The Registered Plans Directorate (RPD) will require all issuers and carriers to file their retirement savings plan (RSP) and retirement income fund (RIF) registration listings through internet file transfer (IFT) starting on January 1, 2019. Contract listings submitted on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM will no longer be accepted after December 31, 2018.

Filing through IFT provides instant confirmation that your submission was received and that it fully complies with the approved extensible markup language (XML) format set out by the RPD. For more information on how to send your contract listing through IFT, go to Filing listings through IFT.

The RPD reaffirms its position that data submitted on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM that does not comply with the approved XML schema or American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format, or that is entered incorrectly into mandatory fields will be rejected by our system and the contracts will therefore not be registered under 146 or 146.3 the Income Tax Act (the Act).

In the event that data listings are submitted by CD-ROM or DVD-ROM with invalid formatting and are rejected, you will receive written notification of this rejection and you will be asked to resubmit correctly formatted contract listing(s) for registration under the Act. Your rejected CD-ROM or DVD-ROM will not be returned and will be securely destroyed.

The most common mandatory field formatting error in listings submitted in either XML or ASCII to the RPD is an invalid format for the RSP specimen plan and RIF specimen fund numbers. We remind you that the RSP specimen plan number consists of the acronym "RSP", followed by a space and a 7 digit number. A hyphen should be inserted between the fourth and fifth digit (for example, RSP 0123-456). The RIF specimen fund number is made up of the acronym "RIF", followed by a space and a 4 digit number (for example, RIF 0123).

If you file your listings using the IFT process, you must use the most current extensible markup language (XML) format. To ensure that your documents are well formatted and valid, we publish an XML schema. To access and download the XML schema, go to Validating your XML file. For more information on filing using the XML format, go to XML Format.

If you file your listings on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, you can use either the XML format or the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. For more information on filing using the ASCII format, go to ASCII Format and Record Layout.

Before submitting your listing, please review our list of things to remember for general guidelines to consider when filing your listings.

General Information

• Filing listings through IFT
• Filing listings on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
• XML standard
• ASCII standard
• Corrections to data already filed
• XML technical specifications
• Things to remember

Filing listings through IFT

The benefits of the IFT application include an increase in data integrity and security and a shorter processing time.

You can access the IFT application either through My Business Account or by using a Web access code.

My Business Account is a secure service that allows business owners to access their tax information and perform certain transactions online. For more information, go to My Business Account.

A Web access code (WAC) is a personalized code made up of six characters that is valid for one tax year. To use a WAC, you must get a T5 RZ program account number. This is a 15-digit number made up of a nine-digit business number (BN), a two-letter program identifier and a 4-digit reference number. For more information, go to Web access code and Information returns program account.

For more information about filing using IFT, go to Internet file transfer (XML).

Filing listings on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM

To file your listings in this manner, follow the directions found on the Form T550 Application for Registration of RSP's, ESP's or RIF's Under Section 146, 146.1 and 146.3 of the Income Tax Act.

XML standard

Your XML document must be well formatted and valid before it is submitted. We publish an XML schema to ensure that records adhere to the standard record layout.

For more information on filing using the XML format, go to XML Format.

ASCII standard

You must be pre-approved to file your listings using the ASCII format. This ensures that you have adhered to the standard record layout and the output is in an acceptable format.

For more information on getting pre-approved and filing using the ASCII format, go to ASCII Format and Record Layout.

Corrections to data already filed

You may need to correct original data submitted to the Directorate. You can make any required corrections by resubmitting a new listing with only the necessary corrections.

For listings filed on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, please indicate on your covering letter that the data submitted is a correction to a previous submission.

For more information, call us at:

In the Ottawa area
613-954-0419, for service in English
613-954-0930, for service in French

Toll free elsewhere in Canada
1-800-267-3100, for service in English
1-800-267-5565, for service in French

• Agents are available Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time). Any calls we receive after those hours will be directed to a voicemail system. We will return the calls the following business day.

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