Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tables Budget 2026 in the House of Commons on November 5, but the dates that shape most 2026 tax outcomes for Canadian investors are already fixed. The last trade date for tax-loss selling is December 30. The RRSP deduction deadline for 2026 is March 1, 2027. The 2027 RRSP dollar limit is $35,390, confirmed before the budget was tabled.
The 2027 RRSP Limit Is Already Set
New RRSP room is the lesser of 18% of earned income from the prior year or the annual dollar limit. The 2027 dollar limit is $35,390, up $1,580 or 4.7% from $33,810 in 2026. The 18% formula reaches that cap once 2026 earned income is about $196,611, so everyone above that level receives the same new room.
The cap is known a year ahead because each RRSP dollar limit equals the money-purchase pension limit of the prior year in the CRA table. The 2027 limit therefore did not wait for the budget.
The other registered limits are simpler. The TFSA dollar limit is $7,000 for 2026, and the 2027 figure had not been announced as of November 4. The FHSA carries $8,000 in annual participation room and a $40,000 lifetime limit, both set in the Income Tax Act and not indexed.
The RRSP dollar limit has risen every year since 2016 and now sits $10,020 above its 2016 level, with 2022 and 2023 delivering the two largest percentage increases at 5.0% and 5.4%.
Each RRSP dollar limit equals the money-purchase pension limit of the prior year, so the 2027 figure was known before Budget 2026. The increase from 2026 is $1,580, or 4.7%.
What the Budget Preview Does and Does Not Signal
KPMG previews Budget 2026 around business and growth measures: the Productivity Mega Deduction, the Canada Strong Fund, Buy Canadian procurement and Build Canada Homes. The KPMG page does not address RRSP, TFSA or FHSA changes, the capital gains inclusion rate, trusts or the alternative minimum tax.
On capital gains, Bloomberg has noted that Prime Minister Mark Carney already rolled back an increase in the inclusion rate and suspended the consumer carbon tax, so the baseline going into the budget is the current rule rather than a pending change.
money.ca advises anyone planning a tax-sensitive move, such as selling investments with large capital gains, to ask a tax professional about completing it before November 5 or to consider how a tax change could affect the strategy. It also flags scheduled increases to pump prices on February 1 and April 1, 2027 unless the budget says otherwise.
The planning bridge is timing. For non-registered and corporate accounts with large unrealized gains, a decision to realize before tabling is a tax-risk decision rather than a market call. It belongs in a documented conversation that weighs the cost of acting early against the risk of a change with immediate effect.
Year-End Dates for Non-Registered and Registered Accounts
Tax-loss selling applies only to non-registered and corporate accounts, because losses inside an RRSP, TFSA or FHSA are not deductible. Since Canada moved to one-day settlement in May 2024, a trade on December 30, 2026 settles on December 31 and counts for 2026. A trade on December 31 settles on January 2, 2027, because January 1 is a statutory holiday, and the loss falls into 2027.
The superficial loss rule runs across a 61-day window: 30 days before the sale through 30 days after. A repurchase of the same security by the investor or an affiliated person inside that window denies the loss, and day 31 is the first safe day.
Registered dates run on a different clock. An FHSA contribution made by December 31 is deductible on the 2026 return, with no equivalent of the RRSP 60-day window. RRSP contributions made through March 1, 2027 can be deducted against 2026 income, and the personal tax return is due April 30, 2027.