You can’t avoid taxes but investors can keep more tax dollars compounding in investments with a good tax strategy for 2026.
The right strategy, implemented over a lifetime of investing, can boost retirement savings by hundreds-of-thousands of dollars.
Navigating the tax rules can get complicated depending on your individual circumstance, so it might be best to discuss them with a qualified advisor or tax professional.
Regardless, here are four significant tax dates to mark in your investment calendar.
Dec. 30, 2025: Tax-loss selling deadline
If you want to use 2025 stock market losses to recoup taxes paid on stock market gains going back three years or any year in the future, you must sell by Dec. 30 for the trade to settle before the calendar rolls over to the 2026 tax year on Jan. 1.
The deadline to sell U.S. equities this year is Dec. 31.
Because half of capital gains on equities sold in a non-registered trading account are taxed, half of capital losses can eliminate the taxes on capital gains dollar-for-dollar.
As with any tax strategy, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has strict rules when it comes to tax-loss selling.
The most important is called the superficial loss rule, which prohibits the repurchase of the same stock within thirty days of the tax loss sale. The superficial loss rule applies to repurchases in any registered or non registered account in the name of the account holder, and even the account holder’s spouse.
If you want to repurchase the same stock you must wait at least 31 days after the sale.
Jan. 1, 2026: Tax Free Savings Account contribution limit extension
Canadians who have contributed the maximum amount to their TFSAs will be permitted to contribute another $7,000 in the new year.
If you withdrew money from your TFSA in 2025, that contribution space can also be reclaimed in 2026.
There is no contribution deadline for a TFSA. Allowable contribution space can be carried forward to future years for the vast majority of TFSA holders who don’t contribute the maximum amount.
Over-contributions can result in penalties from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), so it’s important to keep track.
The TFSA is an ideal investment vehicle because those contributions can be invested in just about anything, gains are never taxed, and you can withdraw funds at any time.
March 2, 2026: Registered Retirement Savings Plan contribution deadline
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) contributions can also be invested and grow tax-free in just about anything, but if you want to deduct them from your 2025 taxable income you must contribute by Monday, March 2.
Tax savings are based on your personal marginal tax rate, so the more income you generated in 2025, the bigger the savings.
Canadians love to get those RRSP refunds in the spring but it’s important to know RRSPs are fully taxed when they are withdrawn; ideally at a low tax rate in retirement.
If your income was low in 2025 a TFSA contribution could be a better option.
If you want to contribute to both your TFSA and RRSP, consider contributing to your RRSP before the deadline and putting the refund in your TFSA.
April 30, 2026: Income tax deadline
If you had any income in 2025, the deadline to file your tax return is April 30. How much anyone pays is based on their personal situation but there are ways to steer tax dollars into your investment portfolio.
If you make an RRSP contribution before the March 2 deadline and want the refund by spring, don’t forget to deduct it from your taxable income when you file.
Also, don’t forget to include any other deductions or credits you or your spouse have accumulated throughout the year.
TFSA contributions are not tax deductible.
Be sure to include all investment income received during the year including capital, dividend or income gains from non-registered (not RRSP or TFSA) investment accounts.
This is also the time to use those capital losses you banked up before the end of 2025 against capital gains that year, the two previous years, or save them for future years.
The payment deadline for any balance owing is also April 30 but self-employed individuals have until June 15 to file.
