RRIF minimum withdrawal table: 5.28% at 71, 5.40% at 72, 20% at 95

The prescribed factors at 71 and older

The minimum is the fair market value of the RRIF property at the start of the year multiplied by a prescribed factor, and the factor turns on age at the beginning of that year canada.ca. From 71 on, the factors are fixed in a table in section 7308(4) of the Income Tax Regulations laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. They haven't changed for 2026. The last column is the minimum on each $100,000 of January 1 value.

The CRA prints the same numbers, as decimals, in its chart of prescribed factors for carriers canada.ca. The legal definition of "minimum amount" sits in subsection 146.3(1) of the Income Tax Act, which multiplies the January 1 value by the factor from the regulation laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

Under 71: 1 divided by (90 minus age)

Below 71 there's no table, just a formula: 1 divided by (90 minus the age at the start of the year) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. A client who converts early at 65 has a factor of 1/25, which is 4%. The rows below are that formula worked out and rounded to two decimals.

The minimum is nil in the year the fund is entered into laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The first payment is due in the following year, and the age used is the age on January 1 of that year, not the age reached later in it canada.ca. An RRSP generally has to mature by the end of the year the client turns 71, so a client born in 1955 who converts in 2026 has a first minimum in 2027 at the 71 factor, 5.28%, unless their birthday is January 1.

Worked example: a $400,000 RRIF at age 72

Your client is 72 on January 1, 2026, and the RRIF holds $400,000 at that date. They want $30,000 out this year, so $8,400 of it is an excess amount above the minimum.

The $8,400 falls in the $5,001 to $15,000 band, so the carrier withholds 20%. The CRA's RRSP and RRIF FAQ says withholding is normally computed on the excess portion of each lump sum payment, and when one request is paid out in instalments, the rate follows the total elected portion requested, not the size of each instalment canada.ca. So if your client asks for the $8,400 in one request and takes it monthly, each instalment is still withheld at 20%. The CRA's payroll page on lump sums words the test as total lump sums paid or expected in the calendar year canada.ca, so confirm which basis the carrier applies before counting on a lower band. The full $30,000 is still income on the T1, and the $1,680 is claimed back as tax deducted on line 43700 canada.ca.

A RRIF trust that holds annuity contracts adds one step. The CRA's own example takes a 73 year old with $75,000 of other property, applies 0.0553 to get $4,147.50, then adds $5,000 of annuity payments for a minimum of $9,147.50 canada.ca.

Withholding: nothing on the minimum, lump sum rates above it

Carriers don't withhold income tax from the minimum amount paid to the original annuitant canada.ca. Anything above it is withheld at the lump sum rates canada.ca. As of October 2026, the rates are:

The Quebec column is federal tax only, so 5% is not the total. For funds held in Quebec, provincial income tax is withheld on top under Revenu Québec's rules canada.ca. Get the provincial rate from the carrier or Revenu Québec before you tell a Quebec client what lands in their account.

Withholding is a prepayment, not the final tax. A client whose minimum alone pushes them into a higher bracket can owe on filing even though nothing was withheld, so check the year end position before April.

Basing the minimum on a younger spouse's age

The annuitant can elect to use the age of their spouse or common law partner instead of their own. The election has to be made before the carrier makes any payment under the fund laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. In practice that means ticking the box on the original RRIF application, and once it's made it can't be changed canada.ca.

The election cuts the 2026 minimum by $5,600 here and keeps it lower every year after, because the factor follows the spouse's age. It only defers tax: the client can always take more than the minimum, never less.

Older RRIFs and the 2020 cut

A qualifying RRIF, broadly one set up before 1993 or funded by a direct transfer from another qualifying RRIF, uses section 7308(3) instead. Its factors match the main table from 72 on, but at 71 it still uses the formula, 1/19 or 5.26%, instead of 5.28% canada.ca. The CRA chart also keeps a separate column for funds dating from before March 1986.

For 2020 only, the minimum for every type of RRIF was reduced by 25%. Clients who had already taken more could not put the excess back, and tax was withheld only on withdrawals above the unreduced minimum canada.ca. No reduction applies to 2026.