Let’s face it, building wealth has become harder for Canadians. For women grappling with wage gaps, career-breaks and systemic biases, there are even greater uphill challenges in building a nest-egg.
What if I were to tell you it doesn’t have to be so painful?
For Canadian women trying to build real, lasting wealth and close the gender gap, leveraging tax shelters aren’t optional, they’re essential.
The Canadian government offers several tax-advantaged accounts to help you reduce taxes, grow wealth faster, save for retirement easier, fund your children’s education, and even buy your first home.
And yet millions of women underuse them or avoid them all together, leaving tens of thousands of dollars or more on the table.
This guide breaks down the most important tax shelters you need to know about, what they’re for, and how to make them work for you.
Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)
Purpose: Long-term investing including retirement, emergency savings, and major purchases. Tax-free investment growth + tax-free withdrawals.
Contribution Limit:
• Was set at $7,000 for 2025
• Total lifetime room since 2009 when the TFSA was first made available is $102,000 in 2025 for someone eligible every year.
Carry-Forward Rules: You can carry forward unused contribution room indefinitely and you can restore any amount you withdraw from the account back in the following year after January 1st.
Eligibility: You must be a Canadian resident who is of legal age (18 or 19 years old depending on the province) and have a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN) to be able to contribute to a TFSA.
Important Considerations:
• Any contributions you make are not tax-deductible, meaning you have to use after-tax income. However, all the investment growth inside a TFSA will be tax-free and you can withdraw the funds including the growth tax-free.
• Because withdrawals are not taxable as income, you won’t be affected by income-test rules that can cause clawbacks on government supplements like Old-Age Security and Old Age Security payments (GIS, OAS, respectively).
• Overcontributions face a 1% per month penalty and it’s up to you to keep track.
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)
Purpose: Retirement savings as the name of the plan suggests, however withdrawals can be used for special purposes such as buying a home and education (more below). Tax-deductible contributions + tax-deferred growth
Contribution Limit
• 18% of previous year’s earned income up to a maximum of $32,490 for 2025.
Earned income according to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) includes employment salary including bonuses and taxable benefits, self-employment income, rental income, disability benefits received under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), taxable alimony payments received, and royalties.
Carry-Forward Rules
• You can carry unused contribution room forward indefinitely.
Eligibility
• Anyone with earned income and who files taxes can contribute in an RRSP. There’s no minimum age requirement, and you can contribute up to age 71.
Important Considerations
• Withdrawals are counted as taxable income and will be taxed at your marginal tax rate. The withdrawals are also subject to a withholding tax that’s remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency as a prepayment of a portion of the income tax you’ll owe to the government.
• All RRSPs have to be converted to Registered Retirement Income Fun (RRIF) at 71.
• There are special circumstances that allow you to withdraw funds from an RRSP temporarily.
o Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP): Allows you to withdraw up to $35,000 to build or buy a home without any tax penalties if the amount is repaid over 15 years.
o Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP): Allows you to withdraw $10,000/year up to a total of $20,000 for education tax-free as long as you repay the funds over 10 years.
First Home Savings Account (FHSA)
Purpose: As the name indicates, it’s used to save for a first home purchase. Tax-deductible contributions + tax-free withdrawals for first home
Contribution Limit
• $8,000 per year up to a $40,000 lifetime limit
Carry-Forward Rules
• Are more restrictive and allow unused room to carry forward up to one year only. That means the maximum annual contribution including carry-forward would be $16,000.
Eligibility
• You have to be of legal age (18+), a resident of Canada, and must be considered a first-time home buyer, which by definition means you can’t have owned a home in the past 4 years.
Important Considerations
• You can hold the account for up to 15 years or when you purchase your home, which ever comes first.
• Any unused balance in the FHSA can be transferred to RRSP without affecting the RRSP contribution room
Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)
Purpose: To save for a child’s post-secondary education. Growth is tax-deferred and when funds are withdrawn, contributions come out tax-free, and government grants & growth are taxed at the student’s tax rate which is presumed to be low.
Contribution Limit
• There’s no annual limit and the lifetime limit per child is $50,000.
• Anyone can contribute (parents, grandparents, etc.)
Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG): Is a government grant that adds 20% to the first $2,500 contributed each year to a child’s RESP
• Maximum $500 per year
• Lifetime maximum $7,200 per child
• The grant is deposited directly into the RESP and grows tax-deferred along with the investments.
• On top of the regular 20% CESG, families with lower or middle incomes can get a boost of an extra 10–20% on the first $500 contributed each year.
This means the government adds more money to help these families save for their child’s education.
• Some provinces also offer their own extra grants, such as in British Columbia and Quebec, which can increase the amount even further.
Carry-Forward Rules
• The CESG grant room can be carried forward, however you can only catch up one extra year at a time.
• This means the maximum CESG you can receive in one calendar year is $1,000, even if your child has more grant room accumulated. To do this, you would have to contribute $5,000 in that year ($2,500 to receive current year’s $500 CESG and $2,500 to earn prior year’s $500 CESG)
Eligibility
• Child must have a Social Insurance Number (SIN)
Key Considerations
• Post-Secondary Education can include the following: university, college, trade schools, and some vocational courses.
• If your child doesn’t end up attending a qualified post-secondary education program, you have a few options:
o You can switch the RESP to another child in the family and the grants can also be transferred as long as the new beneficiary is under 21 years old and there’s available CESG room.
o You can withdraw all the money you put in tax-free, however the CESG would need to be returned and the investment growth would be taxed at your marginal tax rate instead of your child’s.
o To avoid penalties, you can also transfer up to $50,000 of investment growth into your RRSP, if you have the contribution room
Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP)
Purpose: A powerful, often underutilized tax-shelter designed to help Canadians with disabilities build long-term financial security.
Contribution Limit
• The lifetime limit is $200,000 and there are no annual limits on deposits.
• Anyone can contribute with written permission from the plan holder; however the contributions aren’t tax-deductible.
• Contributions accepted until age 59
Carry-Forward Rules
• Can retroactively claim up to 10 years of past grant/bond entitlements
• Huge catch-up potential for older beneficiaries
Government Matching
The government provides two types of significant support depending on your income
• Canada Disability Savings Grant (CDSG)
o The government will match 100% and up to 300% of your contributions depending on family income
o Max grant is $3,500 per year (if family income falls below a threshold) and the lifetime maximum is $70,000.
• Canada Disability Savings Bond (CDSB)
o Is specifically for low-income families and no contributions are required
o The government will automatically deposit up to $1,000/year. The amount is income-tested, and the lifetime maximum is $20,000
Eligibility
• The beneficiary must qualify for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). If they lose the DTC eligibility, then contributions have to stop.
• They must be under age 60 to open
Key Considerations
• Money inside an RDSP grows tax-deferred, and your own contributions always come out tax-free.
• Only the government contributions and the investment growth are taxable when withdrawn. It will be taxed at the beneficiary’s marginal tax rate, assumed to be a low rate.
• There’s also a 10-year rule: Government grants and bonds have to stay in the account for at least 10 years before withdrawal, or they’ll need to be repaid. This prevents the account to be used for short-term savings.
All the accounts above serve a unique purpose, but they all have the advantage of helping you grow your funds faster through the power of compounding and prevent unnecessary taxes.
Understanding how to use them is one of the most powerful step you as a Canadian can take toward long-term financial strength.
Have questions? Interested in us hosting an in-depth workshop at your organization? Contact us for more information.