LIRA / LIF Withdrawal Calculator

LIRA and LIF Accounts: Drawing Income from a Locked-In Pension

A Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA) holds money that originated from a registered pension plan — typically because you left an employer with a defined-contribution or defined-benefit pension and transferred the commuted value out. Unlike an RRSP, you cannot make new contributions to a LIRA and you cannot withdraw money directly from it. To access the funds for income, you must first convert it to a Life Income Fund (LIF) or, in Saskatchewan, a Prescribed Retirement Income Fund (PRRIF). This conversion is available starting at age 55 in most jurisdictions, and must be done by December 31 of the year you turn 71.

Once converted to a LIF, you must withdraw at least the minimum each year (the same percentage as the RRIF schedule) and no more than the maximum allowed by your jurisdiction. The maximum is what makes a LIF different from a RRIF: it preserves the pension nature of the money. Most jurisdictions calculate the maximum using a formula based on age and a published reference rate (often the long-term Government of Canada bond yield). Several jurisdictions (federal plans, Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba among them) also offer a one-time unlocking option — typically 50% of the LIRA balance at the time of first conversion — that can be transferred to an RRSP or RRIF with no withdrawal cap.

2026 LIF Maximum Withdrawal Rates by Age (Ontario, Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador)

Two jurisdictions have no maximum at all. Quebec abolished the LIF ceiling for anyone aged 55 or over on 1 January 2025 — a Quebec LIF holder past 55 can withdraw any amount above the mandatory minimum, and spousal consent is no longer required; the trade-off is that direct transfers from a LIF to an RRSP or RRIF are no longer permitted in Quebec. Saskatchewan converted all LIFs to prescribed RRIFs, so Saskatchewan-regulated locked-in money can also be drawn at any pace from 55. Ontario, Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador all share the 6% table above — those percentages only move if the November CANSIM long-term bond rate exceeds 6.00%, which has not happened in decades, so the table is stable from year to year. Federal (PBSA) rates are lower at younger ages because the formula uses the actual bond rate (3.49% for 2026) for the first fifteen years and 6% after that. PEI has no pension standards legislation in force, so there is no PEI LIF regime: a PEI employer’s plan follows its own terms, or the federal rules if the employer is federally regulated.

All LIF withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income in the year received. Your financial institution withholds income tax on amounts above the minimum (10% up to $5,000, 20% on $5,001-$15,000, 30% over $15,000, with different rates in Quebec). Strategic planning often involves coordinating LIF income with CPP, OAS, and other RRSP/RRIF withdrawals to manage your marginal tax bracket and avoid the OAS clawback that starts at $95,323 of net income in 2026. The 50% one-time unlock at age 55 is often the most flexible planning move — it converts half your locked-in money into regular RRIF or RRSP funds with no maximum constraint, while still preserving creditor protection on the locked-in half. It does not apply in Quebec, where LIF-to-RRSP/RRIF transfers were eliminated on 1 January 2025 — but Quebec holders aged 55+ no longer need it, because their LIF has no withdrawal ceiling to escape.