You think you know everything about the registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)… But do you know how long it has existed? How much do Canadians put into their RRSPs each year? How many Quebecers use it? And in which region of Quebec do taxpayers most often obtain deductions? Four-digit answers.
67 years old
The RRSP is 67 years old…the retirement age for many Canadians. When it was created in 1957, the contribution was capped at 10% of the previous year’s income for a maximum amount of $2,500. Not very popular at the start, the RRSP benefited from a rule – which has since disappeared – to gain followers: a taxpayer who did not contribute lost his rights. Walter Harris, the Minister of Finance of Canada who created the RRSP, was unable to take advantage of this savings program: he lost his ministerial portfolio three months after presenting it in the federal budget.
56.1 billion
Canadians contributed $56.1 billion to their RRSPs in 2021, according to the latest available data from Statistics Canada. This corresponds to approximately one and a half times the National Defense budget. The median contribution then reached a record high of $3,890. This means that 50% of contributors contributed an amount equal to or greater than $3,890 into their RRSPs in 2021. However, only one in five Canadian taxpayers (22.4%) contributed to their RRSPs that year. Not all Canadians have an RRSP, but there were still 28.1 million people with an RRSP in 2021.
1.7 million
Less than 2 million Quebecers benefited from the RRSP deduction in 2021. Specifically, 1,772,003 Quebec taxpayers benefited from it, according to Revenu Québec. This corresponds to 25.6% of all reporting individuals. The average deduction obtained is $7,100. The higher the income, the higher the deduction. People earning less than $25,000 per year received an average deduction of $1,806, while those earning $1 million and more received $34,211 on average. Overall, men obtain an average deduction 37.8% higher than that of women.
29.2%
It is in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale that taxpayers are most often able to obtain an RRSP deduction. In fact, 29.2% of individuals in the Quebec region who filed an income tax return in 2021 actually took advantage of this tax relief, according to the latest data available from Revenu Québec. Taxpayers in Chaudière-Appalaches (28.2%) and Montérégie (28.0%) are also doing well. This is less the case for residents of the North Shore (15.2%), Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine (16.7%), for whom RRSP deductions are the least frequent. .