205). See Spousal RRSPs.

Investing

12. Is there still a limit on foreign investments in an RRSP?

Answer: No. The old foreign property limit (30% in its final years) was eliminated in 2005. US dividends paid directly to an RRSP or RRIF are generally exempt from the 15% US withholding tax under the Canada–US tax treaty, but under the usual interpretation of the treaty they are not exempt in a TFSA or RESP. See Foreign investments.

How did you do?

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