RRSP contribution limit calculator

Updated September 26, 2026

Your RRSP limit for 2026 is set by what you earned in 2025. You get 18% of your 2025 earned income, up to a cap of $33,810, plus any room you didn’t use in earlier years. A workplace pension reduces it.

How the calculator adds it up. Say you earned $80,000 in 2025, your T4 shows a $3,000 pension adjustment, and you had $12,000 of unused room at the end of 2025.

• 18% of $80,000 = $14,400. That’s under the $33,810 cap, so it stays $14,400.
• Minus your pension adjustment: $14,400 − $3,000 = $11,400 of new room.
• Plus unused room carried forward: $11,400 + $12,000 = $23,400.

Your estimated 2026 RRSP deduction limit is $23,400. If you’d earned $250,000 instead, with no pension and $5,000 carried forward, 18% would be $45,000. That’s capped at $33,810, so your limit would be $33,810 + $5,000 = $38,810.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) calls this your RRSP deduction limit. It’s the most you can deduct on your tax return for contributions to your own RRSP and to a spouse’s or common-law partner’s RRSP.

Enter a few numbers from your last notice of assessment and your T4. You’ll get an estimate of your 2026 limit and how much room you have left.

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RRSP limit for 2026

The RRSP dollar limit for 2026 is $33,810. That’s the most new room anyone can get this year, no matter how much they earn.

Your own new room is the smaller of two amounts:

• 18% of your 2025 earned income, or
• $33,810.

If you’re in a workplace pension plan, your pension adjustment is then subtracted. Room you didn’t use in earlier years is added on top.

Example: $60,000 of earned income in 2025. 18% of $60,000 is $10,800. That’s below the cap, so your new room for 2026 is $10,800.

Example: $200,000 of earned income in 2025. 18% of $200,000 is $36,000. That’s above the cap, so your new room for 2026 is $33,810. You hit the cap once your 2025 earned income is about $187,833 or more ($33,810 ÷ 18%).

What counts as earned income

Earned income isn’t the same as your total income. CRA’s worksheet (Chart 3 in Guide T4040) builds it up like this:

• Adds: employment income (after union dues and employment expenses), net income from a business you run alone or as an active partner, net rental income from real property, CPP or QPP disability benefits, taxable support payments you received, royalties on your own work or invention, and net research grants.
• Subtracts: business losses, rental losses, and deductible support payments you made.

Interest, dividends and capital gains aren’t on CRA’s list.

The income has to be on a filed tax return. CRA works out your limit from the returns you’ve filed, so if you skipped a year, file it. That income may give you more room.

RRSP limits by year

The annual RRSP dollar limit, from CRA’s table:

Each year’s limit applies to income from the year before. The 2026 limit of $33,810 caps 18% of your 2025 income. The 2027 limit of $35,390 will cap 18% of your 2026 income.

Unlike a TFSA, these limits don’t add up for everyone. You only get room for a year if you had earned income the year before, and only 18% of it.

What is the RRSP deduction limit?

Your RRSP deduction limit is your RRSP room. It’s the most you can deduct in a year for contributions to your own RRSP and to a spouse’s or common-law partner’s RRSP. It’s your unused room from earlier years plus your new room for this year.

CRA shows the figure in two places: the RRSP deduction limit statement on your latest notice of assessment, and your CRA account (My Account). There’s a lag built in. Your limit for 2026 is calculated from your 2025 return, so it only shows up after that return is assessed. My Account usually updates first, because a mailed notice takes longer to reach you.

How to work out your own RRSP room

1. Find last year’s earned income. For 2026 room, use your 2025 earned income (see “What counts as earned income” above).
2. Take 18% of it. If the result is more than $33,810, use $33,810.
3. Subtract your pension adjustment from box 52 of your 2025 T4. This part can’t go below $0.
4. Add your unused room from the end of 2025. That’s your 2025 deduction limit minus what you deducted on your 2025 return.
5. Subtract contributions you’ve made but not yet deducted. What’s left is your available contribution room.
6. Keep an eye on the $2,000 cushion. You can go up to $2,000 over without penalty, but you can’t deduct that $2,000 until you have room. Past the cushion, CRA charges 1% a month on the excess for as long as it stays in.

Or skip the steps: the calculator above does this for you, and your notice of assessment has the official number.

Deduction limit vs contribution room

Your notice of assessment has a section CRA calls the RRSP deduction limit and available contribution room statement. It shows two different numbers:

• Deduction limit: the most you can deduct for RRSP contributions on your tax return for the year.
• Available contribution room: your deduction limit minus any unused contributions. Those are amounts you put in earlier but haven’t deducted yet. It’s the last line of the statement.

Most people deduct everything they contribute, so the two numbers are the same. They only differ if you contributed and chose not to deduct, for example to save the deduction for a higher-income year.

Contributions to a spousal or common-law partner RRSP count against your deduction limit, not your partner’s. Limits can’t be moved from one person to the other.

Home Buyers’ Plan and Lifelong Learning Plan repayments don’t use any of your room. CRA doesn’t treat them as RRSP contributions, and you can’t deduct them.

How unused room carries forward

If you don’t use all of your deduction limit this year, the rest carries forward. You can carry it forward indefinitely. There’s no deadline to use it.

Each year, CRA takes your limit, subtracts what you deducted, and adds the result to the next year’s new room.

