RRIF & LIF Payment Calculator

Set federally by section 7308 of the Income Tax Regulations and applied to the balance at the start of the fiscal year. The driver is your age on January 1, not your age at year end.

• Age 70 or under on Jan 1: 1 / (90 − age)
• Age 71 or over on Jan 1: the prescribed factor, 5.28% at 71 rising to 20.00% at 95 and above

All LIFs are RRIFs with extra restrictions layered on, so the minimum rules are the same. If you elected to use a younger spouse's age, that age drives the minimum — but it has no effect on the LIF maximum, which is keyed to the owner reaching 90. Note that this election must be made before any payment has been made out of the fund, and cannot be revisited later.

In the year a fund is entered into, the minimum is nil. Section 146.3(1) says so in as many words, and it applies to a new RRIF exactly as it does to a new LIF. Tick "this fund is being established" to model that year. One consequence catches people out: because the whole payment then sits above a nil minimum, anything you do take is fully subject to withholding.

A footnote for completeness. A RRIF entered into before 1993 is a "qualifying" RRIF and falls under section 7308(3) instead, where ages under 72 use 1 / (90 − age) and there is no row for 71. Every factor from 72 upward is identical to the table above, so the only divergence was ever at age 71 — and any such annuitant is long past that by now. This calculator uses 7308(4).

Both regimes use the same shape of formula: C / F, where C is the balance at the start of the year and F is the present value of $1 payable annually in advance from the start of the year through December 31 of the year you turn 90.

They differ in exactly one input — the interest rate used inside F for the first fifteen years:

• Ontario (Reg 909, Schedules 1, 1.1 and 2): the greater of 6.00% and the November CANSIM V122487 long-term Government of Canada bond yield. That yield has been below 6% for decades, so Ontario's table has been frozen at the 6.00% values since January 1, 2021.
• Federal (PBSR sections 20.1, 20.3 and 21.1): the November V122487 yield itself, with no floor. OSFI therefore reissues the federal table every January. The 2026 table is built on the November 2025 rate of 3.49%.

Both use 6.00% for the years after the fifteenth.

The consequence is large. A lower discount rate spreads the fund over more years, so the federal ceiling is tighter:

On a $500,000 fund at 65 that is roughly $6,760 a year less available federally. The gap is widest in the early seventies — about 1.37 percentage points at 71 — and narrows after that, because fewer of the remaining years fall inside the fifteen-year window.

A note on which age the tables use. Every percentage on this page is keyed to your age on January 1. FSRA's published Ontario table is keyed to the age you attain during the year, which is one year higher. The two describe the same rule: if you are 71 on January 1 and turn 72 during the year, this calculator's 8.4548% is the same figure as the 8.45480% on FSRA's "age 72" row. If a percentage here looks one row off from a table your institution sent you, this is almost always why — check which age the other table is counting.

One more difference. Ontario's maximum is the greater of the formula amount and the prior year's investment earnings, including unrealized gains and losses. The federal rules have no such alternative — the formula amount stands on its own. So a strong market year can lift an Ontario ceiling but never a federal one.

Under both, if the Income Tax Act minimum exceeds the calculated maximum, the minimum governs. Worth knowing that this provision does not actually bite at realistic rates: tested down to a 0.5% reference rate, the federal maximum still sits above the minimum at every age, with the tightest margin about 1.8 percentage points at 71. The rule is implemented because the regulations require it, not because it is expected to trigger. In the year you turn 90 the factor reaches 100% and the balance may be paid out in full.

This calculator computes the formula rather than hard-coding either table. It reproduces every published Ontario percentage and all seventy rows of OSFI's 2026 and 2025 tables exactly, and the federal reference rate is an editable input so it can be rolled forward each January.

A RRIF has no maximum at all. That remains the single biggest difference between a RRIF and either kind of LIF.

All figures below are for a fund holding $500,000 on January 1, 2026, owner aged 71 on January 1 (turning 72 during the year). Every percentage here is computed by the calculator, not copied from a table, and has been checked against the regulators' own published figures.

