Investment · Canada
Lifelong Learning Plan repayment.
You borrowed from your RRSP to go back to school. Find the year repayments start, the minimum you owe each year, and the tax if you skip one.
You repay over 10 years, at least 1/10 of what you withdrew each year. Repayments start no later than the fifth year after your first withdrawal (a 2026 withdrawal starts by 2031), and sooner if the student stops qualifying. Any amount you do not repay when due is added to that year's income and taxed.
Inputs
Repayment schedule
Enter your details and press Build schedule.
How repayment works
The Lifelong Learning Plan lets you withdraw from your RRSP to pay for full-time training or education for you or your spouse or common-law partner: up to $10,000 a calendar year and $20,000 in total. You then repay over 10 years. For each year of the repayment period you repay 1/10 of the total withdrawn until the balance is zero. The latest year you can start is the fifth year after your first withdrawal; it can be earlier, down to the second year, depending on whether the student keeps qualifying.
Worked example (CRA's): Betty has an LLP balance of $7,500 and a repayment period from 2025 to 2034. Her first repayment is $750, which is 1/10. The calculator's default, $20,000 withdrawn in 2026, gives $2,000 a year from 2031 to 2040.
Formula: each year's minimum = remaining LLP balance / years left in the 10-year period. Repay more and later minimums shrink, but the period does not get shorter. Repay less and the shortfall is included in your income that year and the balance drops by the same amount. Tax on a shortfall in this tool = shortfall x the marginal rate you enter. To repay, contribute to your RRSP, PRPP or SPP in the repayment year or the first 60 days of the next, then designate the amount on Schedule 7.
Not modelled: the 60-day contribution window; spouse-as-student rules; shorter repayment periods that apply in some situations; provincial tax detail (you supply one blended rate).
Sources, fetched 1 October 2026: CRA — The Lifelong Learning Plan; CRA — Repayments to your RRSP under the LLP; CRA — How to participate in the LLP.
Frequently asked questions
When do LLP repayments start?
Usually when the student has not been a qualifying student for two years in a row (the second of those years), and no later than the fifth year after your first withdrawal. CRA's chart on its repayment page decides your exact year.
What if I do not repay one year?
CRA says any amount you do not repay when due is included in your income for that year. You pay tax on it at your marginal rate and the LLP balance falls by that amount.
Do I get a deduction for repaying?
No. CRA does not treat an amount you designate as an LLP repayment as an RRSP contribution, so you cannot deduct it. Contributions beyond the repayment can be deducted as normal.
Where do I find my real balance?
Your LLP statement of account, sent with your notice of assessment or in your CRA account, shows your balance and next year's required repayment. Use that as the final word.
Estimate only — not tax advice
This tool applies CRA's published 1/10 repayment rule to the figures you enter. It does not know your actual LLP balance or prior repayments, so check your CRA statement of account before relying on any number here.