What counts as a 2024 RRSP contribution (and what doesn't)

The RRSP deadline passed two days ago. If you made a contribution on February 28th or March 1st, it still counts for your 2024 tax year. March 2nd or later? That's a 2025 contribution.

The CRA gives you 60 days after December 31st to make RRSP contributions that count for the previous tax year. For 2024, that deadline was March 1st, 2025. Not the end of February - March 1st. The rule is specific: you have until the 60th day of the new year.

What counts as the contribution date

Your contribution date is when the money arrives in your RRSP account, not when you initiated the transfer. If you set up an automatic transfer for February 28th but your bank processed it March 2nd, that's a 2025 contribution. Banks sometimes take a day or two to move money between accounts.

Online transfers usually process same-day if done before the bank's cutoff time - typically 3 PM Eastern. Cheques take longer. A cheque dated February 28th but deposited March 3rd counts as a March 3rd contribution.

The safest approach: make any last-minute RRSP contributions at least two business days before the deadline. That gives the bank time to process without missing the cutoff.

Spousal RRSP contributions follow the same rule

If you're contributing to your spouse's RRSP, the March 1st deadline applies the same way. The money needs to arrive in their account by March 1st to count for 2024. The contribution uses your RRSP room, but the account belongs to your spouse.

This matters for income splitting later. Money contributed to a spousal RRSP can be withdrawn by your spouse after three years without attribution rules kicking in. But the contribution itself needs to meet the same deadline as your own RRSP.

What happens if you miss the deadline

Contributions made after March 1st count toward your 2025 tax year. You can't claim them as a deduction on your 2024 tax return. The 2025 RRSP limit is $32,490, assuming you have the room.

Missing the deadline doesn't create a penalty - it just shifts which tax year gets the deduction. But if you were counting on an RRSP contribution to reduce your 2024 taxes, missing March 1st means waiting until you file your 2025 return to get that refund.

At $80,000 income in Ontario, a $10,000 RRSP contribution typically generates about a $3,150 refund. TaxSplit.ca shows the exact amount for your province and income. Waiting a year for that refund has a real cost.

Group RRSPs and employer contributions

If your employer deducts RRSP contributions from your paycheque, those count as contributions on the date they're deducted from your pay - not when your employer actually transfers the money to the RRSP provider. A February 28th paycheque with an RRSP deduction counts for 2024 even if the money doesn't hit your account until March.

The same applies to employer matching contributions. The date your employer commits to the match determines the tax year, not when the funds are actually invested.

Your TFSA doesn't have the same deadline pressure. TFSA contributions count for the year you make them, with no grace period extending into the following year.

If you made an RRSP contribution in the final days of February or on March 1st, check your account to confirm it processed on time. If it didn't make the deadline, that contribution still reduces your taxes - just for 2025 instead of 2024.