RRIF (and Saskatchewan PRIF)

Minimum: balance × prescribed factor, factor keyed to your age on January 1. Under 71 it is 1 / (90 − age); from 71 it is the table in section 7308(4) of the Income Tax Regulations, 5.28% at 71 rising to 20.00% at 95.
Maximum: none. This is the defining difference.
At our example: minimum $26,400.00 (5.28%), no ceiling.
Source: Income Tax Act s.146.3(1); Income Tax Regulations s.7308(4).

Ontario LIF

Minimum: as above — identical in every jurisdiction.
Maximum: the greater of (a) the prior year's investment gains including unrealized gains and losses, and (b) C / F, where C is the January 1 balance and F is the present value of $1 a year payable in advance to December 31 of the year you turn 90.
Rate inside F: the greater of 6.00% and the November V122487 bond yield, for the first 15 years, then 6.00%. The yield has been under 6% for decades, so this is effectively fixed at 6% and the table has not moved since 2021.
Mid-year start: prorated to months remaining / 12, a partial month counting as full.
Unlocking: up to 50% within 60 days, out of the LIF itself — so the first-year maximum is based on the balance before the unlocked amount leaves. Available from 55, and it resets with each qualifying transfer.
At our example: F = 11.82760, so the factor is 1 / 11.82760 = 8.4548% → maximum $42,273.99. Room above the minimum: $15,873.99.
Source: Schedule 1.1 to Regulation 909; FSRA guidance PE0196INF; FSCO policy L200-303.

Alberta LIF

Minimum and maximum formula: identical to Ontario, including the 6% floor and the prior-year-gains alternative. The percentages are the same to the fourth decimal.
Three things differ, and all three matter:

• LIF available from age 50, five years earlier than Ontario.
• No first-year proration. Open the fund in December and the full annual maximum is still available. Ontario would cut it to one twelfth.
• Unlocking happens before the LIF exists. You unlock up to 50% of the LIRA, then transfer the rest. So the LIF starts at the remaining half and the first-year maximum is calculated on that smaller amount. One time only, from age 50 — and taking part of it uses all of it.

At our example: factor 8.4548% → maximum $42,273.99, same as Ontario. But with 50% unlocked first, the LIF opens at $250,000 and the maximum is $21,137.00 — half Ontario's, for the same starting money and the same 50%.
Source: Employment Pension Plans Act and Regulation (Alberta).

British Columbia LIF

Minimum and maximum formula: identical to Ontario and Alberta, same 6% floor, same prior-year-gains alternative, same percentages.
Differences: LIF available from age 50; no first-year proration; and no one-time 50% unlocking of any kind. BCFSA lists exactly five ways out — financial hardship, small benefits, age 65 with a small entitlement, permanent departure from Canada, and shortened life expectancy. If a source tells you BC offers a 50% transfer at 55, it is describing the federal rule, not BC's.
At our example: factor 8.4548% → maximum $42,273.99.
Source: Pension Benefits Standards Act and Regulation (BC); BCFSA LIF and unlocking guidance.

Federal LIF / RLIF (PBSA)

Minimum: as above.
Maximum: C / F and nothing else. There is no prior-year-gains alternative federally, so a strong market year can never lift a federal ceiling the way it can an Ontario, Alberta or BC one.
Rate inside F: the November V122487 yield with no floor, for the first 15 years, then 6.00%. For 2026 that is 3.49% (November 2025). Because the rate is far below 6%, the federal ceiling is materially tighter, and OSFI reissues the table every January.
Mid-year start: prorated, same as Ontario.
Unlocking: 50% from age 55, through a Restricted LIF (RLIF), within 60 days of establishment. Out of the fund, so the pre-unlock balance drives the first-year maximum.
At our example: F = 14.12342, so the factor is 7.0804% → maximum $35,402.20. That is $6,871.79 less than Ontario on identical money — entirely because of the missing 6% floor.
Source: Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985, ss.20.1, 20.3, 21.1; OSFI published 2026 and 2025 tables.

Withholding, all jurisdictions outside Quebec

Nothing is withheld on the minimum. On the amount above it, one rate applies to the whole excess: 10% to $5,000, 20% to $15,000, 30% beyond. These are cliffs, not brackets — $15,000 above the minimum is withheld $3,000, and $15,000.01 is withheld $4,500.