Example. At the end of 2025 you have $15,000 of unused room. You earned $60,000 in 2025 and have no pension.

• Unused room carried forward: $15,000
• New room for 2026 (18% of $60,000): $10,800
• 2026 deduction limit: $25,800

If you also had $3,000 of contributions you hadn’t deducted yet, your available contribution room would be $25,800 − $3,000 = $22,800.

The contribution deadline (the first 60 days)

You can deduct contributions made during the year, plus those made in the first 60 days of the next year. CRA posts the exact date each year. For the 2025 tax year, the deadline was March 2, 2026.

A contribution made in those first 60 days can go on the previous year’s return or a later one, but not both. If you don’t deduct it, report it on Schedule 7 so CRA keeps track of it.

Pension adjustment

If you’re in a workplace pension plan or a deferred profit sharing plan, your RRSP room is smaller. The idea is that you’re already saving for retirement through work.

That reduction is your pension adjustment (PA). It’s shown in box 52 of your T4 slip (or box 034 of a T4A). Your employer works it out. Your PA for 2025 reduces your RRSP deduction limit for 2026.

It comes off your new room, not off your carry-forward. The new room can’t go below $0.

Example: $60,000 earned, $4,000 PA. 18% of $60,000 is $10,800. Subtract the $4,000 PA: your new room for 2026 is $6,800.

Two less common adjustments:

• Pension adjustment reversal (PAR): gives room back if you leave a pension plan and the benefit you take away is worth less than the PAs reported for you. It’s on a T10 slip.
• Past service pension adjustment (PSPA): reduces room if your plan improves past benefits or you buy back past service. It’s on a T215 slip or a certified Form T1004.

Over-contributing: the $2,000 buffer and the 1% monthly tax

CRA doesn’t tax a small over-contribution. You have excess contributions when your unused contributions plus this year’s contributions come to more than your deduction limit plus $2,000.

A few things about that $2,000:

• It’s one cushion on your running total, not $2,000 a year. CRA compares everything you haven’t deducted against your limit plus $2,000.
• It only applies if you were 18 or older at some point in the previous year.
• You can’t deduct it until you have room for it in a later year.

Above the cushion, the tax is 1% per month on the excess, for as long as it stays in. You report it on Form T1-OVP and pay within 90 days after the end of the year. If you take the excess out before the end of the month you put it in, you may not owe the tax for that month.

Example. Your 2026 deduction limit is $10,000 and you have no unused contributions. In May you contribute $15,000.

• Over your limit: $15,000 − $10,000 = $5,000
• Minus the $2,000 cushion: $3,000 is taxable
• Tax: 1% of $3,000 = $30 a month

Leave it in for five months and that’s $150. Take the extra $3,000 out and the tax stops.

If the excess was a reasonable error and you’re fixing it, you can ask CRA to waive or cancel the tax with Form RC2503.

Where to find your real number (Notice of Assessment)

Your official limit is on the RRSP deduction limit and available contribution room statement on your latest notice of assessment or reassessment. You can also see it in your CRA account. The notice for your 2025 return shows your deduction limit for 2026.

Two things can make it differ from this calculator:

• It uses CRA’s records. Late slips, a PAR or PSPA, or a reassessment can change it. CRA may send Form T1028 with an updated figure.
• It’s the number that counts. If this page and your notice disagree, go with the notice.

To check the math yourself, CRA’s worksheet is Chart 3 in Guide T4040.

Frequently asked questions

What is the RRSP limit for 2026?

The RRSP dollar limit for 2026 is $33,810. Your own 2026 room is 18% of your 2025 earned income up to that amount, minus any pension adjustment, plus unused room from earlier years. The 2027 limit is $35,390.

How much can I contribute to my RRSP?

You can contribute up to your available contribution room, which is on your notice of assessment and in your CRA account. That’s your deduction limit minus any contributions you haven’t deducted yet. Contributions made in the first 60 days of 2027 can count toward your 2026 limit.

What happens if I contribute too much?

Up to $2,000 over your limit isn’t taxed, though you can’t deduct it yet. Anything beyond that is taxed at 1% a month for as long as it stays in your RRSP. For example, if your limit is $23,400 and you put in $26,000, you’re $2,600 over. $600 of that is above the cushion, so the tax is $6 a month until you fix it.

Is the RRSP contribution limit the same as the deduction limit?

People use “contribution limit” to mean the deduction limit. CRA’s term is deduction limit: the most you can deduct for the year. Your notice also shows available contribution room, which is the deduction limit minus contributions you’ve made but not yet deducted.

When is the deadline to contribute for 2026?

Contributions made in 2026, plus those in the first 60 days of 2027, can be deducted on your 2026 return. CRA posts the exact date each year on its important-dates page. For 2025, it was March 2, 2026.

Is there an age limit?

Yes. You can contribute to your own RRSP until December 31 of the year you turn 71. You can still contribute to a spouse’s or common-law partner’s RRSP until the end of the year they turn 71. If you have unused contributions, you can keep deducting them up to your limit after that.

Do I need to file a tax return to get RRSP room?

CRA works out your limit from the income on the returns you file. If you have unfiled years with earned income, filing them can add room.

What if I have both a TFSA and an RRSP?

They have separate limits. Using one doesn’t reduce the other. Our TFSA contribution room calculator works out the TFSA side.

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