The basics, explained simply
TFSA, RRSP, CPP, marginal tax rate: every Canadian money word, on one short page each. With the 2026 numbers and their official sources.
New to this? Read these in order
Five pages, about twenty minutes: enough to understand your first plan and open your first account.
- The emergency fundMoney set aside, easy to reach and safe, so a surprise expense or a lost paycheque doesn’t push you into debt.
- The TFSAAn account where your savings and investments grow tax-free, and you can take money out at any time.
- Opening your first accountWhich one to pick, where to open it, what to bring and what to put inside. Opening an account doesn’t mean you have to invest.
- Compound interestWhen what your investments earn starts earning too. The earlier you start, the more this snowball matters.
- Diversification and ETFsDiversifying means spreading your money over many investments so one bad surprise only hits a small part. An ETF is a simple way to do it: a basket of investments you buy in one trade.
Further along? A path for where you are
I already invest
After a full TFSA: non-registered accounts, your fees and the RRSP.
In retirement
The RRIF and its minimum, the OAS recovery tax, CPP or QPP, the GIS.
New to Canada
Your TFSA room from the year you arrived, OAS by your years here, CPP or QPP.
Accounts
Where to keep your money so you pay less tax.
- The TFSATax-Free Savings AccountAn account where your savings and investments grow tax-free, and you can take money out at any time.
- Opening your first accountWhich one to pick, where to open it, what to bring and what to put inside. Opening an account doesn’t mean you have to invest.
- The RRSPRegistered Retirement Savings PlanA retirement savings account: contributions lower your tax today, and money you take out later is taxed as income.
- The FHSAFirst Home Savings AccountAn account to buy your first home: contributions are deductible like an RRSP, and the withdrawal to buy isn’t taxed, like a TFSA.
- The RESPRegistered Education Savings PlanA savings account for your children’s education, where governments add grants to what you put in.
- The Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)Home Buyers’ PlanA program that lets you take money out of your RRSP, tax-free, to buy a first home, as long as you pay it back.
- Contribution roomThe limit on what you can put into a registered account. It isn’t money you have: it’s a permission that builds up over time.
Retirement and benefits
What governments and your employer will pay you.
- CPP and QPPCanada Pension Plan and Québec Pension PlanThe public retirement pension you build by working: the CPP in most of Canada, the QPP in Québec. It’s paid for life.
- Old Age Security (OAS)Old Age SecurityA federal pension paid from age 65 based on your years in Canada, whether or not you worked.
- The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)Guaranteed Income SupplementAn amount added to OAS for people 65 and older with a low income. It isn’t taxable.
- The RRIFRegistered Retirement Income FundWhat your RRSP becomes in retirement: the money stays invested and tax-sheltered, but you must take out a minimum every year.
- Workplace pensions and the employer matchWorkplace pension plan and employer matchRetirement savings offered through your job, where your employer often contributes alongside you. Their contribution is part of your pay.
Tax
Two ideas behind almost every money decision.
- Marginal vs. average tax rateMarginal and average tax ratesYour marginal rate is the tax on your next dollar of income; your average rate is your total tax divided by your income. The first is for decisions, the second for understanding.
- Tax deduction or tax credit?Tax deduction and tax creditA deduction lowers the income you’re taxed on; a credit lowers the tax you owe directly. For the same amount, they’re not worth the same.
Investing basics
Growing your money, without the jargon.
- The emergency fundMoney set aside, easy to reach and safe, so a surprise expense or a lost paycheque doesn’t push you into debt.
- Compound interestWhen what your investments earn starts earning too. The earlier you start, the more this snowball matters.
- Real vs. nominal returnReal and nominal returnsThe nominal return is what your investments earn in dollars; the real return is what’s left after inflation. It’s your true gain in buying power.
- Investment fees (MER)Management fees and the management expense ratio (MER)The percentage of your investment taken every year to run a fund, whether it goes up or down. The MER, or management expense ratio, is the total.
- Diversification and ETFsDiversification and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)Diversifying means spreading your money over many investments so one bad surprise only hits a small part. An ETF is a simple way to do it: a basket of investments you buy in one trade.
- Non-registered accounts and capital gainsNon-registered account (taxable investments)A regular investment account, with no limit and no tax break: what it earns is taxed, but differently for interest, dividends and capital gains.
- Net worthEverything you own minus everything you owe. It’s the best single number to track your progress over time.
Every amount comes from the 2026 rules published by the CRA, Employment and Social Development Canada, Retraite Québec and Revenu Québec, with a link to the source. General information, not personalized advice.