LIF Minimum & Maximum Withdrawal Calculator
↻ Updated 2026A LIF has a floor and a ceiling. Find both for 2026 — the CRA minimum, which is the same everywhere, and the legislated maximum, which changes with the pension jurisdiction your locked-in money came from.
Educational calculators — always consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.
Same age, same balance, four different legal ceilings. This is the whole reason a LIF calculator cannot just be a RRIF calculator: the minimum below is identical everywhere, and the maximum is not.
Rows stop at 95, the last age the CRA minimum schedule publishes. At and beyond age 90 the Ontario maximum factor is 100%: there is no ceiling left to show, so those rows give the minimum only rather than a band that is really the whole fund.
Ontario floors the reference rate at 6.00%, so its table has not moved in years, and it runs the annuity to 31 December of the year you turn 90 — one payment more than Alberta or BC, which makes every Ontario factor slightly smaller than theirs at the same age.
Source: FSRA (Ontario) — LIF and LRIF Maximum Annual Income Payment Amount Table, guidance PE0196INF
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent to us.How this works
How to read your LIF minimum and maximum
A LIF result is a band, not a number. At the defaults — an Ontario LIF, age 65 on January 1, $300,000 opening balance — you must withdraw at least $12,000 and you may not withdraw more than $21,765. Everything between those two figures is yours to choose. The floor is federal tax law and is identical across Canada; the ceiling is pension law and changes with the jurisdiction your pension was earned under.
How a LIF minimum and maximum are calculated in 2026
A LIF (Life Income Fund) is what locked-in pension money becomes when you start drawing income from it — the retirement-income stage of a LIRA, the same way a RRIF is the retirement-income stage of an RRSP. The difference that matters is the ceiling. Your pension was locked in so that it would last, and pension law enforces that by capping what you can take out each year.
So a LIF is governed twice. The Canada Revenue Agency sets a minimum through the Income Tax Act, exactly as it does for a RRIF. Your pension regulator sets a maximum through its own pension benefits standards legislation. Both are a flat percentage of the January 1 balance, and both are keyed to your age on that date.
The maximum factors are not one national table. Each regulator prices a term-certain annuity that would run out at age 90, then takes its reciprocal — but they use different interest rates and count a different number of payments, and those two small differences produce visibly different ceilings on the same account.
minimum = balance on Jan 1 × CRA minimum factor maximum = balance on Jan 1 × jurisdiction maximum factor room = maximum − minimum CRA minimum factor (identical in every jurisdiction): under 71 → 1 ÷ (90 − age) 65 → 4.00% 70 → 5.00% 71 and over → published schedule 71 → 5.28% 80 → 6.82% 95+ → 20.00% maximum factor at age 65, 2026: Alberta / British Columbia → 7.38% ($22,140 on $300,000) Ontario → 7.25513% ($21,765 on $300,000) Federal (PBSA) → 6.0272% ($18,082 on $300,000) Québec, age 55 and over → no maximum at all
- balance on Jan 1
- The value of your LIF at the start of the fiscal year — fixed on January 1 — later growth or losses do not move either limit for the current year
- CRA minimum factor
- The federal prescribed minimum percentage for your age — 1 ÷ (90 − age) below 71, then the published schedule; the same number in every province and territory
- jurisdiction maximum factor
- The published maximum percentage set by your pension regulator — from OSFI for federal LIFs, or the province's own pension regulator; this is the figure that varies
- room
- The discretionary band between the two limits — $9,765 at the defaults — the only part of the withdrawal you actually choose
The federal maximum is the one that moves. OSFI resets its table every January using the previous November's monthly average yield on Government of Canada marketable bonds over ten years (Statistics Canada series V122487) for the first fifteen years, then 6.00% after that. For 2026 that reference rate is 3.49%, and the resulting factor at age 65 is 6.0272% — published in OSFI's Table 1 for 2026, under sections 20.1, 20.3 and 21.1 of the Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985.
Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia floor the same reference rate at 6.00%. Because the market rate has sat below 6.00% for decades, their tables have simply not changed — FSRA's Ontario table says so explicitly, and stands for any year the CANSIM rate stays under 6.00%. A higher assumed interest rate makes the annuity cheaper and the ceiling higher, which is why the three 6.00% jurisdictions all sit well above the federal figure.
Ontario and Alberta then differ from each other for a second, purely mechanical reason. Alberta and British Columbia run the annuity for exactly 90 − age years; Ontario runs it to December 31 of the year the owner turns 90, which is one payment more. Spreading the same fund over an extra year makes each Ontario payment slightly smaller — 7.25513% against 7.38% at age 65. Both figures were re-derived from the formula each regulator publishes and reproduce their printed tables exactly.
Québec is the genuine outlier, and not by a rounding difference. Retraite Québec states that from age 55 a LIF holder may withdraw all or part of the balance, in one or more instalments — there is no maximum. Only the CRA minimum still binds. Under 55 a Québec maximum does apply, calculated from a prescribed rate and interacting with the temporary-income rules, and this calculator does not model that case.
