The tax year is 2026. The limits on this page are the Canada Revenue Agency's 2026 limits, checked against the Agency's limits table at build time on November 9, 2026. The 2027 RRSP dollar limit of $35,390 has already been published by the Agency; this tool uses the 2026 limits and says so, because the comparison is labelled for 2026.
The 2026 limits. The TFSA dollar limit is $7,000 for 2026, unchanged from 2024 and 2025. The RRSP dollar limit is $33,810 for 2026, which is 18% of your 2025 earned income up to that dollar limit, plus unused room carried forward, minus any pension adjustment. Your own room is the lesser of 18% of your previous year's earned income and the dollar limit, plus unused room, minus any pension adjustment. Only your notice of assessment or CRA My Account shows your actual room.
The formulas. Future value is the amount in the account times one plus the annual return, to the power of the number of years. For the RRSP, the amount in the account is the full pre-tax amount; the tax saved now is the amount times your marginal rate now; the tax paid later is the future value times your expected marginal rate at withdrawal; the after-tax value is the future value minus the tax paid later. For the TFSA, the amount in the account is the pre-tax amount minus tax at your rate now; the tax saved now is $0, the tax paid later is $0, and the after-tax value is the future value. Both cost the same out of pocket: the RRSP costs the amount minus the tax saved now, and the TFSA costs the after-tax amount, which are the same number.
When the two come out equal. If your marginal rate now and your expected marginal rate at withdrawal are the same, the RRSP and the TFSA give the same after-tax value from the same out-of-pocket cost, because the deduction now and the tax later cancel each other out. The RRSP comes out ahead when your rate at withdrawal is lower than your rate now, and the TFSA comes out ahead when your rate at withdrawal is higher than your rate now. That is the whole comparison: the return is the same in both accounts and the out-of-pocket cost is the same, so only the two tax rates move the answer.
Worked examples. A $10,000 pre-tax amount, a 30% rate now, a 20% rate at withdrawal, 20 years, and a 5% return: the RRSP takes $10,000, which grows to $10,000 times 1.05 to the power of 20, which is $26,532.98. It saves $3,000 of tax now, pays $5,306.60 of tax later, and is worth $21,226.38 after tax. The TFSA takes $7,000 after tax, which grows to $18,573.08 and is worth $18,573.08 after tax. The RRSP comes out ahead by $2,653.30. A $7,000 pre-tax amount, a 20% rate now, a 20% rate at withdrawal, 10 years, and a 6% return: the RRSP takes $7,000, which grows to $12,535.93, saves $1,400 now, pays $2,507.19 later, and is worth $10,028.75 after tax. The TFSA takes $5,600 after tax, which grows to $10,028.75. The two come out equal.
Rounding. The tool rounds only for display, so the last cent can differ from adding the rounded parts together.
What this tool leaves out. Your actual contribution room, which this tool does not check; any pension adjustment; RRSP mandatory withdrawals in retirement; the Home Buyers' Plan and the Lifelong Learning Plan; withholding tax on RRSP withdrawals, which is a prepayment and not the final tax; the effect of a withdrawal on income-tested benefits such as Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement; fees and the timing of contributions within a year; and any change to the limits after 2026.
Sources: Canada Revenue Agency, MP, DB, RRSP, DPSP, ALDA, TFSA limits, YMPE and the YAMPE (the 2026 TFSA dollar limit of $7,000, the 2026 RRSP dollar limit of $33,810, and the 2027 RRSP dollar limit of $35,390), opened at build time on November 9, 2026. The tax rates and the rate of return on this page are your inputs, not published figures. No figure on this page comes from anywhere else.