In this article:
Overview
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) contributions you make in the first 60 days of a new year (from January 1 to early March) must be reported on the previous year's tax return. This is because the official RRSP contribution period doesn't follow the calendar year.
When you report these contributions, you can choose to either deduct them on that year's return or carry them forward to be claimed in a future year.
How to report contributions from the first 60 days
Let's say you're filing your 2025 tax return. If you made contributions between January 1 and March 2, 2026, you must report them on your 2025 return. Here’s how to do it in Wealthsimple Tax:
- Log in to your Wealthsimple profile
- Select the Profile menu in the bottom left corner
- Select Tax from the menu
- Choose your tax profile
- Scroll down to the Manage tax forms section
- Enter RRSP Contributions & Deduction
- You’ll be brought to the RRSP Contributions & Deduction section
- Select Add another contribution below the table
- Open the drop down menu and select the option titled Your RRSP: January 1 to March 2, 2026 in the contribution table.
- Enter the total amount you contributed during this period in that row
Important considerations
You don’t have to deduct contributions in the same year you report them. You can report the contribution on your 2025 tax return and choose to carry the deduction forward to lower your taxable income in a future year.
- Unused contributions: These will appear on your Notice of Assessment (NOA) from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). You can enter these amounts in the Unused contributions area of the RRSP Contributions & Deduction section on next year's tax return.
- Receipts: Keep your RRSP contribution receipts for your records. The CRA may sometimes request additional details to verify your contributions.
- Amending previous years: If you have RRSP contributions from the first 60 days of 2025 that you forgot to report on your 2024 tax return, do not include them directly in your 2025 return. This may cause NETFILE error 2197. You'll need to follow these steps to resolve error 2197.
RRSP contribution deadlines by tax year
| Tax Year | Contribution Period |
|---|---|
| 2025 | March 4, 2025 – March 2, 2026 |
| 2024 | March 1, 2024 – March 3, 2025 |
| 2023 | March 2, 2023 – February 29, 2024 |
| 2022 | March 2, 2022 – March 1, 2023 |
| 2021 | March 2, 2021 – March 1, 2022 |
| 2020 | March 3, 2020 – March 1, 2021 |
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