Canadian Retirement Calculator (CPP, OAS, RRSP, TFSA)
The pillar is how much money you need to retire in Canada. The order of the accounts, and the seven-step plan around this arithmetic, is building a retirement plan. When to start the public pensions, which this tool will not decide for you, is when to take CPP and OAS, GIS, and the clawback.
- You type CPP and OAS. This page does not quote a maximum, because the Canada.ca pages could not be loaded on September 27, 2026. Open the links below and type the figure from your account, not the national maximum.
- Most people do not receive the maximum CPP. OAS can also be reduced by the recovery tax. Type the annual amount you expect, already net of any clawback.
- The real return is (1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. Five percent with 2 percent inflation is about 2.94 percent.
- Contributions land at the end of each working year. In retirement the balance grows, then spending is taken. TFSA dollars come out first. RRSP withdrawals are grossed up by the tax rate you type.
- On the loaded inputs there is no shortfall from 65 through 89, and about $553,381 is still there at the end of the year you are 89. A second illustration, with higher spending, runs short at 70.
Will my savings and public pensions cover spending?
The tool answers a narrower question than a financial plan. It grows two accounts at one constant real return, pays the CPP and OAS amounts you typed once you reach the start ages, and withdraws the gap. It does not know your earnings history, your pension, your spouse, GIS, the OAS recovery tax, or a bad sequence of returns. My Service Canada Account is the CPP estimate. The OAS estimator on Canada.ca is the OAS estimate. This page is what those dollars do next to the accounts.
Retirement calculator
CPP and OAS start at whatever you type. The maximums on the Canada.ca pages linked in this article are not your pension, and this tool will not fill them in for you. Contributions are added at the end of each working year. Returns are converted to a real rate, so the dollars stay in today's purchasing power.
$904,015.09
Combined RRSP and TFSA at retirement, in today's dollars, after 25 years. Real return about 2.94%. RRSP $568,198.67. TFSA $335,816.43.
First retirement year, age 65: CPP $10,000.00, OAS $8,000.00, TFSA withdrawal $32,000.00, RRSP withdrawn $0.00 gross ($0.00 after the tax rate you entered), shortfall $0.00.
No shortfall through age 89. Balance at the end of that year: $553,381.32.
Why are the official maximums not filled in?
Canada.ca publishes a maximum CPP retirement pension, an average pension, and a maximum OAS pension that changes by quarter and by age. Those pages did not load from here on September 27, 2026, so this article does not quote the dollars. Most people do not get the maximum CPP. Your record, the post-2019 enhancement, and the age you start all move the cheque. Type the annual figure from My Service Canada Account. Do not type a maximum you remember from a blog.
OAS has a recovery tax once net world income is high enough, and the thresholds are on the OAS pages, not in this tool. If you will be in that range, the OAS you type should already be the net amount you expect, or you will overstate income. GIS is not in the tool. The stacking version is OAS and GIS income stacking. The current dollar maximums, if you want them as a ceiling and not as your pension, are on the Canada.ca links in Sources.
Canada.ca also publishes an age adjustment for starting CPP before or after 65, and for delaying OAS. This tool does not apply that adjustment. If you will start at 70, type the higher annual amount yourself after you have read the when-to-start page. Do not multiply a maximum by a factor you found somewhere else and call it your CPP.
What does the loaded example do?
RRSP $100,000 and $10,000 a year. TFSA $40,000 and $7,000 a year. Nominal return 5 percent. Inflation 2 percent. Real return (1.05 ÷ 1.02) − 1, about 2.9412 percent. After 25 end-of-year contributions the RRSP is $568,198.67 and the TFSA is $335,816.43, together $904,015.09, in today’s dollars. CPP typed as $10,000 a year from 65. OAS typed as $8,000 a year from 65. Those two are not the maximums. Spending $50,000. Tax on RRSP withdrawals 25 percent. At 65 the gap after CPP and OAS is $32,000, taken from the TFSA, so the RRSP withdrawal is $0. There is no shortfall through age 89. The balance at the end of that year is $553,381.32, all of it still in the RRSP. The TFSA is exhausted by then because it was spent first.
