If you were a contributor, the contributions made to a registered pension plan (RPP) for service before 1990 can be deducted if you meet one of the following conditions:

• the contributions were made for service during a year in which you contributed to an RPP;
• the contributions were made for service during a year in which you contributed to another RPP, and you had not signed an agreement before March 28, 1988, with respect to making these contributions.

The deduction includes the contributions made to an RPP for services before 1990 and for which you have not claimed any deduction during a previous taxation year.

The deduction that you may claim on line 205 of the income tax return usually corresponds to the amount entered in box D of the RL-1 slip (see courtesy translation RL-1-T). If an amount is shown in box D-2 of your RL-1 slip, you must do the calculation below to determine the amount of contributions made before 1990.

Calculation of the deduction

The deduction is equal to either amount A or amount B, whichever is less.

Contributions to more than one RPP

If you made contributions to more than one RPP during a given year or a previous year for service before 1990, the maximum deduction that you may claim corresponds to the result of the following calculation:

• $5,500 minus the amount deducted for the year as contributions to all plans for the following services:
  • current service,
  • past service after 1989,
  • past service before 1990 where you were a non-contributor.

You can carry the excess amount and deduct it during a subsequent year without it being subject to the above-mentioned limit.

Carry-over

You may elect to deduct any amount without exceeding the maximum eligible amount. If the amount of contributions exceeds the maximum eligible deduction, that is $5,500, the excess amount can be carried to and deducted in a subsequent year.

Example

In 2017, Justin contributes $8,000 for service during two consecutive years before 1990. Justin was also contributing to another RPP with another employer.

In 2017, Justin did not contribute to an RPP for current service. However, Justin can deduct an amount of $4 000 for services before 1990 even though he did not contribute to an RPP. For 2018 and 2019, Justin did not contribute to an RPP.

The calculations below are used to determine only the deduction for a contributor.

If Justin did not make any contributions for the 2017 taxation year, he can deduct $5,500 on line 205 of his income tax return ($4,000 for service before 1990 where he did not contribute to an RPP and $1,500 for service before 1990 where he did contribute to an RPP).

If you were a non-contributor, contributions for service before 1990 can be deducted if

• you did not contribute to a registered pension plan (RPP) during the period covered by the buy-back of past service;
• before or after March 28, 1988, you made contributions for service, in accordance with an agreement entered into before March 28, 1988.

The deduction that you may claim on line 205 of the income tax return usually corresponds to the amount entered in box D of the RL-1 slip (see courtesy translation RL-1-T). If an amount is shown in box D-3 of your RL-1 slip, you must do the calculation to determine the amount of contributions made before 1990.

Calculation of the deduction

The deduction is equal to amount A, amount B or amount C, whichever is the least.

Carry-over

You may elect to deduct any amount without exceeding the maximum eligible amount. If the amount of contributions exceeds the maximum eligible deduction, that is $5,500, the excess amount can be carried to and deducted in a subsequent year.

Example

In 2016, Vincent contributes $18,000 for service during three consecutive years before 1990. During these years, Vincent did not contribute to an RPP. On Vincent's RL-1 slip, $18,000 will be entered in boxes D and D-3. Vincent can claim the following deductions.

Vincent can deduct up to $16,500 (that is 3 × $5,500) of his $18,000 in contributions. However, he cannot deduct the remaining $1,500.