How these numbers were verified

• All 25 prescribed minimum factors read directly from Income Tax Regulations s.7308(4) on the consolidated statutes and compared field by field.
• The shared maximum table reproduced against FSRA's own 50 published rows, and independently against two institutional all-province schedules from different years.
• The federal table reproduced against OSFI's published 2026 and 2025 tables — 70 rows and 14 rows, at two different reference rates — to within 0.00005 of a percentage point.
• The same formula was then fitted to a 2021 schedule and recovered a reference rate of 1.06%, reproducing 10 of 11 sampled rows exactly. That is a third, far lower rate, which rules out the formula happening to fit one rate by coincidence.
• 384 automated assertions covering every age from 40 to 105, both rate regimes, every withholding boundary, all twelve proration months, and the balance identities.

Verified against each regulator in July 2026. The maximum percentage table is identical for Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan — all six floor the reference rate at 6%, so all six produce the same figures. Only the federal table floats with the bond yield, which is why it is lower.

Alberta's unlocking works differently, and it matters. Alberta unlocks 50% of the LIRA before the LIF is created, so the LIF starts at the remaining half and the first-year maximum is calculated on that reduced amount. Ontario and the federal rules unlock out of the fund itself, which is why their first-year ceiling rests on the full pre-unlock balance. Identical 50%, roughly half the first-year ceiling in Alberta. Alberta's version is available from age 50, is one-time-only, and using part of it consumes all of it — unlock 30% and you cannot later take the other 20%.

British Columbia has no one-time unlocking whatsoever. BCFSA is explicit that funds may be unlocked only for financial hardship or under four exceptions: small benefits, age 65 with a small entitlement, permanent departure from Canada, and shortened life expectancy. Any source telling you BC offers a 50% transfer at 55 is wrong — that is the federal rule.

Small-amount thresholds differ, all as a share of the 2026 YMPE of $74,600:

• Ontario: 40% ($29,840) from age 55, measured across all your locked-in accounts.
• Alberta: 20% ($14,920) under 65, 40% ($29,840) from 65 — per single account.
• British Columbia: 20% ($14,920) under 65, 40% ($29,840) from 65.
• Federal: 50% ($37,300) from age 55, across all federally locked-in accounts.

Correction on Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan no longer offers the LIF at all. Locked-in money there goes to a prescribed RRIF (PRIF), which has no maximum — only existing grandfathered SK LIFs still use the shared table. Some published schedules list Saskatchewan in the LIF column without that footnote, which is misleading. For a Saskatchewan PRIF, use the RRIF setting here.

Not built in yet: Quebec, which removed the LIF maximum entirely for holders aged 55 and over as of January 1, 2025, and which uniquely bases the calculation on age at the date of application rather than age at the start of the year. Manitoba and Nova Scotia use a different table capped at 20% rather than reaching 100%; Manitoba's maximum is also the greater of the formula amount or the prior year's gains plus 6% of anything transferred in during the year, and Manitoba permits 100% unlocking from age 65. New Brunswick and Newfoundland share the table above but have their own access rules, and New Brunswick does not permit the spousal-age election.

Ontario. Within 60 days of money arriving in a Schedule 1.1 LIF from a pension plan or LIRA, up to 50% may be withdrawn in cash or transferred to an RRSP or RRIF (FSRA Form 5.2). It must be entirely one or the other, not split. There is no age condition beyond being eligible to open the LIF, and it resets with each qualifying transfer — not once per lifetime.

Federal. The 50% unlock requires you to be 55 or older, and it runs through a Restricted Life Income Fund (RLIF) rather than a plain LIF. It is one-time, and must be done within 60 days of the RLIF being established — the establishment date being when the funds are first deposited. This is the main structural difference in the unlocking rules between the two regimes.

Common to both:

• The first-year maximum is calculated on the balance at the start of the fiscal year, before the unlocked amount comes out. This calculator models that.
• If the fund is established after January 1, the maximum is prorated over the months remaining, counting a partial month as a full month.
• Money transferred in later in the year does not raise that year's maximum.
• No income is required in the initial fiscal year.

