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

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

2.     Cheque or Bank Draft

3.     Securities In-Kind    

Contributions can be up to a lifetime limit of $200,000. Contributions are made with after-tax dollars and are not tax-deductible.

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

Yes. If the RDSP beneficiary is under 60 years of age; whenever money is withdrawn from an RDSP, a portion grants and bonds during the 10 years before the withdrawal must be repaid to the Government.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 in respect of that 10 year period that has been previously repaid to the Government of Canada. 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. (please note, there can only be one RDSP for a given beneficiary at any given time.
• repayments under the Canada Disability Savings Act (CDSA) or a designated provincial program

Please note, 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 (Grant and Bond) 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 must be limited by the result of the legislated maximum formula. The formula can be found under the "Withdrawal" Tab above.

(Please note that if the beneficiary has reached 59 years of age before the calendar year in which the payments are made, the total amount of DAPs and LDAPs that can be paid from the plan in the year must equal the result of the legislated maximum formula [however if there are not enough funds in the plan to make the required payments, then the payments may be less than the result of the formula]).

If the plan is opened in the calendar year because of a transfer from another RDSP, and the beneficiary is under 59 years of age, DAP and LDAP limits must be associated with the legislated maximum formula results as calculated under the prior plan. If the beneficiary was 59 years of age or older in the prior calendar year, TD Direct Investing must pay out any DAPs or LDAPs that the prior plan was required to pay but had not yet paid out at Other Financial Institution (OFI).

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.