By Allan Norman, MSc, CFP, CIM on October 1, 2026 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

How a spousal RRSP can save couples tax

By Allan Norman, MSc, CFP, CIM on October 1, 2026 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

There are still unique advantages to spousal RRSP accounts, even after the advent of pension splitting.

Can I contribute to both a spousal RRSP and RRSP or does it have to be one or the other? Does the same RRSP deduction apply to the spousal RRSP and the RRSP? For example, if I have $10,000 in RRSP contribution room can I contribute $10,000 to my Spousal RRSP and $10,000 to my RRSP? Please clarify this for me. —Doug

Hi Doug. Yes, you can contribute to your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), your spouse’s RRSP, or any combination of the two, but no, you can’t double up your contributions. To clarify, if you have $10,000 of RRSP contribution room, that is all you have. You can’t invest $10,000 into your RRSP and $10,000 into a spousal RRSP and claim a $20,000 RRSP contribution deduction.

Spousal RRSPs don’t seem to be as popular as they once were before pension splitting was introduced in 2007, but they are still a worthy consideration in retirement planning. An SRRSP is one of the simplest ways for most people to income split with a spouse to save tax. 

Our government taxes individual income and not household income. This, combined with a progressive tax system—increasing tax rates as income increases—encourages people to find ways to shift income to lower-earning spouses.  

To appreciate the tax difference, consider a one-income household in Ontario earning $150,000 a year. The tax owing is about $40,100 which leaves them $109,900. A two-income household with two earners making $75,000 per year each pay a total of about $26,600, leaving them with $123,400.  

It’s the same household income but an additional $13,500 of spending money for the two-income family earning the same amount of........

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