MUST CONVERT RRSP TO RRIF BY AGE 71
AGE 71 RATE: 5.28% OF JAN 1 BALANCE
USE YOUNGER SPOUSE AGE TO LOWER MINIMUMS
UNDER 71: USE FORMULA 1 DIVIDED BY (90 MINUS AGE)
RRIF WITHDRAWALS COUNT TOWARD OAS CLAWBACK
TFSA WITHDRAWALS DO NOT COUNT AS INCOME
2020: MINIMUMS TEMPORARILY REDUCED 25% DUE TO COVID
RRIF MINIMUM WITHDRAWAL RATES 2026
MUST CONVERT RRSP TO RRIF BY AGE 71
AGE 71 RATE: 5.28% OF JAN 1 BALANCE
USE YOUNGER SPOUSE AGE TO LOWER MINIMUMS
UNDER 71: USE FORMULA 1 DIVIDED BY (90 MINUS AGE)
RRIF WITHDRAWALS COUNT TOWARD OAS CLAWBACK
TFSA WITHDRAWALS DO NOT COUNT AS INCOME
2020: MINIMUMS TEMPORARILY REDUCED 25% DUE TO COVID
RRIF Minimum Withdrawal Rates 2026: The Complete Guide for Canadians
Every age, every rate, an interactive calculator, and the strategies XEQT holders use to manage mandatory RRIF withdrawals without triggering unnecessary tax.
What Is a RRIF and Why Do Minimums Exist?
A Registered Retirement Income Fund is the account Canadians convert their RRSP into when it is time to draw retirement income. The government sets mandatory minimum withdrawals each year to ensure tax-deferred savings eventually flow back into the tax system.
You can hold an RRSP until December 31 of the year you turn 71. At that point, the CRA requires you to do one of three things: convert to a RRIF, purchase a life or fixed-term annuity, or withdraw the entire balance as a lump sum. The vast majority of Canadians choose the RRIF, because it keeps the assets invested and growing tax-deferred while providing income flexibility beyond the mandatory minimum.
The mandatory minimum withdrawal exists because the government granted a tax deferral on every dollar contributed to an RRSP. At some point, that tax must be collected. The minimum withdrawal schedule is the CRA’s mechanism for ensuring that happens gradually across retirement, rather than all at once at death. You can always withdraw more than the minimum. You cannot withdraw less.
The first year you are required to take a RRIF minimum withdrawal is the calendar year after you open the RRIF. If you convert your RRSP to a RRIF in December 2025, your first mandatory withdrawal is in 2026. Many Canadians open their RRIF before age 71 to begin strategic early drawdowns – this is entirely permitted.
RRIF Minimum Withdrawal Rates 2026
The rates below apply to withdrawals made in 2026. Your minimum is calculated by multiplying your RRIF balance on January 1, 2026 by the rate for your age on January 1, 2026.
| Age Jan 1 | Rate | Age Jan 1 | Rate | Age Jan 1 | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 71 | Formula* | 79 | 6.58% | 87 | 9.55% |
| 71 | 5.28% | 80 | 6.82% | 88 | 10.21% |
| 72 | 5.40% | 81 | 7.08% | 89 | 10.99% |
| 73 | 5.53% | 82 | 7.38% | 90 | 11.92% |
| 74 | 5.67% | 83 | 7.71% | 91 | 13.06% |
| 75 | 5.82% | 84 | 8.08% | 92 | 14.49% |
| 76 | 5.98% | 85 | 8.51% | 93 | 16.34% |
| 77 | 6.17% | 86 | 8.99% | 94 | 18.79% |
| 78 | 6.36% | 95+ | 20.00% |
Notice how the rate accelerates sharply after age 85. At 71, you are withdrawing just over 5% per year. By 90, you are required to withdraw nearly 12%. By 95, the minimum is 20% of whatever balance remains each January 1. A RRIF that was well-managed at 71 can face very large mandatory withdrawals at 85 and beyond if the balance was not drawn down strategically in the early years.
How the Minimum Is Calculated
The formula is straightforward. Take your RRIF balance on January 1 of the current year. Multiply it by the rate for your age on that same January 1. The result is your minimum withdrawal for the year.