A second illustration, also not a plan: age 55, retire at 65, plan to 90, RRSP $200,000 plus $5,000 a year, TFSA $20,000 and no new contribution, 4 percent nominal, 2 percent inflation, CPP $8,000, OAS $9,000, spending $60,000, RRSP tax 30 percent. The accounts reach about $297,513.73 and $24,286.32. Spending is covered at 65, with a TFSA withdrawal of $24,762.52 and an RRSP withdrawal of $26,053.54 gross. The first age with a shortfall is 70, and the balance at the end of age 89 is $0. Change the spending or the return and the age moves. That is the point of typing it.
Which assumptions are doing the work?
- One real return, every year. A 5 percent nominal return is not a promise, and a bad decade at the start of retirement is not in the model. If you need a stress test, lower the return and run it again.
- Contributions at year end, no growth on the contribution in the year it is made. A January contribution would finish a bit higher. The tool does not do months.
- CPP and OAS only after you have retired, and only from the start age. Working while you collect CPP, and the post-retirement benefit, are outside the model. So is OAS while you are still working, if you retire after 65: the first retirement year includes OAS only if the start age you typed is no higher than your retirement age.
- TFSA first, then RRSP. That order spends the tax-free account and leaves a taxable account. It can be the wrong order when a withdrawal raises OAS recovery tax or kills GIS. The clawback article is the warning. The tax rate is one flat percent you type. It is not the income tax calculator, and it does not phase in with the brackets.
- No pension, no rental, no debt payment, no one-time expense. A defined-benefit pension replaces some of the spending. Put it in the spending gap by lowering spending, or add it to the CPP box only if you are willing to mislabel it. Better: lower the spending number by the after-tax pension.
- Today’s dollars on both sides. Because the return is real, a $50,000 spending target stays $50,000 of today’s buying power. Do not also inflate the spending.
RRSP and TFSA room are not checked. The 2026 dollar limits live on the contribution limits page. If you type a contribution above your room, the projection is a wish. The account mechanics are the RRSP playbook and TFSA strategies.
Frequently asked questions
Should I type the CPP maximum?
Only if My Service Canada Account says your pension is the maximum. Canada.ca publishes a maximum and an average, and neither is a guarantee. Your pension depends on your contributions and when you start. The loaded example uses $10,000 a year of CPP on purpose. It is an input, not a quote of the maximum.
Does the calculator include the OAS clawback?
No. The recovery-tax thresholds are on the Canada.ca OAS pages, and those pages did not load here, so this article does not quote the income band. If your income will be high enough for a repayment, reduce the OAS amount you type, or read the clawback guide and do not treat this output as your cheque.
Why does the TFSA run out while the RRSP remains?
The tool spends the TFSA first because a TFSA withdrawal is not taxed at the rate you typed. In the loaded example the entire $32,000 gap at 65 comes from the TFSA. Later years keep drawing it until it is gone, then gross-up the RRSP. A different order can be better. This one is stated so you can see it.
What if I retire at 60 and CPP starts at 65?
Type retirement age 60 and CPP start age 65. The years from 60 to 64 have no CPP in the income line, so the accounts cover all of the spending. The same switch works for OAS. The tool will not invent a bridge pension.
Is the 4 percent rule in here?
No. Spending is a dollar amount you type, not a percent of the portfolio. A flat real withdrawal can still run the accounts to zero, which is what the second illustration does at age 70. Sequence risk can do that earlier than a constant-return model shows.
Can I use this for a couple?
Only by adding both CPP amounts into the CPP box, both OAS amounts into the OAS box, and both accounts into the balances. The tax rate is still one number. Pension income splitting and two different brackets are not modelled. It is a household sketch, not two returns.
Sources
- Canada.ca: how much CPP you could receive
- Canada.ca: CPP retirement pension overview
- ESDC: CPP 2026 and OAS July to September 2026 maximums
- Canada.ca: when to start CPP
- Canada.ca: Old Age Security
The projection is a spreadsheet. The return is a tax return.
RRSP deductions, TFSA room, and the brackets on a withdrawal are the filing side. The 2026 tax guide is that map, $49 CAD.
Get the 2026 Tax Guide — $49 CAD
