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Can You Day Trade in an RRSP?

While the answer is yes, the risks are many. Here's an overview of what you can and can't do and what your options are moving forward.

This post was first published on September 7, 2021, and was updated on June 1, 2023.

An RRSP isn't just a fancy savings account. You can use your RRSP to buy all kinds of investments and defer the tax on your earnings. Your RRSP can hold stocks, bonds, mutual funds, GICs, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and more. For that reason, it is possible today to trade in your RRSP.

But should you day trade in your RRSP? That’s another question, entirely.

What is day trading?

Day trading is a catch-all term for making short-term investments, particularly in stocks, to take advantage of the potential increase in the investment's value. Day traders purchase stocks when they think there's a high probability the value will go up in the next few minutes, hours or days, and sell as soon as they believe the price will dip back down. It's a risky venture.  Day trading requires attention, skill, and luck, which is why many day traders lose a lot of money, and some do just the opposite.

What is an RRSP?

A registered retirement savings plan (RRSP for short) allows Canadians to defer taxes when saving for retirement. Any money you contribute to your RRSP doesn't count towards your taxable income in the year you contribute. Any money you withdraw in retirement as a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) is when you'll pay the tax.

For most Canadians, the theory is that you can reduce the amount of tax you owe during your highest-earning years and pay a much lower rate when you withdraw the money in retirement because you'll be in a lower tax bracket.

Why would you want to day trade in an RRSP?

When you invest in things like stocks, you have to pay tax on your investment income. When you invest for the long-term, that income is taxed as capital gains at a favourable rate. But when you day trade, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) considers it business income and requires you to pay tax on it at your marginal rate.

The same is true when you use your RRSP, but you don’t have to pay that tax for as long as the money stays in your RRSP. If you prove to be a successful day trader, you can withdraw (and pay tax on) only the money you need and leave the rest in its comfy tax shelter until you need it.

Another upside is that RRSP contributions reduce your taxable income in the year you make them. If you have a relatively high marginal tax rate, contributing money to your RRSP can help you save a considerable amount of tax regardless of how you invest it.

And, as a way of earning money for your retirement, day trading has the potential to be quite lucrative. (It also has the potential to see you retire in poverty, buried in a cardboard box). While more traditional retirement investments like mutual funds are for slow and steady growth over the long term, riskier investments while you're young can (potentially) be a good way to jumpstart your retirement savings. The more money you start with, the greater its ability is to grow over time. 

What are the downsides of day trading in an RRSP?

Just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should. If you use your RRSP for day trading, you could be setting yourself up for trouble.

  • There’s an RRSP contribution limit. The amount you can contribute to your RRSP each year depends on your income, and there are expensive penalties for contributing too much. Unused contribution room does carry forward to future years, but if you have a lot of money to invest, you might not be able to contribute the whole amount to your RRSP.
  • You can only use your contribution room once. When you contribute to your RRSP, that contribution room isn't returned to you. Whether you lose money or withdraw it later, you won't get that contribution room back. If you're day trading to save for retirement, that could impede your ability to save as much as you want in your RRSP. And if you're day trading for income now, it can limit the amount of money you can invest.
  • Withdrawals add to your taxes. When you take money out of your RRSP, you have to pay income tax on it. If you plan to day trade to make money to fund your lifestyle, your RRSP can only help you avoid taxes if you contribute when you make more money and withdraw in times when you make less money. The fortune you may or may not make by day trading doesn't count if you make those trades in your RRSP.
  • You can’t take advantage of capital losses in your RRSP. When you lose money on an investment, you can use the capital loss to reduce the tax on capital gains from other investments. However, per CRA rules, that's typically not the case for day traders, but in an RRSP, capital gains and losses are out of the picture for all investments regardless of how long you hold them.

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Can you day trade in a TFSA?

While your tax-free savings account (TFSA) is better suited for active trading, a recent court ruling confirmed that you cannot avoid paying taxes on your day trading income by using your TFSA. 

The court's decision points out that day trading does in fact constitute a business, and while the Income Tax Act specifically allows day trading in RRSPs, no such exemption exists for TFSAs. Any day trading income in your TFSA will be taxed at your marginal rate. 

Can you day trade in an RESP?

While Canadian tax law doesn't provide for day trading using a TFSA, it explicitly prohibits day trading inside a registered education savings plan (RESP). The Income Tax Act specifies that if an account is used to carry on a business, it will be revoked and any grant money earned will be returned to the government. 

What's best for you?

When saving for retirement, the best investments are the ones made for the long term. Low-cost ETFs that cover broad segments of the market deliver steady returns when left alone for long periods.

For day trading, no tax shelter exists that will keep you from having to pay income tax on your earnings. Choose a non-registered investment account that will give you the freedom to invest as you wish - as long as you pay your taxes. 

The bottom line

Yes, you can day trade in your RRSP. But doing so could cause a tidal wave of problems that haunt you for years to come.

Because withdrawals are taxable, your RRSP won’t save you any money if you plan to withdraw before you’re retired. Because contribution room is limited and non-renewable, you can only add so much capital to your account before you start to face expensive penalties. And if you lose money, you might not be able to put it back, leaving you stuck with more expensive options for your retirement savings.

Instead, choose an unregistered account for your foray into day trading so you can have the flexibility you need today, and let your RRSP grow slowly over time so you can have the retirement you want tomorrow.

 

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