Contribution room
Estimated tax refund
Contribution room is the lesser of 18% of your prior year's earned income or the $33,810 2026 dollar limit, plus any unused room carried forward. The refund estimate compares your calculated federal + provincial tax with and without the contribution, using the same bracket data as the Canada Income Tax Calculator - it doesn't include pension adjustments, which reduce your actual room if you belong to a workplace pension plan. Check your CRA Notice of Assessment for your exact figure.
RRSP Contribution Room and Tax Refund Calculator
The Tools Kit's free RRSP Calculator answers the two questions Canadians ask before the RRSP deadline: how much can I contribute, and how big will my tax refund be? Enter your 2025 earned income and any unused room to see your 2026 RRSP contribution room, then choose your province or territory, your 2026 income and a planned contribution to estimate the refund.
The refund is not a flat percentage. The calculator works out your combined federal and provincial income tax with and without the contribution, using the same 2026 bracket data as the Canada income tax calculator, and shows the difference. Everything runs in your browser, with no signup.
How to Use the RRSP Calculator
- 1
Enter your 2025 earned income
Type last year’s earned income into the contribution room section. The calculator takes 18% of it, capped at the $33,810 dollar limit for 2026.
- 2
Add unused room carried forward
Enter any RRSP room you have not used in earlier years, from your CRA Notice of Assessment or My Account, to see your total available room.
- 3
Choose your province or territory
Select where you live from the list of all 13 provinces and territories, so the refund estimate uses the right provincial tax brackets.
- 4
Enter your 2026 income and planned contribution
Type your expected 2026 annual income and the amount you plan to contribute. The estimated tax refund and your marginal rate on that contribution update instantly.
How RRSP Contribution Room Is Calculated
New RRSP room for 2026 = the lesser of 18% of your 2025 earned income or the 2026 dollar limit of $33,810. Add any unused room carried forward from earlier years to get your total available room.
- $50,000 earned income: 18% gives $9,000 of new room.
- $80,000 earned income: 18% gives $14,400 of new room.
- $200,000 earned income with $5,000 carried forward: 18% would be $36,000, so the $33,810 dollar limit applies, for $38,810 of total room.
The dollar limit only matters above about $187,833 of prior-year earned income; below that, 18% is always the smaller figure. Unused room never expires, so people who have not maxed out their RRSP in past years often have far more room than the annual figure suggests.
One adjustment is not included: if you belong to a workplace pension plan, a pension adjustment on your T4 reduces your room. Your CRA Notice of Assessment shows your official RRSP deduction limit, which accounts for it.
How Much Tax Refund Will an RRSP Contribution Get You?
An RRSP contribution is deducted from your taxable income, so the refund equals the tax you would have paid on those dollars. The calculator computes it as: refund = tax on your income − tax on (income − contribution), using 2026 federal and provincial brackets, including Ontario's surtax. The rate shown next to the refund is the refund divided by the contribution.
| 2026 income | Province | Contribution | Estimated refund | Rate saved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | Ontario | $5,000 | $1,254 | 25.1% |
| $80,000 | Ontario | $5,000 | $1,483 | 29.7% |
| $80,000 | Alberta | $5,000 | $1,525 | 30.5% |
| $80,000 | British Columbia | $5,000 | $1,410 | 28.2% |
| $90,000 | Ontario | $10,000 | $2,965 | 29.6% |
| $150,000 | Ontario | $10,000 | $4,341 | 43.4% |
The same $5,000 is worth more to a higher earner, because each deducted dollar comes off the top of their income at a higher rate. If a large contribution pulls your income down into a lower bracket, the rate shown is a blend of the two brackets. The estimate covers income tax only; RRSP contributions do not change the CPP and EI you pay, which you can check separately with the CPP and EI calculator.
The refund section uses whatever contribution you type in and does not check it against your room, so keep the planned amount within the total room shown above. For Quebec, the federal abatement is not modeled, so treat the result as an approximation.
RRSP vs TFSA: Which Should You Use?
An RRSP gives you a deduction now and taxes withdrawals later; a TFSA gives no deduction but withdrawals are tax-free. The RRSP tends to win when your marginal rate today is higher than the rate you expect in retirement, which is why the rate shown by this calculator is useful for the comparison. To see how much TFSA room you have, use the TFSA calculator.
A common strategy is to contribute to the RRSP and put the refund into a TFSA or back into the RRSP. To estimate what those contributions could grow to over decades, run the numbers through the compound interest calculator, and track your retirement savings alongside your other assets and debts with the net worth calculator.
