- Originally from our sister publication, Advisor.ca.
A recent survey of Canadians found that 83% of those planning to make an RRSP contribution intend to contribute at least as much as they did last year. How much did Canadians contribute for the 2010 tax year? Not surprisingly, far less than they could have.
Just under 6 million Canadians contributed to an RRSP in 2010, down slightly (0.2%) from 2009. Out of the total tax-base, 93% of filers were eligible to contribute in 2010, but only 26% did.
The good news is that total contributions rose by 2.6% to $33.9 billion. The bad news is that this total represented about 5.1% of the total room available, down from 5.4% used in 2009.
Contributions increased in every province and territory, according to Statistics Canada, with the largest increases found in Nunavut (+8.8%) and Yukon (+8.0%). The smallest increase was in Prince Edward Island (+0.1%).
The median contribution rose 4.1% on a national basis, to $2,790, with the highest median contributions made in Nunavut ($4,900), the Northwest Territories ($3,610) and Yukon ($3,310). The lowest median contributions were made in Nova Scotia and Manitoba ($2,300).
Broken down by city, Calgary was hometown to the highest median contribution ($3,900), followed by Vancouver ($3,400) and Toronto ($3,380).
The lowest median contributions were made in St. Catharines-Niagara ($2,240) and Barrie ($2,250), both in Ontario.