Year-end tax deadlines 2026

The deadlines, in date order

Trading days at the end of December

Trades in Canadian and US stocks and ETFs settle one business day after the trade (T+1) since May 2024. Mutual funds were not required to move to T+1, so they can settle later; ask your fund company.

The TSX is closed Friday, December 25 and Monday, December 28, and closes at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 24. The New York Stock Exchange is closed only on December 25 and is open on the 28th, but its last trade for 2026 settlement is also Wed, Dec 30. A Canadian broker settling a US trade can be affected by Canadian bank holidays, so confirm with your broker before counting on December 28.

Fourth quarterly tax instalment due December 15, 2026

If your net tax owing is more than $3,000 ($1,800 in Quebec) in 2026 and in either 2025 or 2024, the CRA expects instalments on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. December 15, 2026 is a Tuesday. If the CRA reminder was received only in August, it splits the second-half amount 75% on September 15 and 25% on December 15. Farmers and fishers whose main income is farming or fishing pay one instalment, due December 31.

If you miss it: Instalment interest, and a penalty if the interest is large, charged from the due date.

Tax deadlines 2027 · Source: CRA: Payment due dates, required tax instalments for individuals

Tax-loss selling: last trading day to sell for a 2026 gain or loss

Since May 27, 2024, Canadian and US stock and ETF trades settle one business day after the trade (T+1). For a sale to count in 2026 it must settle by Thursday December 31, 2026. TSX is closed Friday December 25 and Monday December 28, and closes early (1:00 p.m. ET) on Thursday December 24. So the last TSX trading day for 2026 settlement is Wednesday December 30. A TSX trade on December 24 settles Tuesday December 29. NYSE is closed only on December 25 (early close 1:00 p.m. ET on December 24) and is open December 28, so the last NYSE trading day is also Wednesday December 30. A trade on December 31 on either exchange settles Monday January 4, 2027 and falls in 2027. The CRA treats a share sold on an exchange as disposed of on the settlement date, not the trade date; it confirmed this in technical interpretation 2012-0468931C6. Its current guides do not repeat it, so check the settlement date on your broker's confirmation.

If you miss it: The loss (or gain) lands in the 2027 tax year, so it cannot offset 2026 capital gains on your 2026 return (a 2027 loss can still be carried back up to three years against taxable capital gains).

Capital-loss harvesting guide · Source: TMX Group, TSX/TSXV 2026 trading calendar; NYSE holidays and trading hours; Canadian Securities Administrators, T+1 settlement (NI 24-101 amendments in force May 27, 2024); CRA, Capital losses (superficial loss)

Turning 71 in 2026: last day to contribute to your own RRSP and to wind it up

December 31 of the year you turn 71 is the last day you can contribute to your own RRSP. In that year you must choose what happens to the RRSP: withdraw it (taxable), transfer it to a RRIF, or use it to buy an annuity. After that you can still contribute to a spouse's or common-law partner's RRSP, up to your own deduction limit, if your spouse is 71 or younger on December 31 of the year you contribute.

If you miss it: You can no longer contribute to your own RRSP, even with room left or new earned income. The CRA lists three choices for the plan (withdraw it, move it to a RRIF or buy an annuity) and does not say what happens if you choose none, so ask your plan issuer before December.

RRIF minimum withdrawal calculator · Source: CRA: Important dates for RRSPs, HBP, LLP, FHSAs and more; Options for your own RRSPs; Spousal RRSPs when you turn 71

Spousal RRSP: a December contribution starts the three-year clock a year earlier than a January one

If your spouse or common-law partner withdraws from a spousal RRSP, the withdrawal is taxed to you (up to the amount you contributed) if you contributed to any spousal RRSP in the year of the withdrawal or either of the two preceding calendar years. The count is by calendar year, not 36 months. A contribution made in December 2026 is clear for withdrawals from January 1, 2029. A contribution made in January 2027 (even if deducted on the 2026 return) is clear only from January 1, 2030.

If you miss it: Contributing in January instead of December keeps the attribution window open one extra year, so an early withdrawal is taxed to the higher earner instead of the spouse.

