Spousal RRSP Rules in Ontario: Contributions, Withdrawals, Attribution

A spousal RRSP lets one partner contribute to a plan owned by the other, often to even out retirement income. It can work well, but the withdrawal rules catch many couples by surprise.

This article explains how contributions work, the three-year attribution rule and the exceptions for separation and death. Your own numbers and timing matter, so an accountant can confirm the details.

How contributions work

Contributions to a spousal or common-law partner RRSP reduce the contributor's own RRSP deduction limit, and the contributor claims the deduction. You can contribute to a spouse's RRSP until December of the year the spouse turns 71.

In other words, the contributor is the one who claims the deduction, and the contribution uses up the contributor's own RRSP deduction limit. The aim is usually to have retirement income taxed in the lower earner's hands later on.

The three-year attribution rule

If the contributor paid into any spousal RRSP in the year of withdrawal or the two preceding years, the withdrawal may be taxed to the contributor rather than the plan holder. For 2025, this covers contributions made in 2023, 2024 and 2025. That window moves forward by a year each tax year.

Form T2205 is used in this situation. Withdrawing too soon can undo the income-splitting benefit, so timing the first withdrawal matters.

When attribution does not apply

Attribution under ITA s. 146(8.3) does not apply when the contributor is living separate and apart from the spouse because of marriage breakdown. Under s. 146(8.7), it also does not apply in the year the contributor dies or when either person is a non-resident.

• Living separate and apart because of marriage breakdown.
• The year the contributor dies.
• Either person being a non-resident.

These are narrow exceptions, so whether one fits your circumstances is worth confirming with an accountant before you withdraw.

Separation, divorce and death

On marriage or common-law breakdown, RRSP property can be transferred tax-free to the spouse's or former spouse's RRSP or RRIF if they are living separate and apart and the transfer is made under a court order, judgment or written separation agreement. This matters in a settlement, because the paper trail must exist.

Other property can also move between spouses on a rollover basis. Capital property transferred to a spouse, or to a former spouse in settlement of rights arising from the relationship, rolls over at adjusted cost base if both are resident in Canada, though the transferor may elect out. Income attribution stops while spouses live separate and apart because of breakdown, but capital gains attribution on a later sale is stopped only if both file a joint election.

After a death, the legal representative may contribute to the surviving spouse's RRSP in the year of death or within 60 days after year-end and deduct it on the deceased's final return.

What happens to the deceased's own RRSP is a separate question from spousal contributions. For an unmatured RRSP, the default rule is that the deceased is considered to have received the plan's fair market value at death, reported on the final return. An exception applies if the spouse or common-law partner is the sole beneficiary and all the RRSP property is transferred to a plan for the spouse by December 31 of the year after death, in which case the deceased is not taxed on the RRSP value.

A surviving spouse or common-law partner can also defer tax on a refund of premiums by transferring it to their own RRSP, PRPP, SPP, RRIF or eligible annuity, within the year received or within 60 days after the end of that year. To transfer into an RRSP, the survivor must be 71 or younger at the end of the year of transfer, and older survivors can use a RRIF or annuity instead. The survivor includes transferred amounts on line 12900.

If the deceased held a RRIF and the contract or will names the spouse or common-law partner as successor annuitant, the deceased is not taxed on the RRIF value, the RRIF continues, and the survivor reports the payments.

What to do next

• Keep a record of every spousal RRSP contribution by year, since the attribution window looks back two years.
• Check the plan holder's age against the December of the year the spouse turns 71 limit.
• Talk with an accountant before any withdrawal, and ask whether Form T2205 is needed.
• If you are separating, make sure any RRSP transfer is set out in a court order or written separation agreement.
• Ask a lawyer how the settlement will treat other property.

Frequently asked questions