Common uses
- Checking how much you can contribute before the RRSP deadline
- Estimating the tax refund from a lump-sum RRSP contribution before you file
- Comparing the value of an RRSP contribution across provinces after a move
- Deciding between an RRSP and a TFSA contribution based on your marginal rate
- Planning a down payment around RRSP savings before sizing a home loan with the mortgage calculator
More planning tools are in the calculator tools collection.
RRSP terms explained
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| RRSP | Registered Retirement Savings Plan: a tax-deferred retirement account registered with the CRA |
| Contribution room | The most you can contribute and deduct; new room each year plus unused room carried forward |
| Earned income | The prior-year income CRA uses to calculate new room, such as employment and net self-employment income |
| Dollar limit | The annual maximum of new room, $33,810 for 2026, no matter how high your income |
| Carry-forward room | Room you did not use in earlier years; it never expires and adds to this year’s room |
| Pension adjustment (PA) | A reduction in RRSP room for members of a workplace pension plan, reported on the T4; not included in this calculator |
| Marginal tax rate | The combined federal and provincial rate on your last dollars of income; it drives the size of your refund |
| Notice of Assessment | The CRA statement sent after you file, which shows your official RRSP deduction limit |
Frequently Asked Questions
New room for 2026 is 18% of your 2025 earned income, up to the 2026 dollar limit of $33,810, plus any unused room carried forward from earlier years. $80,000 of earned income creates $14,400 of new room. Members of a workplace pension plan have this reduced by a pension adjustment, which the calculator does not model.
The RRSP dollar limit for 2026 is $33,810. Your personal limit is the lower of that figure and 18% of your 2025 earned income, plus any carry-forward room. The dollar limit only applies if you earned more than about $187,833 in 2025.
Roughly your contribution multiplied by your combined marginal tax rate. The calculator works out the exact difference in tax with and without the contribution using 2026 brackets: $5,000 on an $80,000 income in Ontario saves about $1,483, while the same contribution saves about $1,525 in Alberta and about $1,410 in British Columbia.
An RRSP contribution is deducted from taxable income, so it saves both federal and provincial tax at your marginal rates. Provincial brackets differ, so at $80,000 the combined rate is about 29.7% in Ontario, 30.5% in Alberta and 28.2% in British Columbia.
It is the refund divided by the contribution, so it is the average combined rate across the dollars you deduct. If the contribution stays inside one bracket it equals your marginal rate; if it pulls your income down into a lower bracket, the figure is a blend of the two rates.
No. If you belong to a registered pension plan, your RRSP room is reduced by the pension adjustment on your T4, so your real room is lower than the 18% figure shown. Use the RRSP deduction limit on your CRA Notice of Assessment as the official number.
No. The refund section uses whatever contribution you enter, up to your income, and does not compare it with the room figure above. Keep the contribution within your total available room, because only contributions within your deduction limit can be deducted.
The CRA allows a lifetime $2,000 over-contribution buffer. Any excess above that is taxed at 1% per month until it is withdrawn or absorbed by new room, so check your available room before a large contribution.
No. Unused RRSP contribution room carries forward indefinitely and adds to each new year’s room. Enter it in the carry-forward field to see your total available room.
Contributions made during the calendar year, or in the first 60 days of the following year, can be deducted for that tax year. The exact date is published by the CRA each year.
It is an approximation. The calculator uses Quebec’s 2026 provincial brackets, but it does not model the federal abatement Quebec residents receive, so the federal portion of the estimated refund is somewhat higher than the actual figure.
No. The RRSP calculator runs entirely in your browser, with no signup, and the income and contribution figures you type are not sent to a server.
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 2026
How do you calculate RRSP contribution room?
New RRSP room each year is 18% of the previous year's earned income, capped at that year's dollar limit, plus unused room carried forward: $50,000 of earned income creates $9,000 of new room. The refund equals the combined federal and provincial tax saved on the deducted amount, so $5,000 at a 30% marginal rate returns about $1,500.
How much tax refund do you get from an RRSP contribution?
An RRSP contribution is deducted from taxable income, so the refund roughly equals the contribution multiplied by your marginal tax rate. A $10,000 contribution at a combined 35% marginal rate saves about $3,500. The saving is smaller if the contribution drops you into a lower bracket partway through, and larger in higher-tax provinces.
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