RRSP timing and spousal RRSP guide · Source: CRA: Withdrawing from spousal or common-law partner RRSPs (follows from the published rule; the CRA does not print a 2026 date)

FHSA: contribute and open by December 31 (no 60-day window)

FHSA participation room applies to contributions made in the calendar year (January 1 to December 31). Contributions made in the first 60 days of 2027 cannot be deducted on the 2026 return, unlike RRSPs. The annual amount is $8,000, with a $40,000 lifetime limit. In the year you open your first FHSA your room is $8,000 and your carryforward is $0. Unused room carries forward only in later years, and the carryforward is capped at $8,000, so the most you can ever put in in one year is $16,000. Room only starts to build once you open a first FHSA, so opening one by December 31, 2026, even with no deposit, creates $8,000 of room that carries into 2027.

If you miss it: Open in January 2027 instead and you lose 2026's $8,000 of room permanently (it never existed). Contributions made after December 31 count against 2027 room. Contributions you make but do not deduct are not lost: they can be deducted in a later year.

RRSP vs TFSA vs FHSA · Source: CRA: Participating in your FHSAs; Tax deductions for FHSA contributions

TFSA: withdraw in December, not January, to get the room back a year sooner

A TFSA withdrawal is added back to your contribution room on January 1 of the next calendar year. A withdrawal on or before December 31, 2026 comes back as room on January 1, 2027. A withdrawal on January 2, 2027 does not come back until January 1, 2028. Putting money back in the same year uses new room, and any amount over your room is taxed at 1% per month.

If you miss it: Waiting until January delays the return of that room by a full year. Re-contributing in the same year without spare room causes a 1%-per-month over-contribution tax.

TFSA room calculator · Source: CRA: Withdrawing from a TFSA

Charitable donations: make the gift by December 31 to claim it for 2026

You can claim donations made by December 31 of the tax year, plus unclaimed gifts from the previous five years, up to 75% of net income. For in-person and electronic gifts, the date of the gift is the date the charity receives it. For mailed gifts, the CRA uses the postmark date, so a cheque postmarked on or before December 31 counts for that year even if it arrives in January. The 2024 extension to February 28 was a one-time measure. The first-time donor's super credit applied only to the 2013 to 2017 tax years and is gone.

If you miss it: A gift the charity receives (online) or that is postmarked (mail) after December 31 is a 2027 gift. It is not lost: it can be claimed in 2027 or carried forward up to five years.

Source: CRA: Questions and answers about gifting and receipting; Guide P113 Gifts and Income Tax

RESP: contribute in 2026 to get the 2026 Canada Education Savings Grant

The basic CESG is 20% of the first $2,500 contributed each calendar year ($500 a year). Unused grant room carries forward, so with room from past years you can get up to $1,000 in one year (on $5,000 of contributions). Lifetime maximum is $7,200. Grants are paid on contributions up to the end of the calendar year the child turns 17. For a child turning 16 or 17, the grant is paid only if, by the end of the year the child turned 15, at least $2,000 had been contributed (and not withdrawn), or at least $100 a year had been contributed in any four years.

If you miss it: The year's grant room is not lost (it carries forward) unless the child turned 17 in 2026, in which case December 31, 2026 is the last chance for any CESG. Since you can only catch up $500 of missed grant a year, skipping years can leave grant unclaimed by age 17. For a child who turned 15 in 2026, December 31, 2026 is the last day to meet the $2,000 or four-year test.

RESP calculator · Source: CRA: Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG); ESDC/Canada.ca: How much money can be added to RESPs (follows from the published rule; the CRA does not print a 2026 date)

RDSP: open, contribute and apply by December 31 for 2026 grants and bonds

The CRA lists December 31 as the deadline for opening an RDSP, contributing, and applying for the Canada Disability Savings Grant and Bond for that year. The grant matches contributions up to $3,500 a year ($70,000 lifetime). With carry-forward from the past 10 years, up to $10,500 of grant can be paid in one year. The bond needs no contribution. Grants are paid only on contributions made by December 31 of the year the beneficiary turns 49.

If you miss it: The 10-year carry-forward window moves forward each January 1. ESDC says that from 2027 the unused 2016 grant and bond entitlements expire, so a contribution made in 2026 is the last that can use 2016 room.

