2024 year-end business hours, timelines and 2025 limits

• We recommend all plan sponsors to send requests as early as possible from December 27, to 31.
• Please note: Contributions must have payment or wire confirmation to report for 2024.
• The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) will have regular trading hours.

Important: For contributions to process on December 31, we require:

• Request must be in good order
• Payment or Wire confirmation number received by the time indicated above

2024 over-contribution deadline

• Deferred Profit Sharing Plans (DPSP): by December 31, 2025 – Plan sponsors must report any employer/employee over-contribution/administration errors made in 2024 to Sun Life to avoid tax implications. Please refer to Fixing errors in a deferred profit sharing plan on the CRA website.
• Defined Contribution Pension Plan (DCPP): over-contributions that occurred since 2014 may be reported to Sun Life without Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) approval.
• RRSP/TFSA submitted via payroll are reported by the sponsor
• RRSP/TFSA submitted by the member as a lump sum, are reported by the member. The member must contact the Client Care Centre.

Important: CRA shows no leniency to plan sponsors who aren’t aware of the contribution limits, or who aren’t monitoring correctly.

2025 limits, including Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE)/Maximum Pensionable Earnings (MPE)

Effective January 1, 2025, the registered plan dollar limits will increase as follows:

• Defined Contribution Pension Plan (DCPP) – $33,810
• Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (DPSP) – $16,905
• Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) – $32,490

In addition, the maximum pension limit for a Defined Benefit Pension Plan (DBPP) will increase to $3,756.67 per year of service.

What does this mean to plan sponsors?

If plan rules state that contributions over and above the DCPP, RRSP or DPSP contribution limits spill over into another product (usually a non-registered vehicle), the spills will now occur at a higher dollar limit, effective January 1, 2025.

2025 YMPE and MPE limits

• The YMPE under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or MPE under the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) for 2025 will be $71,300. That’s up from $68,500 in 2024.
• Contributors who earn more than $71,300 in 2025 aren’t required or permitted to make additional contributions to the CPP/QPP.
• The basic exemption amount for 2025 remains at $3,500. Employees who earn less than that amount don’t need to contribute to the CPP/QPP.

Under the CPP:

• The employee and employer contribution rates for 2025 will be 5.95%.
• The self-employed contribution rate will be 11.9%.
• The maximum employer and employee contribution for 2025 will be $4,034.10 each, compared to $3,867.50 in 2024.
• The maximum self-employed contribution for 2025 will be $8,068.20, compared to $7,735.00 in 2024.

Under the QPP:

We’re still waiting on the 2025 information; we’ll provide this information as soon as it becomes available.

TFSA contribution limit for 2025

The annual TFSA contribution limit for 2025 is $7,000.

2025 deadlines for Summary of Expected Contributions

Plan sponsors in certain jurisdictions are required to provide us with a Summary of Expected Contributions (see links below). These are based on the following timelines:

• By January 30, 2025, for Federal plans and for plans registered in British Columbia and Alberta
• By March 3, 2025, for plans registered in Ontario and Nova Scotia

The deadlines above are only accurate if the plan year is January to December.

The form needs to include an estimate of contributions to be made to their Pension Plan(s) during the 2025 fiscal year.

Note:

• In all jurisdictions except Ontario, Alberta and BC – A revised form may be required if the actual contributions are at least 10% less than the expected contributions.
• In Ontario – A revised form is required if the actual contributions are less than 25% or more than the expected contributions.
• In Alberta and BC – A revised form is required if the actual contributions are at least 10% less than the expected contributions.

Plan sponsors can email the signed form to GRS_SS_TA@sunlife.com or fax it to Sun Life at 1-877-818-3143. We’re required to report to the appropriate pension regulator any forms not submitted within the required timelines.

Plan sponsors may click the links below to download the form applicable to their plan.

Ontario

British Columbia

Alberta

Nova Scotia

Federally regulated plans