What does a group RRSP cost an employer with 50 employees?
Book a 10-minute callWant it on your payroll?- open the calculatorIllustrative annual employer cost
$153,000
- A month
- $12,750
- Per participating employee, a month
- $283
Assumes 50 employees, 90 percent participating, $85,000 average salary and a 4 percent match, before payroll-tax effects. Every one of those is an assumption you can change.
The employer match is the cost. For a 50-person company at an average salary of $85,000, a 4 percent match with 9 in 10 eligible employees participating costs about $153,000 a year, about $283 per participating employee per month, before payroll-tax effects (illustrative; every figure below is an assumption you can change in the calculator).
RiskX Insurance Brokers Inc. is an independent, family-owned employee-benefits and group-retirement brokerage founded in 1994, licensed as an insurance brokerage in Alberta and Ontario, which designs group RRSP and DPSP plans and their employer match for employers across Canada outside Quebec through a Canadian platform partner.
Last updated: August 2026
The worked example, line by line
50 employees, 90 percent participating = 45 people in the plan.
In a 2025 Ipsos survey of 1,981 Canadian workplace-plan members, 90 percent said they contribute enough to earn the full match; your plan's number will be its own.
Average salary $85,000 (assumption) × 4 percent match = $3,400 per participant per year.
45 participants × $3,400 = $153,000 a year, about $12,750 a month.
Payroll-tax lines that change the total: if the employer money goes into the group RRSP as a match, it is a taxable benefit and CPP applies on it (Canada Revenue Agency, employer RRSP contributions); if it goes into a DPSP instead, it is not a taxable benefit. In Ontario, group-RRSP matching is also subject to Employer Health Tax above the exemption, and DPSP contributions are not (Government of Ontario, EHT Remuneration); Alberta has no employer health tax.
Run your own numbers
The match-cost calculator takes your headcount, average salary, match percentage, participation and province, adds employer CPP on an RRSP match and Ontario Employer Health Tax where they apply, and shows the annual cost per participating employee.
What should the match percentage be?
There is no published Canadian average. Practitioners commonly describe 3 to 5 percent of salary as where most employers land (a range, not a rule), and many start at the low end and step up at the annual review once participation proves itself. The design choices around it (who is eligible, when, and whether employer dollars vest through a DPSP) shape the real cost as much as the percentage does.
Where the employer dollars sit changes the tax treatment as much as the percentage changes the total. Compare a group RRSP, a DPSP, a group TFSA and a pension plan row by row.
Cost questions
What does a group RRSP cost an employer with 50 employees?
The match. At $85,000 average salary, 4 percent and 90 percent participation: about $153,000 a year (illustrative). Use the calculator with your payroll.
What percentage should an employer match?
Many land between 3 and 5 percent of salary; there is no published Canadian average. Start where the budget is honest and review annually.
Is the match a taxable benefit for employees?
Employer contributions to a group RRSP are a taxable benefit with CPP withheld; employer DPSP contributions are not a taxable benefit. Confirm treatment with your accountant.
Are there hidden employer fees on top of the match?
On the platforms we place with, the employer's cost is the match; plan costs are carried in member investment fees, which is exactly what the fee review scrutinizes. See what a fee review looks at.
Can we start smaller than 3 percent?
Yes. A modest match honestly communicated beats an ambitious one that gets cut later.
Prepared by RiskX
Written by Jarod Smith, CEO, RiskX Insurance Brokers Inc. Reviewed by Gordon Smith, RiskX Insurance Brokers Inc. Published .
Sources
Participation context: Ipsos 2025 survey of 1,981 Canadian workplace-plan members, in which 90 percent said they contribute enough to earn the full employer match; those were members of one provider's plans rather than a cross-section of all Canadian employees, so it is context for the assumption, not a benchmark. Taxable-benefit and CPP treatment of employer RRSP contributions: Canada Revenue Agency, contributions to savings and pension plans and CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions. Employer Health Tax: Government of Ontario, Employer Health Tax - Remuneration; Alberta levies no employer health tax. There is no published Canadian average employer match, so none is stated here. All figures on this page are illustrative assumptions, not quotes or advice; confirm payroll and tax treatment with your accountant.