Source: CRA: Important dates for RRSPs, HBP, LLP, FHSAs and more (RDSP section); ESDC: How much you could get in grants and bonds (follows from the published rule; the CRA does not print a 2026 date)

RRIF: take at least the minimum by December 31

From the year after a RRIF is set up, you must be paid at least a yearly minimum, worked out from the RRIF's value on January 1 times an age factor. The minimum is zero in the year the RRIF is opened. You can elect, only when opening the RRIF, to use a younger spouse's or partner's age.

If you miss it: The minimum must be paid within the calendar year; the carrier normally pays it automatically, but anyone managing withdrawals themselves should check it has gone out by year-end.

RRIF minimum withdrawal calculator · Source: CRA: Receiving income from a RRIF; Minimum amount from a RRIF (follows from the published rule; the CRA does not print a 2026 date)

Things where the payment date decides the year, but nothing is lost

• Medical expenses: no December 31 cutoff. You claim eligible medical expenses paid in any 12-month period ending in the tax year, not claimed in an earlier year. For 2026, that is any 12-month window ending in 2026, so the timing of a December payment matters only for which window you pick. Expenses are reduced by the lesser of 3% of net income or a fixed dollar amount ($2,834 for 2025; the 2026 figure is not yet on the CRA page). Nothing is lost at December 31: an expense paid in December 2026 can be grouped into a 12-month period ending in 2027 instead.
• Moving expenses: claimed in the year you pay them. Generally you claim eligible moving expenses in the year you paid them. Expenses paid after the year of the move are claimed for the year paid, against income at the new location. Unused amounts can be carried forward; they cannot be carried back. Paying in January moves the deduction to 2027; it is not lost.
• Home accessibility expenses: work and goods in the tax year. Eligible expenses must be made or incurred during the year, for work performed and goods acquired in that tax year. The limit is $20,000 per qualifying individual per year (and $20,000 per dwelling in total). Work finished and paid in January counts toward 2027's $20,000 instead of 2026's.
• Child care expenses: only services provided in the year. You can claim only child care expenses incurred for services provided in the tax year, and unclaimed expenses cannot be carried forward to another year. Child care for 2026 cannot be claimed in a later year; keep receipts from the provider.

What is not a December 31 deadline

• The RRSP deadline for 2026 contributions is Monday, March 1, 2027, unless you turn 71 in 2026.
• The 2026 tax return is due April 30, 2027, or June 15, 2027 if you or your spouse are self-employed; any balance owing is still due April 30.
• The 2027 TFSA limit is added on January 1, 2027. The TFSA limit 2027 page has it the day the CRA publishes it.
• The digital news subscription credit ended after 2024; a December subscription earns no credit.

Related

• Capital gains tax calculator: what a gain or a harvested loss changes on your return.
• Tax-saving strategies: everything that cuts a 2026 tax bill, by situation.
• What changes in 2027: CPP, EI, rent limits and the figures still to come.
• Benefit payment dates 2027.

Frequently asked questions

What is the last day to sell stocks for a tax loss in 2026?

December 30, 2026. Canadian and US trades settle one business day after the trade, and the sale counts in the year it settles. The TSX is closed on December 25 and 28, so a sale on December 31 settles on January 4, 2027 and counts for 2027.

Do I have to open an FHSA by December 31?

If you want 2026 room, yes. FHSA room only starts in the year you open your first account, and there is no 60-day window like the RRSP. Opening one by December 31, 2026, even with nothing in it, gives you $8,000 of room that carries into 2027.

Is the RRSP deadline December 31?

Only if you turn 71 in 2026. For everyone else the deadline for 2026 contributions is 60 days after the year ends, which is Monday, March 1, 2027.

When must a donation be made to count for 2026?

By December 31, 2026. An online gift counts on the day the charity receives it; a mailed cheque counts by its postmark date. A gift made in January is not lost, it counts for 2027 or can be carried forward five years.

Should I take money out of my TFSA in December or January?

December, if you can. A withdrawal is added back to your room on January 1 of the next year, so a December 2026 withdrawal comes back on January 1, 2027, while a January 2027 withdrawal waits until January 1, 2028.

Is there a December 31 deadline for medical expenses?

No. You claim expenses paid in any 12-month period ending in the tax year, so a December bill can go into a period ending in 2027 instead.

Every rule above was checked against its source on October 13, 2026. This page explains the rules; it is not advice for your situation.