Canadian Registered-Account Tax Guide

Every stock report on Travis Valuation includes a registered-account comparison table for dividend-paying tickers — not just TSX-listed ones, since the most useful comparison is often a US stock held across Canadian account types. It shows the same stated dividend yield taxed under Non-Registered/TFSA/FHSA/RRSP/RESP rules side by side. This page explains the numbers behind that table.

This table has no “best account” output. Every row is a fact about how that account type is taxed — not a recommendation for where to hold anything.

Reference case

All figures below are for an Ontario resident in the top marginal tax bracket— the reference case shown in the app. This will not match most people's actual province or bracket; the point is to show the relative shape of how each account type is taxed, not to be a personal tax estimate.

The numbers, as of July 2026

• Capital gains inclusion rate: 50%.The federal government's proposed increase to 2/3 was cancelled in March 2025.
• Eligible-dividend effective rate: 39.34%(38% gross-up plus the federal 15.02% dividend tax credit and Ontario's provincial credits combined).
• Ontario top ordinary marginal rate: 53.53%— the rate foreign (e.g. US) dividends are taxed at in a non-registered account, since they don't qualify for the Canadian dividend tax credit.
• US withholding tax: 15%, under Article X of the Canada-US Tax Treaty. RRSPs and RRIFs get a full exemption from this withholding under Article XXI(2) of the treaty — TFSAs, FHSAs, and RESPs do not, and still face the full 15% drag on US-source dividends.
• FHSA (First Home Savings Account, 2023–)is treated like a TFSA for this table's purposes: no Canadian tax on income while held, and — like a TFSA or RESP — not covered by the RRSP treaty exemption, so the same 15% US withholding applies. That tax-free treatment holds for a qualifying withdrawal (buying a first home); a non-qualifying withdrawal is instead taxed as ordinary income, the same as an RRSP withdrawal.

A limitation worth knowing about

Whether a dividend counts as “Canadian-source” or “US-source” in the app's table is approximated from the ticker's listing currency (CAD vs. USD). This can be wrong for foreign private issuers that are cross-listed under a different tax domicile than their listing currency suggests — always confirm a specific company's actual tax residency before relying on the withholding-rate row.

Not a substitute for professional advice

This table is a reference, not tax advice. Tax rules and rates change, your actual bracket and province almost certainly differ from the Ontario/top-bracket reference case shown, and account-type decisions depend on your full financial picture. Speak with a qualified tax professional or financial advisor before making decisions based on anything on this page or in the app.