The T1028 tax form is a statement the Canada Revenue Agency mails you when your RRSP deduction limit changes outside the normal assessment cycle. Its full title is “Your RRSP, HBP, LLP, or FHSA information,” and the number on it tells you how much you can contribute to your RRSP for the year in question. If one just arrived, read the deduction limit it shows, treat it as more current than the figure on your last notice of assessment, and use it when planning any further contributions.
Why the CRA Sent You One
Most people first see their RRSP deduction limit on the notice of assessment that follows their annual return. The T1028 exists for the situations in between. The CRA generally issues it when your limit shifts for a reason other than a reassessment of a previous year’s return.1Canada Revenue Agency. RRSPs and Other Registered Plans for Retirement
The common triggers:
- A revised pension adjustment from your employer, or a certified provisional past service pension adjustment (Form T1004), which prompts the CRA to recalculate your limit.
- A pension adjustment reversal reported on a T10 slip after you leave an employer pension plan, which increases your RRSP room.
- Participation in the Home Buyers’ Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan, where the CRA updates you on repayment obligations and their effect on your account.
- A missing RRSP deduction limit statement on your notice of assessment, filled in by a standalone T1028.
You don’t request the form. It arrives automatically when one of these events updates your file.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where Can You Find Your RRSP Deduction Limit
What the Form Actually Tells You
The T1028 is a snapshot of your RRSP position. It typically shows three things: your RRSP deduction limit for the year, any unused RRSP, PRPP, and SPP contributions you reported in previous years that are still available to deduct, and your available contribution room.1Canada Revenue Agency. RRSPs and Other Registered Plans for Retirement
Two of those numbers are easy to confuse. Your deduction limit is the maximum you can claim as a deduction on this year’s return. Your unused contributions are amounts already sitting in an RRSP from prior years that you never claimed. Together they tell you how much new money you can put in and how much of what’s already there you can write off.
Unused deduction room also carries forward indefinitely. If you haven’t been maxing out your RRSP, that accumulated room is on the form too. The figure the T1028 shows is your total available room, not just the increment added this year.
Reading the Number Against the Overcontribution Line
The T1028 matters most when you’re contributing anywhere near your limit. Go over it and the CRA gives you a $2,000 lifetime buffer before penalties start. Past that buffer, you owe a penalty tax of 1% per month on the excess for every month it stays in the plan.3Canada Revenue Agency. Excess Contributions
This is exactly where a mid-year T1028 earns its keep. If your limit dropped because of a pension adjustment you weren’t expecting, contributing based on the older number from your notice of assessment could tip you over. Treat the T1028 figure as authoritative and more current than anything you were working from before it arrived.
For context on where those dollar caps sit at the top end: the annual RRSP dollar limit is $32,490 for the 2025 tax year and $33,810 for 2026.4Canada Revenue Agency. MP, DB, RRSP, DPSP, ALDA, TFSA Limits, YMPE and the YAMPE Your personal limit can be higher than the annual cap once unused room from prior years is added in, or lower once a pension adjustment is subtracted.
If Your T1028 Includes HBP or LLP Balances
The form pulls double duty for anyone who has borrowed from their own RRSP.
Home Buyers’ Plan
The Home Buyers’ Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP to buy or build a qualifying home.5Canada Revenue Agency. The Home Buyers’ Plan The withdrawal isn’t taxed as long as you repay it to your RRSP over the required repayment period. Miss a scheduled repayment and the CRA treats that amount as RRSP income for the year, added to your taxable income. Your T1028 shows the outstanding HBP balance so you can track what you still owe yourself.
Lifelong Learning Plan
The Lifelong Learning Plan works the same way for education. You can withdraw up to $10,000 per year, to a maximum of $20,000 total, and repay over 10 years, each annual repayment equal to one-tenth of the total withdrawn. The repayment period starts in the second to fifth year after your first withdrawal, depending on when you finish school.6Canada Revenue Agency. Lifelong Learning Plan – Repayments to Your RRSP Missed repayments become taxable income here too.
If either plan is showing on your T1028, read that section carefully. It confirms your repayment schedule and outstanding balance, which is what keeps you clear of an accidental tax bill.
What to Do if the Number Looks Wrong
The CRA calculates your deduction limit from the information on file: your tax returns, T4 slips, and the pension adjustment data your employer reports. When any of those inputs are wrong or missing, the T1028 figure will be off. Frequent causes are an incorrect pension adjustment reported by an employer, a missing T4 from a prior year, or a return that was never assessed.
If the figure doesn’t match your own math, work through the components. Confirm your prior year’s earned income was assessed correctly. Check the pension adjustment on your T4 slip (box 52). Verify that any pension adjustment reversal was reported. Then contact the CRA with documentation showing the discrepancy. Acting on an incorrect limit cuts both ways: you can trigger an overcontribution penalty, or you can leave room on the table that you were entitled to use.
Deadlines That Make the Number Actionable
RRSP contributions run on a specific calendar. To claim a deduction on your 2025 tax return, you have to contribute by March 2, 2026.7Canada Revenue Agency. Important Dates for RRSPs, HBP, LLP, FHSAs and More Anything contributed after that date counts toward the following tax year. If a T1028 arrives partway through the year showing increased room, you still have until that deadline to use it for the current tax year. Contributions made between January 1 and the deadline can be claimed on either the current or previous year’s return, which is worth knowing when your limit has just shifted.