RRIF withdrawal limits for 2022

Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) withdrawal rates for 2022 are unchanged from 2021, according to the federal Department of Finance.

RRIF minimum withdrawal factors are set out in legislation and approved by Parliament. As no changes were legislated in 2021, the rates are unchanged, a spokesman said.

In 2020, the federal government reduced the minimum withdrawal rates by 25% in a one-time response to the pandemic. Withdrawal rates reverted to pre-COVID levels in 2021.

You must convert your RRSP into a RRIF by the end of the year in which you turn 71.

Although you can convert earlier than age 71, you can do it no later than the end of your 71st year. Thereafter, you must draw down the fund by amounts set out in tables created by the Department of Finance and available from your bank or investment advisor.

For example, if you were 71 on Jan. 1, 2021 and your RRSP was converted to a RRIF worth $100,000, you would have been required to withdraw 5.28% of the value for the year, or $5,280.

Depending on your cash flow needs, you could have taken out all the money on Jan. 1, or all on Dec. 31, or any combination in between.

The minimum annual withdrawals were last eased in 2015 as a recognition we’re living longer and rates of return on investments are lower than they were.