RRSP Contribution Deadline 2027: Monday, March 1

RRSP deadlines by tax year

The 2025 dates are the CRA's own. The 2026 and 2027 dates are worked out from the rule in the next section; the CRA had not yet posted them when this page was checked. Note that 2028 is a leap year, so the 60th day after December 31, 2027 is February 29, not March 1.

The 60-day rule, and what happens on a weekend

Section 146(5) of the Income Tax Act lets you deduct RRSP premiums paid during the year or within 60 days after the end of the year. Counting from January 1, the 60th day is March 1 in a regular year and February 29 in a leap year.

When that day is a Saturday or Sunday, the CRA accepts contributions up to the next business day. That is why the 2025 deadline was Monday, March 2, 2026: the 60th day was a Sunday. In 2027 the 60th day is already a Monday, so nothing moves.

The same window applies to a pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) and the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP), which share the RRSP deduction limit.

A contribution made between January 1 and March 1 can go on your 2026 return or be carried forward. It cannot count twice. Your financial institution issues a separate receipt for contributions made in the first 60 days so you can report them on the right return.

How much you can contribute for 2026

Your RRSP deduction limit for 2026 is, generally:

• your unused deduction room carried forward from earlier years, plus
• 18% of your 2025 earned income, up to the annual dollar limit of $33,810 for 2026, minus
• your 2025 pension adjustment (PA) from a workplace pension plan, and any past service pension adjustment, plus any pension adjustment reversal.

You don't need to calculate it yourself. The CRA prints your limit on your latest notice of assessment and shows it in My Account. If you worked out your own figure, Guide T4040 (chart 3) walks through it. The annual dollar limit rises to $35,390 for 2027.

Contributions above your limit are allowed up to a $2,000 cushion. Beyond that, the excess is taxed at 1% per month until you withdraw it or new room absorbs it, and you have to file a T1-OVP return. The CRA lists March 31 as the date to file and pay that tax for the previous year.

Your limit on the notice of assessment does not know about contributions you made after the CRA processed your return, including any you made in January and February that you have not yet reported. Subtract those before you top up.

Who has a different deadline

• You turn 71 in 2026: you can contribute to your own RRSP only until Thursday, December 31, 2026. By the end of that year the plan has to be converted to a RRIF or an annuity, or cashed out. The 60-day window does not extend this.
• Spousal RRSP: you can contribute until December 31 of the year your spouse or common-law partner turns 71, even if you are older, as long as you have room. Contributions made in the first 60 days of a year still count for the previous year.
• After a death: the legal representative can contribute to the surviving spouse's or common-law partner's RRSP within the year of death or the first 60 days after it, and claim the deduction on the deceased person's final return.
• FHSA and TFSA: neither has a 60-day rule. First home savings account contributions only count for the calendar year in which they are made, so the FHSA deadline for 2026 is December 31, 2026.

Home Buyers' Plan and Lifelong Learning Plan repayments

If you took money out under the Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) or the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP), the same 60-day window decides whether you met the year's minimum repayment. You make a regular contribution, then designate it as a repayment on Schedule 7 of your return.

For a repayment due for 2026, the contribution has to be made by the March 1, 2027 deadline. If you repay less than the minimum on your HBP or LLP statement, the shortfall is added to your income on line 12900. Amounts you designate as repayments are not deductible.

How to make sure your contribution counts

1. Check your room on your 2025 notice of assessment or in My Account, then subtract anything you contributed after the assessment.
2. Check your institution's cut-off. Branches close, and transfers from another bank may not arrive the same day. A contribution counts on the day the RRSP issuer receives it, not the day you hit "send".
3. Decide where the deduction goes. You don't have to deduct a contribution in the year you make it: unused contributions can be carried forward to a year when your income, and your tax rate, is higher.
4. Keep the receipts and enter contributions on Schedule 7. Contributions from the first 60 days of 2027 that you don't deduct for 2026 still have to be reported on the 2026 return as unused contributions.
5. File by April 30, 2027. The deduction only helps once your return is assessed.

This page explains the rules; it is not tax advice. Whether to contribute, and to which plan, depends on your income and plans. The CRA and a qualified adviser can help with your own situation.

The rest of the tax season

See the tax filing deadline page for penalties and interest, and tax instalment due dates if you pay tax quarterly.