Ontario's Schedule 1.1 LIF has no temporary income option for owners under 65 — the 50% unlocking provision took its place. Several provinces do offer temporary income, so do not carry that assumption across jurisdictions.

Gross is the withdrawal itself. Withheld is what your institution holds back and sends to CRA on your behalf. Net is what arrives in your account.

Nothing is withheld on the minimum. On the amount above it, one rate applies to that whole amount — it is not tiered the way income tax brackets are:

• Nil above the minimum: 0%
• Up to $5,000 above: 10%
• Over $5,000 to $15,000: 20%
• Over $15,000: 30%

Because one rate covers the whole amount, the steps are cliffs. $15,000 above the minimum is withheld at 20% ($3,000); $15,001 is withheld at 30% ($4,500). One extra dollar costs $1,500 in withholding — recovered at filing, but a real hit to that year's cash flow.

Monthly payments do not get you a lower rate. The rate is set by the annual amount elected above the minimum, then applied to each instalment. Electing $12,000 above the minimum and taking it monthly is withheld at 20%, not the 10% that $1,000 on its own would suggest.

Quebec residents face different federal rates plus Quebec provincial withholding, not shown here.

Net is not the same as what you keep. These rates are fixed steps with no relationship to your tax bracket. The whole withdrawal is taxable income, so depending on your other income you may owe more at filing or get some back — and if you draw only the minimum, nothing has been prepaid at all. This calculator deliberately does not estimate your final tax; that depends on your total income, credits, province and spouse, and a number produced without them would be false comfort. Ask your institution to withhold voluntarily if you would rather not face it in April.

A steady 5% every year is not how markets behave, and in decumulation the order of returns matters as much as the average. Poor years early, while the balance is at its largest and withdrawals are still coming out, permanently shrink the base that later gains compound on. The same set of annual returns in a different order produces a materially different outcome. This is called sequence-of-returns risk, and it is the main reason retirement projections disappoint.

The stress test applies your three loss years first, then your assumed rate for every year after. It is not a prediction and not a worst case — it is a way of seeing how much of the projection depends on the early years cooperating.

A full treatment would run thousands of simulated or historical return paths. That is deliberately not what this does; a single legible comparison makes the point without implying precision that is not there.

Assessed by your financial institution, on FSRA Form 5 in Ontario or the equivalent federal form. Note the small-amount thresholds differ — both are a share of the 2026 YMPE of $74,600:

• Small amount, Ontario: age 55 or older and total holdings in all locked-in accounts under 40% of the YMPE — $29,840.
• Small amount, federal: age 55 or older and total holdings in all federally locked-in RRSPs, restricted locked-in RRSPs, LIFs and RLIFs at or under 50% of the YMPE — $37,300.
• Shortened life expectancy, certified by a physician.
• Non-residency, once 24 months have passed since leaving Canada.
• Amounts transferred in excess of Income Tax Act limits (Ontario).

Financial hardship unlocking is a separate process under each regime, with its own categories.

• Your actual income tax. Only withholding is shown. Your final bill depends on total income, credits, province and spouse.
• Income-tested clawbacks. RRIF and LIF income counts toward net income for OAS recovery tax and GIS. For many people that interaction matters more than the withdrawal rate itself.
• Pension income splitting. From age 65 up to half of this income can be split with a spouse, which often changes the picture more than anything else here.
• Quebec withholding. Different federal rates plus provincial withholding.
• Ontario's third maximum branch under Schedule 1.1 s.6(1), which applies where a new LIF is funded from an existing LIF or LRIF and income is first paid in the fiscal year following establishment. The prior-year earnings input is therefore ignored for a fund flagged as newly established, since such a fund has no prior fiscal year of its own.
• Provincial LIFs outside Ontario. Several use their own reference rates, and some offer a temporary income option that neither Ontario nor the federal rules provide.
• Ontario Pre-2009 LIFs and LRIFs. Their maximum formula is now harmonized with the Post-2008 LIF, but other rules still differ.
• Federal variable benefit accounts paid directly from a defined contribution plan. They share the same maximum table as a federal LIF or RLIF, so the figures here apply, but the surrounding plan rules do not.
• Monthly payment timing — everything here is annual, withdrawn at the start of the year.