RRIF balance on January 1, 2026: $450,000
Age on January 1, 2026: 74
Rate for age 74: 5.67%
Minimum withdrawal for 2026: $450,000 × 0.0567 = $25,515
Monthly equivalent if withdrawn evenly: $2,126.25
Three things to note about this calculation. First, the balance used is always January 1 of the current year, not the balance today or at year end. If your RRIF grows significantly through the year, your minimum for next year will be higher. Second, the age used is always your age on January 1, not your birthday during the year. If you turn 74 in August 2026, your 2026 minimum still uses the age 74 rate. Third, withdrawals above the minimum are always permitted and are taxed as ordinary income in the year taken.
Your RRIF issuer is required to withhold income tax on withdrawals above the minimum. Withdrawals exactly at the minimum have no withholding, but the income is still fully taxable and must be reported on your T1 return. Many Canadians are surprised to receive a tax bill in April if they did not arrange for extra withholding on their minimum payments.
Minimum RRIF withdrawals have no mandatory withholding at source. You receive the full payment but owe the tax at filing time. If your marginal rate is 33% and your minimum is $25,000, that is an $8,250 tax bill at filing unless you arrange voluntary withholding with your institution. Ask your RRIF issuer to apply withholding – most will do this on request.
RRIF Minimum Withdrawal Calculator 2026
Enter your RRIF balance as of January 1, 2026 and your age on that date. Results update instantly using the official 2026 CRA rate schedule.
Official CRA rates • Post-2015 schedule
Your RRIF market value on Jan 1, 2026
Use your spouse’s age if younger and you have made the election
CRA rate applied
$2,250
$473,000
5.40%
Relative size
Minimum
Rate
Balance Jan 1
RRIF Withdrawals Under Age 71
You do not have to wait until 71 to open a RRIF. Many Canadians convert part or all of their RRSP earlier to begin strategic income drawdowns. For ages under 71, the minimum withdrawal uses a different formula.
The formula for ages under 71 is: 1 divided by (90 minus your age). At age 65, that is 1 divided by 25, which equals 4.00%. At age 70, it is 1 divided by 20, which equals 5.00%. These rates are lower than the age 71 rate of 5.28%, which is why some financial planners recommend opening a RRIF before 71 if you need income and want to keep the mandatory percentage lower.
| Age | Formula | Minimum Rate | Minimum on $500,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 1 ÷ (90−55) | 2.86% | $14,300 |
| 60 | 1 ÷ (90−60) | 3.33% | $16,650 |
| 65 | 1 ÷ (90−65) | 4.00% | $20,000 |
| 67 | 1 ÷ (90−67) | 4.35% | $21,750 |
| 69 | 1 ÷ (90−69) | 4.76% | $23,800 |
| 70 | 1 ÷ (90−70) | 5.00% | $25,000 |
| 71 | Table rate | 5.28% | $26,400 |
One important note: once you open a RRIF, you cannot make new contributions to it. The RRIF is a withdrawal-only vehicle. You can still contribute to any remaining RRSP room (if you have earned income and are under 71) through a separate account, but the RRIF itself only flows outward.
The Younger Spouse Age Strategy
If your spouse or common-law partner is younger than you, you can elect to base your RRIF minimum withdrawals on their age instead of yours. Since younger ages have lower rates, this reduces your mandatory annual withdrawal.
This election must be made when you first set up the RRIF and cannot be changed later. If you are 75 and your spouse is 68, you can use the age 68 rate of 4.55% (using the under-71 formula: 1 divided by 22) instead of the age 75 rate of 5.82%. On a $600,000 RRIF, that difference is $27,300 versus $34,920 per year – a meaningful gap in taxable income that can affect your OAS clawback position and marginal tax rate.
The election to use your spouse’s age must be made before the first minimum payment from the RRIF. Once you have received a minimum payment under your own age, the election is no longer available. Ask your financial institution before any withdrawals are made.
This strategy does not affect how much you can withdraw – you can still take more than the minimum at any time. It only lowers the floor. In years when you need less income, the lower minimum gives you the flexibility to take less, keep more in the tax-deferred account, and defer the tax bill accordingly.
