Your employees are probably paying twice what they need to.
Group retirement plans sold to Canadian employers commonly charge near 1.95% a year. RiskX places plans with an all-in fee under 1%.
That money does not come out of your budget. It comes out of your people's retirement savings, every year, for as long as the plan runs. Cut it once and the saving is permanent.
Book a 10-minute callAll-in annual fee
Up to 50% less
Every year, permanently, straight into your employees' accounts. Including yours, if you are in the plan.
Comparison figure is the published all-in range on group retirement programs marketed to small and mid-size Canadian employers, roughly 1.75% to 1.95% before fund operating expenses and sales tax. Your own number is on your plan's investment options and fees schedule. RiskX pricing is subject to plan size and confirmed in writing before you commit.
Group retirement plan fees in Canada are deducted from employees' account balances, not paid by the employer. Published all-in rates on group retirement programs sold to small and mid-size Canadian employers commonly run between 1.75% and 1.95% a year, before fund operating expenses and sales tax. RiskX places group RRSP and DPSP plans with an all-in fee under 1%, roughly half those published rates, and the difference stays in employees' retirement accounts.
RiskX Insurance Brokers Inc. is an independent Canadian employee-benefits and group-retirement brokerage, founded in 1994, placing group retirement plans for employers across Canada from offices in Calgary and Toronto.
Last updated: August 2026
Why nobody notices.
It is not your budget. It is theirs.
Plan fees are deducted from employee accounts, not paid by the company. That is why a high fee can sit there for years without appearing anywhere you would look.
Priced once, on day one.
The rate is set when the plan is signed. Balances grow for a decade or two while the fee stays exactly where it started.
It compounds against them.
A percentage point sounds small. Taken off a growing balance every year for a career, it is one of the largest costs your people will ever pay.
What the fee gap is worth on a plan your size.
Set to an example plan. Slide in your own numbers and it updates as you go.
Stays in employee accounts over 20 years
$1,635,400
Fee dollars never deducted from your people's retirement savings. Counts fees only, not the growth those dollars would go on to earn.
Charged this year
$131,625
at 1.95%
Would be charged
$64,125
at 0.95%
Illustrative example, not a projection of any particular plan and not a quote. Totals the fees charged on the figures shown, with balances compounding at 5.00% a year and the fee charged at the start of each year. Holds membership, balances and fees flat, and ignores future contributions and employee turnover, which work in opposite directions and largely offset here. Actual results will differ. Growth assumption: FP Canada / Institute of Financial Planning 2026 Projection Assumption Guidelines (April 2026), 60/40 balanced, before fees.
Cheaper, and better served.
A lower fee usually means less. Here it does not. The cost comes out of legacy administration and active management, not out of what your employees get.
A real advisor, one on one
Every employee can book a licensed advisor at no cost to them. Most plans at any price do not include this.
Live education sessions
Expert-led webinars on retirement pacing, first homes, budgeting and investing basics.
An app they already use
Mobile enrolment, live balances and projections. Their retirement savings sit alongside the rest of their financial life.
A named contact for you
A dedicated client success manager for setup, admin, payroll and reporting. Not a call queue.
We are partnered with two of the strongest group retirement providers in Canada, including the most modern platform in the market. We are not tied to either, so we place your plan where it fits best.
Moving is easier than staying put.
Your plan design does not change
Matching, eligibility and contribution rules carry across exactly as they are.
The transfer is digital
Employees move accounts online. Minimal paperwork, and the transfer team does the lifting.
About 10 to 12 weeks
Setup, admin training, an enrolment window, then first payroll. You are kept as hands-on or hands-off as you want.
Exit fees usually covered
Transfer fees charged by an outgoing provider are commonly reimbursed. We confirm it in writing for your plan.
What people ask before they book.
Our current provider will just match a lower fee if we ask.
Sometimes they will, and that is a win for your employees either way. More often the answer is that the pricing is what it is. Either way you end up with a documented review and a better number, which is the point.
How can it be under 1%? What is the catch?
Modern platforms are not carrying decades of legacy administration, the investment lineup is low-cost and passive rather than actively managed, and there is no separate advisor commission bolted on top of the fund. Lower cost structure, not lower service - your employees get more support than most plans include at any price.
Switching means re-enrolling everyone.
There is an enrolment window, and it is real work. It also tends to be when participation improves, because people who never got round to joining are asked again with better tools in front of them.
Fees are not the biggest variable over a career.
True. Contribution rate and participation matter more. Fees are simply the one you can fix once, at no cost to the company, that reaches every employee from their first deposit. We would rather fix all three.
You are expected to check this.
In September 2024, Canada's pension regulators rewrote the Guideline for Capital Accumulation Plans for the first time since 2004. It covers group RRSPs and DPSPs. On fees it says:
"The CAP sponsor should periodically review all member-borne fees and expenses for reasonability and competitiveness."
It is guidance, not law, and nobody is going to audit you against it. But it names the method - going to market or benchmarking - and it is a fair question either way: if someone asked when your plan's fees were last checked, could you answer?
The same guideline is careful to say cheapest is not always best, and we agree. Your plan might be priced right for what it delivers. A review is how you find out - and if it is, that is worth knowing too.
