When does my RRSP have to become a RRIF?

An RRSP has to mature by the end of the year you turn 71. It can become a RRIF then, or sooner if you choose.

Can a RRIF withdrawal cut my OAS?

Amounts a RRIF pays you count in your income for the year, under paragraph 56(1)(t) of the Income Tax Act. OAS is reduced by 15% of net income above C$95,323 (the figure for income year 2026), and no more than the pension. The calculator adds your first minimum to your other income and full OAS to show how much that would take back.

Is tax withheld on RRIF payments?

For an RRSP withdrawal the Canada Revenue Agency's page lists withholding of 10% on amounts up to C$5,000, 20% on amounts over C$5,000 up to and including C$15,000, and 30% on amounts over C$15,000 (outside Quebec). That page does not cover RRIFs, and this page could not read the rules for RRIF payments, so ask your financial institution what it withholds on yours and whether the minimum is treated differently.

Does drawing my RRSP before 71 change the RRIF?

Yes. Money you take out earlier is no longer in the fund when the RRIF opens, so the later minimums are smaller, and the earlier withdrawals are income in the years you take them. The field for withdrawals before the RRIF shows both.

RRSP to RRIF calculator: the minimum withdrawals

See the minimum a RRIF must pay you each year, from the age you open it, and whether that income takes back some of your OAS.

Figures in Canadian dollars (C$), from the Income Tax Act and Regulations.

If you open your RRIF in the year you turn 71 and your RRSP grows as you enter below, it would hold about C$1,139,384 then. The year after, when you start the year aged 71, the minimum you must take is

C$60,159 a year

That is 5.28% of the C$1,139,384 in the fund at the start of that year: the prescribed factor for age 71. In the year you open the RRIF itself the minimum is nil.

With OAS at the full C$9,150 a year and C$20,000 of other income, your net income that year would be about C$89,309. That is under C$95,323, so none of your OAS would be taken back.

These are projections from the figures below, not your balance. The C$500,000 RRSP, age 50, 4% return and C$20,000 of other income are examples: replace them with your own, from your latest statement and tax return.

Your age nowFrom 30 to 71.RRSP balance nowIn today's dollars. From 0 to 50,000,000.C$Age you turn in the year the RRIF opensThe RRSP has to mature by the end of the year you turn 71; it can open sooner. From 55 to 71.RRSP withdrawals a year before the RRIF opensWhat you would live on from the RRSP before then, in today's dollars. Each withdrawal is taxable income that year.C$Return above inflation, %Your assumption, after fees. Not a forecast. From 0 to 10, up to 2 decimal places.Your other net income a year once the RRIF runs, not counting OASIn today's dollars: CPP, pensions, other income.C$

The minimum each year, taking only the minimum, from the first full year after the RRIF opens.
Age at the start of the year	Factor	Fund at the start	Minimum
71	5.28%	C$1,139,384	C$60,159
72	5.4%	C$1,122,394	C$60,609
73	5.53%	C$1,104,256	C$61,065
74	5.67%	C$1,084,918	C$61,515
75	5.82%	C$1,064,339	C$61,945
76	5.98%	C$1,042,490	C$62,341
77	6.17%	C$1,019,356	C$62,894
78	6.36%	C$994,720	C$63,264
79	6.58%	C$968,714	C$63,741
80	6.82%	C$941,171	C$64,188
81	7.08%	C$912,063	C$64,574
82	7.38%	C$881,388	C$65,046

Amounts are in today's dollars at your return above inflation. Only the minimum comes out of the RRIF here; you can take more. Not modelled: a younger spouse's age, the older table for a RRIF opened before 1993, tax withheld on withdrawals, the pension income credit, tax, and the 10% OAS increase at 75. The link carries your figures after the #, so you can save or share it. Your figures are not sent to us.

The deadline and the minimum

Under the Income Tax Act an RRSP cannot be set to mature after the end of the year in which you attain 71. A RRIF is one thing it can become. In the year the RRIF is entered into there is no minimum.

For every later year the minimum is the fund's fair market value at the start of the year times the prescribed factor for the age you attained at the start of that year. Under 71 the factor is 1 divided by 90 less your age (3.33% at 60, 4% at 65); from 71 the Regulations print a table.

Drawing the RRSP down before 71, and the OAS clawback

Someone who stops work early may live on RRSP money for years before the RRIF opens. Each withdrawal counts as income in the year it is taken, and what stays in the fund is what the minimums are worked on later. A fund left to grow until the deadline can have a large minimum at the same time that OAS and CPP are paid, which is when the OAS recovery tax can bite.

The calculator lets you set a yearly withdrawal before the RRIF opens and the age it opens, and shows the first minimum against the OAS threshold. What it shows is a comparison on the figures you enter: your own tax return and your financial institution give the amounts that apply to you.

Questions people ask

When does my RRSP have to become a RRIF?: An RRSP has to mature by the end of the year you turn 71. It can become a RRIF then, or sooner if you choose.
How much do I have to take out of a RRIF?: At least a minimum each year: the fund's value at the start of the year times a prescribed factor for your age at the start of that year. Under 71 the factor is 1 divided by 90 less your age; at 71 it is 5.28%, and it rises with age. In the year the fund is opened the minimum is nil.
Can a RRIF withdrawal cut my OAS?: Amounts a RRIF pays you count in your income for the year, under paragraph 56(1)(t) of the Income Tax Act. OAS is reduced by 15% of net income above C$95,323 (the figure for income year 2026), and no more than the pension. The calculator adds your first minimum to your other income and full OAS to show how much that would take back.
Is tax withheld on RRIF payments?: For an RRSP withdrawal the Canada Revenue Agency's page lists withholding of 10% on amounts up to C$5,000, 20% on amounts over C$5,000 up to and including C$15,000, and 30% on amounts over C$15,000 (outside Quebec). That page does not cover RRIFs, and this page could not read the rules for RRIF payments, so ask your financial institution what it withholds on yours and whether the minimum is treated differently.
Does drawing my RRSP before 71 change the RRIF?: Yes. Money you take out earlier is no longer in the fund when the RRIF opens, so the later minimums are smaller, and the earlier withdrawals are income in the years you take them. The field for withdrawals before the RRIF shows both.

Sources: Justice Laws Website, Income Tax Regulations, section 7308 and the Income Tax Act, section 146, and section 56 of the Act; Canada.ca, the OAS recovery tax and the CRA's tax rates on RRSP withdrawals.