Worked examples
Example: an Ontario LIF at 65 with $300,000 (the calculator's defaults)
You retired from an Ontario-registered pension plan, moved the commuted value to a LIRA and have now converted it to a LIF. You are 65 on January 1, the account held $300,000 that morning, and you would like to draw $21,000 this year.
| Opening balance (Jan 1)fixed for the whole fiscal year | $300,000 |
| CRA minimum factor at 651 ÷ (90 − 65) — federal, same in every province | 4.00% |
| Minimum withdrawal$300,000 × 4.00% | $12,000 |
| Ontario maximum factor at 65FSRA table, R.R.O. 1990 Reg. 909 | 7.25513% |
| Maximum withdrawal$300,000 × 7.25513% | $21,765 |
| Discretionary room$21,765 − $12,000 | $9,765 |
| Your $21,000 requestinside the band, 7.00% of the opening balance | Allowed |
| Balance after withdrawalbefore growth for the rest of the year | $279,000 |
You must take at least $12,000 and may take up to $21,765, so your $21,000 plan is legal — with $765 of headroom left. Note how little of the decision is actually yours: nearly 55% of the ceiling is compulsory. The whole withdrawal is taxable income in the year you receive it.
Example: the same person, same balance, four different ceilings
Nothing changes except the jurisdiction the pension was earned under. Still 65, still $300,000 on January 1. This is the comparison the calculator prints under 'How the jurisdictions compare', and it is why the jurisdiction dropdown is the first input on the page rather than an afterthought.
| Minimum — every jurisdictionthe CRA floor never varies | $12,000 |
| Alberta / British Columbia maximum7.38% — 6.00% rate, 90 − age payments | $22,140 |
| Ontario maximum7.25513% — 6.00% rate, one extra payment | $21,765 |
| Federal (PBSA) maximum6.0272% — 2026 reference rate of 3.49% | $18,082 |
| Québec maximum, age 55+the full $300,000 is available | None |
| Spread, Alberta vs federal$22,140 − $18,082 on an identical account | $4,058 |
A $21,000 withdrawal is comfortably legal in Alberta, legal in Ontario, and a breach of the addendum on a federal LIF, where the ceiling is $18,082. Reading the wrong row is not an academic error — over-withdrawing from a LIF breaches the contract with your financial institution and has to be corrected. Check the jurisdiction named in your LIF addendum before you set a payment instruction.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a LIF and a RRIF?
A RRIF holds money that was never locked in — normally your own RRSP savings — and has only a minimum withdrawal. Once you have taken the minimum, you may withdraw as much more as you like, up to the entire balance.
A LIF holds money that came out of a registered pension plan, and that money was locked in so it would produce income for life. It has the same CRA minimum, plus a legislated maximum you cannot exceed. That ceiling is the entire difference. If your account has no ceiling, it is a RRIF, and the RRIF minimum withdrawal calculator is the tool you want instead.
Why does my LIF maximum depend on the province?
Because the minimum and the maximum come from two different bodies of law. The minimum is set by the federal Income Tax Act, so the Canada Revenue Agency's factor is identical from Victoria to St. John's. The maximum is set by pension legislation, and Canada has no single pension statute — the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act covers federally regulated employment, and each province with its own pension act sets its own rules.
The province that matters is the one your pension plan was registered in, not the one you retired to. Someone who spent a career with an Ontario employer and then moved to Alberta keeps an Ontario LIF, with Ontario's ceiling. Your LIF addendum — the schedule attached to the account contract — names the governing jurisdiction on its first page.
Is there really no maximum on a Québec LIF?
From age 55, no. Retraite Québec states that a person aged 55 or over may withdraw all or part of their LIF balance, in one or more instalments, regardless of any life income established for the year. The CRA minimum still applies, so there is a floor — but the ceiling that defines a LIF everywhere else simply is not there.
Below 55 a Québec maximum does apply: the annual life income is capped at a prescribed rate times the balance, and a separate temporary-income allowance can be claimed on top if the contract offers it and other income is low. That case is not modelled here, and a Québec holder under 55 should use Retraite Québec's own LIF Quick Calc rather than this page.
Which provinces does this calculator cover, and why not all of them?
Five pension jurisdictions: federal (PBSA), Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Québec. Each one's 2026 factors were read directly out of the regulator's own publication — OSFI's Table 1, FSRA guidance PE0196INF, the Alberta Superintendent of Pensions' Interpretive Guideline #18, BC bulletin PENS 15-005, and Retraite Québec's own LIF page.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and the territories are deliberately left out. Their maximums could not be confirmed from their own regulator, and a LIF maximum is not a figure worth guessing: an over-withdrawal breaches your addendum and has to be unwound. If your LIF is governed by one of those jurisdictions, ask your financial institution for the maximum in writing — it is obliged to give you a statement of it each January.
Can I withdraw more than the LIF maximum if I need the money?
Not by asking. Your financial institution will refuse a payment above the ceiling, because the addendum attached to your LIF is a contract that binds it as well as you. The limit exists to stop a locked-in pension being spent in a few years.
