RDSP eligibility requirements: who qualifies to open a plan in Canada

The Registered Disability Savings Plan is a long term savings account for people approved for the disability tax credit. Four conditions have to be true at the same moment before a financial organization can open one. Miss a single condition and the plan cannot be registered, no matter how ready a family is to start contributing.

This page sets out those four conditions, what each one means in practice, and the deadlines that quietly close the door. It also separates two tests that get mixed up constantly. Being eligible to open a plan and being eligible to receive government grants and bonds are not the same thing, and they stop at different ages.

Who is eligible to open an RDSP?

To open an RDSP, the person named as beneficiary must be approved for the disability tax credit, hold a valid social insurance number, be a resident of Canada when the plan is entered into, and apply before December 31 of the year they turn 59. All four apply together, except on a direct transfer from a former RDSP.

Employment and Social Development Canada lists the same four conditions on its page covering who can open a plan and apply. The Canada Revenue Agency adds a detail that matters when families reorganize: a beneficiary can only have one RDSP at any given time, although that single plan can have several holders over its life and more than one holder at once.

One exception sits outside this list. The CRA notes that the age limit does not apply when a new plan is opened as a result of a transfer from the beneficiary's former RDSP, and DTC approval is not re-tested in that transfer case either. That exception exists so people can change financial institutions late in life without losing the plan.

What does the disability tax credit require?

The DTC requires a medical practitioner to certify a severe and prolonged impairment in one of the CRA categories, significant limitations in two or more categories, or life sustaining therapy. Prolonged means the restriction has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 continuous months. The CRA then reviews the application and decides whether to approve it.

The categories are fixed, and a diagnosis on its own is not one of them. What the CRA assesses is function. Its guidance on who is eligible for the DTC defines a marked restriction as being unable to do the activity, or needing three times longer than someone of similar age without the impairment, present all or almost all of the time, generally at least 90 percent.

Approval is the gate, not the application. Sending Form T2201 does not make anyone eligible for an RDSP. The plan can only be opened once the CRA has approved the credit, which is why the DTC application timeline drives the whole schedule for anyone close to an age deadline. The CRA no longer accepts DTC forms through the submit documents section of a CRA account. Applications go through the digital DTC form or by mail.

How does age limit RDSP eligibility?

Three separate ages matter, and confusing them is the most expensive mistake in this area. Grants and bonds stop after December 31 of the year the beneficiary turns 49. A plan can still be opened, and contributions still made, until December 31 of the year they turn 59. Withdrawals must begin by 60.

So a person who is 55 and newly approved for the DTC can still open a plan. They just cannot receive a matching grant or a bond on it. ESDC is explicit about this for people between the ages of 49 and 59. Contributions remain tax sheltered, and money held in the plan does not affect eligibility for provincial or territorial benefits.

The carry forward rule makes the 49 deadline sharper than it looks. Unused grant and bond entitlement from the past 10 DTC approved years stays available, but only contributions made up to December 31 of the year the beneficiary turns 49 can claim it. Our guide to accessing government grants and bonds works through how that catch up is applied year by year.

What does residency mean for an RDSP?

The beneficiary must be a resident of Canada when the plan is opened and, separately, on the date of every contribution. The plan holder faces no residency test at all. The CRA states both rules plainly, and the second one catches families whose beneficiary later moves abroad while contributions continue.

Residency here is tax residency as the CRA determines it, not citizenship and not a provincial health card. A beneficiary who ceases to be a resident does not lose the plan and does not have to repay grants for that reason alone, but new contributions are not permitted while they are a non resident. The rule appears in the CRA guidance on RDSP eligibility and contributions, which also confirms that plan payments can only be made to the beneficiary or, after death, to the estate.

Who can be the plan holder?

The holder is the person or organization that opens and manages the plan. For a beneficiary under the age of majority, that is a legal parent, a guardian, or an authorized public body. A contractually competent adult beneficiary must hold their own plan. Where competence is in doubt, other options apply.

That last case is the one worth reading twice. When an adult beneficiary's contractual competency to enter into a plan is in doubt and no legal representative exists, a qualifying family member can open the plan and act as holder. The CRA page on opening an RDSP states that this measure applies as of June 29, 2012 and ends on December 31, 2026. Anyone relying on it should treat that date as a real deadline rather than an administrative footnote.

A spouse or common law partner cannot use the qualifying family member route if they are living apart because of a breakdown in the relationship, and the route is closed if a qualifying person is already authorized to act for the beneficiary. Changing a holder later is possible, but it goes through the financial organization, not the CRA. The mechanics are covered in our step by step guide to opening an RDSP.

Are grants and bonds a separate test?

Yes. Opening a plan and being paid into it are governed by different rules. Grant and bond amounts depend on family income, on the amount contributed in the case of the grant, and on the beneficiary having filed tax returns. Both stop after the year the beneficiary turns 49.

ESDC calculates entitlement from the family income reported two years earlier. For the 2026 calendar year, that is the income on the 2024 return. Beneficiaries aged 18 and under are assessed on their parents' or guardians' combined income. From the year they turn 19, the assessment uses their own income plus a spouse's income, which is why ESDC tells beneficiaries to start filing personal returns in the year they turn 17.

Lifetime ceilings sit on top of the annual ones: $70,000 in grant, $20,000 in bond, and $200,000 in contributions across the beneficiary's lifetime. ESDC publishes the full calculation, including worked examples, on its page about how much you could get in grants and bonds. Contributions above the amount needed to attract the maximum grant are called unassisted contributions. A withdrawal can still trigger repayment of grants and bonds paid in the previous 10 years. Our page on RDSP contribution limits covers where that line falls.

What happens if DTC approval ends?

The plan does not have to close. Since 2021 the holder can choose to keep it open, but new contributions and new grants and bonds stop. Grants and bonds already received are not repayable simply because approval lapsed. Withdrawals before the year the beneficiary turns 60 still trigger repayment rules.

If the beneficiary regains DTC approval, the CRA confirms in its guidance on cessation of disability that the plan operates normally again and contributions can resume. The repayment mechanics behind that 10 year window are the subject of our page on the 10 year rule for RDSP withdrawals.

Checking your own situation

Eligibility is a paperwork question before it is a money question. Confirm DTC approval status with the CRA first, confirm the social insurance numbers, then look at which age deadline is closest. Only after that does the choice of financial organization matter, and ESDC maintains a current list of institutions that offer the plan on its page on how to open a plan.

Terry builds tools for RDSP holders and beneficiaries who want to see where they stand before they walk into a branch. If you are still working out what the plan does once it is open, start with our overview of the Registered Disability Savings Plan. This page is general information, not financial or tax advice.