Most RRSP-versus-TFSA content is written for employees. Own a corporation and the question changes, because you control the income that creates the room in the first place.
The mechanics owners forget
RRSP room is 18% of last year’s earned income, to a maximum of $33,810 for 2026. Salary is earned income. Dividends are not. Pay yourself dividends only, and your RRSP room is zero, year after year. The TFSA doesn’t care how you pay yourself: $7,000 of new room for 2026, same as everyone.
This is one more input into the salary-versus-dividend mix. A $190,000 salary maxes your RRSP room. A $190,000 dividend creates none.
The third option owners actually have
Employees choose between two accounts. You have three: RRSP, TFSA, and leaving money invested inside the corporation at the 11% small-business rate. That’s why generic advice fits badly. The corporation defers the most tax up front, but passive income inside it is taxed hard, and too much of it can start eroding your small business deduction.
A working default for many owners: enough salary to create meaningful RRSP room, TFSA filled every year because tax-free compounding with full flexibility is hard to beat, and the corporation holds the rest.
The right split depends on your spending, your age, and your exit plans. That’s a planning conversation, not a rule.
General information about how the rules work. Your situation will turn on its own facts, and the figures above move with your province, your income mix and the year. Have someone run your numbers.