There are narrow statutory exits rather than a discretionary override — most jurisdictions allow unlocking on grounds such as financial hardship, shortened life expectancy, a small balance, or becoming a non-resident, each with its own form and its own regulator. They are applications with eligibility tests, not a slider you can move, and they go through the pension regulator or the financial institution rather than the CRA.
How much tax will I pay on a LIF withdrawal?
The full amount is taxable income in the year you receive it, exactly like a RRIF withdrawal — there is no tax-free portion, because the pension contributions that funded it were never taxed. It stacks on top of CPP, OAS and anything else you receive. Run the total through the Canadian income tax calculator to see the combined federal and provincial bill.
Withholding follows the RRIF pattern: nothing is withheld on the minimum, and tax is withheld at graduated rates on anything above it. That makes the discretionary band the part to watch — a large draw toward the ceiling can also push your net income into the Old Age Security recovery tax, so check it against the OAS clawback calculator before you commit to the payment schedule.
Should I draw the minimum or the maximum from my LIF?
Neither answer is automatic, and the calculator deliberately does not pick one. Drawing the minimum keeps the most money sheltered and growing, which suits someone with other income who does not need the cash. Drawing the maximum moves money out of a locked-in account and into one you actually control — useful if you want to redirect it to a TFSA, or if you expect your tax rate to be higher later once the rising minimum factors force larger withdrawals anyway.
The trade-off only resolves against your whole picture: other income, your marginal rate now versus later, the OAS threshold, and how long the money has to last. Model the drawdown alongside CPP and OAS in the retirement income planner rather than deciding from this page alone. And if the minimum is more than you need to spend, taking it and re-sheltering the surplus in a TFSA keeps it growing tax-free — check your room with the TFSA contribution room calculator.
What this LIF calculator doesn't account for
The calculator answers one question precisely — the legal band for this year, in a jurisdiction whose factors were verified — and stops there. What it leaves out is worth knowing before you rely on the ceiling.
- The investment-earnings alternative maximum — Federal, Ontario, Alberta and BC rules all set the maximum as the GREATER of the factor calculation and the previous year's investment earnings in the account. After a strong market year the earnings figure can be larger, which makes your true ceiling higher than the number shown here. The calculator reports only the factor amount, so it is a conservative floor on your ceiling, never an overstatement.
- Seven jurisdictions are missing on purpose — Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI and the territories are not offered, because their 2026 maximum factors were not confirmed from their own pension regulator. They are withheld rather than approximated from a neighbouring province's table. Saskatchewan in particular does not work like the others and should not be inferred from any row here.
- The first fiscal year and mid-year transfers — In the year a LIF is opened the minimum is zero, and the maximum is prorated by the number of months in that partial fiscal year. Money transferred in mid-year, and transfers between LIFs during a year, also change the calculation. The calculator assumes a full twelve-month fiscal year with no mid-year transfers.
- It does not calculate your tax — Every figure shown is gross. The whole withdrawal is taxable in the year you receive it, withholding applies to amounts above the minimum, and a large draw can trigger the OAS recovery tax. What you keep depends on your total income and your province of residence, which is a separate calculation.
- The younger-spouse election is not modelled — You may elect to base the MINIMUM on a younger spouse's age, which lowers it. The MAXIMUM always uses the owner's own age — Alberta's guideline states this explicitly. To see the lower minimum, enter the spouse's age, but read the maximum for your own age.
- Factors and rules change — The federal table is re-set every January from the previous November's bond yield, so the federal column will differ in 2027. The 6.00%-floored provincial tables only move if long-term rates rise above 6.00%. Québec amended its LIF rules effective January 2025. Confirm the current year's figures with your financial institution's January statement, which is required to state your minimum and maximum, before acting on them.
- ·CRA — chart of prescribed RRIF/LIF minimum withdrawal factors — Minimum factors, Income Tax Regulations s. 7308; identical in every province
- ·OSFI — Life Income Funds, Restricted Life Income Funds and Variable Benefits Accounts, Table 1 (2026) — Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985, ss. 20.1, 20.3, 21.1; reference rate 3.49% (Nov 2025, V122487)
- ·FSRA (Ontario) — LIF and LRIF Maximum Annual Income Payment Amount Table, guidance PE0196INF — R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 909, s. 6 of Schedules 1, 1.1 and 2; table stands for any year the CANSIM rate is under 6.00%
- ·Alberta Superintendent of Pensions — Interpretive Guideline #18, Life Income Funds (LIFs) — Employment Pension Plans Act and Regulation; M = C/F, R capped at 6.00% unless CANSIM exceeds it
- ·BC Superintendent of Pensions — Information Bulletin PENS 15-005, LIF interest rate and withdrawal calculations — Pension Benefits Standards Act and Regulation; applies to LIFs opened on or after 30 September 2015
- ·Retraite Québec — Characteristics of a life income fund (LIF) — Regulation respecting supplemental pension plans, ss. 16–26; no maximum applies from age 55
Rates, brackets and limits here are checked against primary sources. If a number still looks off, email support@realmoneyiq.com and we'll review and fix it.
RealMoneyIQ provides free educational calculators, not financial, tax, investment or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the assumptions you enter and publicly published rates; your actual outcome will differ. Always confirm decisions with a licensed professional who knows your full situation.