If many Quebecers have taken advantage of the pandemic to undertake costly renovation work, everything indicates that they will also have taken the opportunity to garnish – like never before – their woolen stockings, sheltered from tax.
According to data compiled by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), at the request of the LogQuebecers considerably increased their investments in their Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) in 2021, reaching a record $23.6 billion.
“In our industry, the pandemic years were indeed exceptional, confirms Sylvain De Champlain, financial planner and president of De Champlain Financial Group, in Montreal. We sensed something was happening. Your data confirms this. »
In fact, such a level of contributions to the TFSA in the same year ($23.6 billion) had never been reached. This amount represents an increase of 20.05% compared to all contributions recorded in Quebec in 2020 ($19.6 billion), which were also up 17.26% compared to 2019.
41% jump in two years
If we compare this level of contribution to the TFSA with what we found before the pandemic, the difference is even more marked. For 2021, we are talking about an increase of 41% compared to the $16.74 billion that Quebecers had invested in their TFSA in 2019.
Sylvain De Champlain recalls that, from the start of 2020, the restrictive measures put in place by the public health authorities considerably limited the spending opportunities of Quebecers. “Without being able to travel, see shows, or shop, there was only Netflix, Amazon and the SAQ left for anyone who wanted to spend! »
The worried and the pragmatic
To these imposed restrictions, the financial planner tries two other explanations.
The first, psychological, would be that in times of uncertainty, more worried individuals are naturally inclined to be more economical to compensate for the possibility that things will get even worse.
A final, more pragmatic one would be linked to the remarkable performance that stock prices have enabled in 2020 and 2021.
“My impression is that such returns may have convinced many to invest more in their TFSA. »
The same phenomenon was also observed in contributions to the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) of Quebecers.
In 2021, no less than $16.5 billion was added to their RRSPs, a growth of 12.5% compared to 2020. In 2020, total RRSP contributions amounted to $14.7 billion. This was a 21.7% increase from 2019.
