Here are the ways to make individual contributions to a Self-directed RDSP:      

1.     Cash - must come from a TD Direct Trading Canadian Cash, Canadian Margin Account or a TD Canada Trust Account

2.     Cheque or Bank Draft

3.     Securities In-Kind    

Contributions are made with after-tax dollars and are not tax-deductible. There is a lifetime contribution limit of $200,000 per beneficiary.

• Deposits/contributions can be made up until the end of the year the beneficiary turns 59

Yes. When withdrawing funds from an RDSP before the beneficiary turns 60, some or all of the grant or bond money received over the previous 10 years must be repaid to the government. 

The RDSP is structured to be a long-term savings plan. The grants and bonds are intended to encourage long-term savings and must remain in an RDSP for at least 10 years.

Please refer to Proportional Repayment Rule on the CRA site.

The assistance holdback amount (AHA) is the total amount of Canada Disability Savings Grant (CDSG) and Canada Disability Savings Bond (CDSB) paid into a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) within the preceding 10-year period less any amount of CDSG and CDSB that may have been previously repaid to the Government of Canada over that time. For more information, you may visit the CRA site.

A Disability Allowance Payment (DAP) is any payment from an RDSP to the beneficiary or to their estate after their death. DAPs may consist of contributions, grants, bonds, proceeds from rollovers and income earned in the plan. Only the beneficiary or the beneficiary's estate will be permitted to receive DAPs from the RDSP.

There are three types of payments made from an RDSP:

• DAPs (where permitted under the specific RDSP), which may include:
  • Single disability assistance payments (lump sum DAPs)
  • Lifetime disability assistance payments (LDAPs)
• Direct transfers to another RDSP for the same beneficiary. (Note that a beneficiary can hold only one RDSP at any given time.)
• Repayments under the Canada Disability Savings Act (CDSA) or a designated provincial program

Note that a DAP is not permitted if, after the payment, the FMV (Fair Market value) of the property held by the RDSP would be less than the assistance holdback amount for the RDSP.

Yes, there are two universal limitations applicable to DAPs and LDAPs as well as one further limitation for LDAPs:

DAP and LDAP

a) A DAP or LDAP cannot be paid if after the payment, there would not be enough property in the plan to repay the assistance holdback amount.

b) If, at the beginning of the calendar year, the amount of government grants and bonds  that have been made to the RDSP account exceeds the amount of contributions that have been made to the plan, then the total amount of DAPs and LDAPs that can be paid from the plan in that year will be subject to limitations.

LDAP Only

c) If the situations in b) do not apply then the total amount of LDAPs paid in a year must not exceed the result of the legislated maximum formula.