Source: CAPSA Guideline No. 3, Guideline for Capital Accumulation Plans, published September 9, 2024. CAPSA guidelines are voluntary and do not have the force of law. Group RRSPs and DPSPs are governed by the federal Income Tax Act and are not subject to pension standards legislation.
How to check, in four steps.
You can do all four without us. We are happy to do them with you.
- 01
Get your number
Pull the investment options and fees schedule from your provider and read the default fund line. Confirm whether it includes fund operating expenses and sales tax.
- 02
Compare it
Set your all-in figure against what comparable Canadian plans pay, on the same all-in basis.
- 03
Weigh the service
Check what the fee actually buys - investment lineup, employee education, advice access and administration.
- 04
Write it down
Record what you compared, the date, and what you decided. If the plan is well priced, that record says so.
Who is telling you this.
RiskX Insurance Brokers Inc. is an independent, family-run Canadian brokerage, founded in 1994. We place group retirement plans for employers anywhere in Canada, and we run employee benefits and group retirement together, which usually means a better result on both.
We are paid by the providers whose plans we place, and you should know that before you book. What we will do is show you your number and ours side by side, and leave the decision with you.
Book a 10-minute callGroup retirement fee questions.
Who pays the fees in a group RRSP, the employer or the employee?
In a group RRSP or DPSP, investment fees are deducted from employees' account balances, so employees pay them. The employer typically pays little or nothing directly, which is why a high plan fee can persist for years without appearing in the company's own budget.
What is a competitive all-in fee for a Canadian group retirement plan?
Published rates on group retirement programs sold to small and mid-size Canadian employers commonly run between 1.75% and 1.95% a year, before fund operating expenses and sales tax. RiskX places group retirement plans with an all-in fee under 1%, which on those published rates is roughly half.
How do I find out what our group retirement plan actually costs our employees?
Ask your provider for the plan's investment options and fees schedule and read the default fund line, usually a target-date or balanced fund. Then confirm two things: whether the figure includes fund operating expenses, and whether it includes applicable sales tax. Many published rates exclude both.
Does CAPSA Guideline No. 3 require employers to review group retirement plan fees?
No. CAPSA Guideline No. 3 states that a plan sponsor should periodically review member-borne fees for reasonability and competitiveness, but it is a guideline rather than legislation. CAPSA is an association of Canada's pension regulators and has no enforcement powers of its own. Group RRSPs and DPSPs are governed by the federal Income Tax Act and sit outside pension standards legislation.
Does switching group retirement providers change our employer match or plan design?
No. Changing provider moves the assets and the administration. Matching levels, eligibility rules and contribution structure carry across unchanged unless you choose to change them.
What happens to employees' balances when we change providers?
Balances transfer to the new plan. Employees complete the transfer digitally with minimal paperwork, and transfer fees charged by the outgoing provider are commonly reimbursed. Employees stay invested throughout.
Fee terms on your statement
- All-in fee All-in
- The total annual cost charged against an employee's account, including the investment management fee, fund operating expenses and any applicable sales tax. The only basis on which two plans compare fairly.
- Investment management fee IMF
- The fee for managing a fund's investments, as an annual percentage of assets. Canadian group carriers usually quote it before fund operating expenses and tax, so it understates the real cost.
- Management expense ratio MER
- The management fee plus operating expenses of a fund, as an annual percentage of assets. Standard in retail funds; group plans often use IMF, IMFE or FMF instead for a similar charge.
- Fund operating expenses FOE
- Custodial, audit, legal and administrative costs charged to a fund on top of the management fee. Usually a fraction of a percent, and usually excluded from a headline rate.
Find out what your plan is really costing.
Bring the fees page from your plan documents to a 10-minute call. You will leave knowing your all-in cost, ours, and the gap between them. No employee data, no obligation.
Book a 10-minute callFee comparisons on this page use the published all-in range on group retirement programs marketed to small and mid-size Canadian employers, approximately 1.75% to 1.95% a year before fund operating expenses and sales tax, taken from Canadian group carriers' own published investment options and fee schedules. Fees vary by plan design, provider and plan assets, and well-priced plans exist at every size. RiskX pricing depends on plan size and is confirmed in writing before you commit. Savings figures are illustrative, depend entirely on the assumptions shown alongside them, and are not a projection of any plan's or individual's outcome. All amounts accrue to plan members, not to the employer.
CAPSA Guideline No. 3 is a guideline, not legislation. CAPSA is an association of Canada's pension regulators and has no enforcement powers of its own. Group RRSPs and DPSPs are governed by the federal Income Tax Act and are not subject to pension standards legislation. Nothing on this page describes a legal requirement or creates a deadline.
RiskX Insurance Brokers Inc. places group retirement plans for employers across Canada, and is a licensed insurance agency in Alberta and Ontario for insurance products. This page is general information about how group retirement plan fees work. It is not advice, and it is not tailored to any particular employer, plan or individual. We are compensated by the carriers and providers whose products we place, which is a conflict of interest we would rather you saw before booking a call than after. We are not registered as a dealer or adviser under securities legislation and do not recommend specific funds, give investment advice, or manage investments. We do not give legal, tax or accounting advice; where those are needed, we will refer you.