Historical RRIF Rate Changes
The current rate schedule has been in place since the 2015 federal budget. Before that, rates were higher – particularly in the early years of retirement – which forced larger-than-necessary withdrawals from retirees who did not need the income.
RRIF Withdrawals and the OAS Clawback
Every dollar you withdraw from a RRIF counts as ordinary income on Line 23600 of your tax return. This is the same income line that determines whether your Old Age Security pension is clawed back.
The OAS Recovery Tax begins at $93,454 in net world income for the July–December 2026 benefit period. If your CPP, OAS, and other income already put you close to that threshold, mandatory RRIF minimums can push you over it – costing you 15 cents of OAS for every dollar above the line. This is one of the most common and avoidable retirement income planning errors in Canada.
The solution is not to avoid the RRIF – that is not an option. The solution is to plan around it. Drawing down your RRSP in the years between retirement and age 71, before CPP and OAS begin and while your marginal rate is at its lowest, reduces the RRIF balance you are forced to draw minimums from a decade later. A $400,000 RRIF at 71 produces a $21,120 minimum. A $700,000 RRIF at 71 produces a $36,960 minimum – a difference that can easily push a retiree with CPP and OAS above the clawback threshold.
For the full breakdown of the OAS clawback threshold, how it is calculated, and six strategies to legally reduce it, see the OAS Clawback Threshold 2026: Complete Guide on this site.
Holding XEQT in Your RRIF
XEQT is an eligible RRIF investment and works the same way inside a RRIF as inside an RRSP. The fund continues to grow tax-deferred on the unrealised portion while mandatory minimums flow out as taxable income each year.
One practical consideration: RRIF withdrawals must be in cash, but your XEQT units do not need to be sold to fund them. Most brokerages allow in-kind withdrawals, or will sell the minimum required number of units and transfer cash. If you are taking exactly the minimum, some investors choose to sell units quarterly or annually rather than monthly to reduce transaction friction.
A key advantage of XEQT in a RRIF versus individual stocks or bonds is that the fund rebalances automatically. You do not need to manually rebalance as market conditions shift – the underlying ETF structure handles that. This is particularly valuable in retirement when you are drawing down rather than accumulating, because rebalancing in a withdrawal context is more complex than in an accumulation context.
XEQT also carries a US dividend withholding tax advantage inside an RRSP or RRIF that it does not enjoy in a TFSA. Under the Canada-US tax treaty, US dividend withholding is waived on registered accounts. Since XEQT holds significant US equity exposure through its underlying iShares ETFs, this treaty benefit marginally improves the after-tax return in the RRIF relative to holding the same fund in a non-registered account.
Draw from RRIF first (mandatory), supplement with non-registered if needed, and leave your TFSA untouched as long as possible. TFSA withdrawals are invisible to CRA – they do not count as income, do not trigger the OAS clawback, and do not affect GIS or provincial benefit eligibility.
RRIF Withdrawal Strategies
The mandatory minimum is a floor, not a ceiling. How you manage withdrawals above and around that floor has a significant impact on your lifetime tax bill, your OAS entitlement, and the size of your estate.
The best RRIF strategy is usually the one built a decade before the RRIF exists. The choices made at 60 – how much to draw from the RRSP, when to start CPP, whether to use spousal RRSP contributions – determine how manageable the mandatory minimums are at 71 and beyond.
Sources
Canada Revenue Agency, Receiving income from a RRIF, canada.ca
Canada Revenue Agency, RRIF minimum amount, canada.ca
Department of Finance Canada, Budget 2015, Changes to the RRIF Minimum Withdrawal Schedule, March 2015
Department of Finance Canada, COVID-19 Economic Response Plan – RRIF minimum withdrawal reduction, March 2020
Canada Revenue Agency, RRSPs and Other Registered Plans for Retirement (T4040), canada.ca
Service Canada, Old Age Security Recovery Tax – OAS clawback and income thresholds, canada.ca
iShares by BlackRock, XEQT Fund Facts and Annual Report 2025, blackrock.com/ca
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Converting your RRSP, canada.ca