A spousal RRSP is a special type of Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) that can be helpful to couples with meaningfully different incomes. (It’s also one of the few times it can strengthen a relationship to bring up the fact that one of you makes more money than the other.) Spousal RRSPs allow one partner to contribute to another’s retirement, maximizing both partners’ tax savings — now and in their golden years.
First, though, a quick RRSP refresher, since the basics are the same. When you contribute to an RRSP, there’s an immediate benefit of not being taxed on the money you put in. That allows you to invest more money, and (thanks to the beauty of compound interest) gives that money a chance to grow even faster. When it’s time to retire, you’ll be taxed on your withdrawals, but since many people make less in retirement than when they made the original contributions, they pay less in overall taxes.
Without spousal RRSPs, if you earn a lot more or less than your partner, it’s easy for one of you to end up with a much higher RRSP balance in retirement — and paying higher taxes because of it. With spousal RRSPs, however, the higher-earning person still gets the tax savings on their own income while boosting their partner’s retirement balance and lowering the couple’s overall tax burden.
There are a few basic rules to follow.
The spousal RRSP is owned by the lower-income-earning spouse, who makes all of the investment decisions and controls the account.
The higher-income-earning spouse contributes to the account, and they get the deduction on their tax return.
The total contribution counts against the contributing spouse’s cap, which means they need to have room in their own RRSP in order to contribute to their spouse’s account.
How does a spousal RRSP work?
A spousal RRSP works by letting the higher-earning partner contribute to an account the lower-earning partner owns — the contributor gets the tax deduction now, and withdrawals in retirement are taxed at the owner’s usually lower rate.
Imagine a couple with two partners. Partner A makes $134,000 per year, has a marginal tax rate of 43.41%, and expects that tax rate to drop to 29.65% in retirement. Partner B makes $40,000 per year and pays a marginal rate of 19.05%, which they expect to stay consistent in retirement.
Let’s look at the income generated from one year of savings. Partner A contributes about $24,000 — roughly 18% of their $134,000 salary, which is under the government’s annual dollar limit ($33,810 for 2026) to an RRSP, where it grows at a rate of 5% for 20 years. (For simplicity’s sake, we’ll say Partner B does not contribute to an RRSP.) When Partner A retires, that $24,000 has grown to $63,679. When they go to withdraw this money, they’ll pay $18,881 in taxes, leaving them with $44,798.
Here’s how that situation would look if the same couple took advantage of a spousal RRSP:
Partner A makes the same $24,000 annual contribution, but splits it evenly across both partners' accounts, so each person adds $12,000 to their RRSP balance. Partner A still isn’t taxed on the entire contribution, but now, when they reach the point in life that they’re never without hard candies, both partners have the same retirement income, saving them roughly $6,700 (about 15%) per year in taxes.
How much can you contribute to a spousal RRSP?
Your spousal RRSP contribution comes out of your own contribution room — it is not extra room. Each year you can contribute up to 18% of your previous year’s earned income, up to the annual maximum set by the government. You can also add any unused room you’ve carried forward.
Contributions to your spouse’s plan and your own plan share that single limit. If you put money in a spousal RRSP, you have that much less room for your own RRSP that year. Your spouse’s own contribution room is separate and stays untouched.
You get the tax deduction for what you contribute to the spousal RRSP, even though the account belongs to your partner.
The three-year attribution rule, explained
Spousal RRSP contributions can’t be withdrawn in the same year they’re made, or in the two calendar years after. Otherwise the money is taxed back to you, the contributor, rather than your spouse. This is called the three-year attribution rule.
For example, say you contribute $5,000 to a spousal RRSP on Dec. 1, 2025. If your partner withdraws it in 2025, 2026, or 2027, that $5,000 is added to your income and your tax bill — not theirs. Wait until 2028 or later and the withdrawal is taxed at your spouse’s rate, which is the whole point.
The rule is why spousal RRSPs work best as a long-term plan rather than a short-term place to park money.
Other benefits of spousal RRSPs
Another advantage to these accounts is that you can use them to save on taxes if you’re over the age of 71, but your partner is not. You can also use them to help reduce taxes on your estate in your absence, but that’s less fun to talk about.
When you open a spousal RRSP, you can make a contribution on behalf of your spouse, as long as they’re 71 or younger at year-end, and claim the tax deduction on that money. Likewise, in your absence, your estate can contribute that money to the account in order to reduce the taxes on your inheritance.
Who should open a spousal RRSP?
A spousal RRSP tends to make sense when two partners expect meaningfully different incomes in retirement. The bigger the gap, the more a couple can save by evening out their future withdrawals.
It’s worth a closer look if:
One partner earns much more than the other, now or in retirement.
One partner has little or no RRSP room of their own — for example, if they aren’t working.
One partner is over 71 and can no longer contribute to their own RRSP, but the other is younger.
If both partners expect similar retirement incomes, the tax benefit is smaller, and a regular RRSP each may be simpler.
Disadvantages of spousal RRSPs
Contribution limits get more confusing when you have to pay attention to two different accounts. If the partner making the contributions maxes out their own RRSP contribution for the year, they cannot contribute to their partner’s. Doing so anyway means dealing with a bunch of fines.
