How to find your RRSP room on your Notice of Assessment

Your Notice of Assessment - the document the CRA sends after processing your tax return - contains the one number that matters most for RRSP planning: your actual contribution room.

Most people guess. They know the 2025 limit is $32,490 and assume that's what they can contribute. But your real room depends on last year's earned income, any pension adjustments from your employer, and unused room from previous years. Your NOA has the exact figure.

Where to find your RRSP room

Look for the section called "RRSP/PRPP Information" on page 2 of your NOA. You'll see three lines:

RRSP deduction limit: This is your total room - what you can contribute and deduct for the current tax year.

Less: RRSP contributions made: Any contributions you've already made to an RRSP or spousal RRSP between March 2024 and February 2025.

RRSP deduction room available: Your remaining room after accounting for contributions already made.

The last number is what you can still contribute before the March 1, 2025 deadline.

How the CRA calculates your room

Your RRSP room isn't just 18% of last year's income. The CRA starts with your earned income from 2023 (employment income, self-employment income, rental income), multiplies by 18%, then subtracts any pension adjustment if you have a workplace pension plan.

Then they add unused room from previous years. Miss your RRSP contribution one year? That room carries forward indefinitely.

Say you earned $75,000 in 2023. That's $13,500 in new RRSP room for 2024. But if you have $8,000 in unused room from 2022 and 2023, your total room is $21,500. The NOA shows this combined figure.

What pension adjustment means

If you have a workplace pension or your employer contributed to a group RRSP, you'll see a "pension adjustment" on your T4. This reduces your RRSP room dollar-for-dollar because the CRA considers you already saving for retirement through work.

A $3,000 pension adjustment means $3,000 less RRSP room. The NOA already accounts for this - you don't need to calculate it yourself.

Why the NOA matters more than online calculators

CRA's online portal shows the same RRSP room as your NOA, but it updates throughout the year as you make contributions. Your NOA is the official record. If there's ever a discrepancy - say you over-contribute and face penalties - the NOA is what the CRA uses to determine if you actually exceeded your limit.

TaxSplit.ca can estimate your RRSP refund based on income and province, but your NOA tells you exactly how much room you have to work with.

When your NOA shows zero room

No RRSP room usually means one of three things: you contributed the maximum last year, you have a large pension adjustment that ate up all your room, or you had no earned income in 2023. The TFSA doesn't depend on earned income, so that's where your savings should go instead.

Your NOA is mailed 2-8 weeks after the CRA processes your return. Can't find it? Log into your CRA account online - it's under "Tax Returns" then "Notice of Assessment."