Transferring your pension to Questrade

When your employment ends, or you retire, in many cases you will be given the option to transfer the RPP (Registered Pension Plan) to either a Locked in RRSP (L-RSP) or a LIRA, depending on which jurisdiction the pension is governed under.

The details of your RPP’s jurisdiction can be found either on your monthly statements, or by contacting the institution holding the account directly. In most cases, a provincial jurisdiction (Alberta, Ontario, etc...) means the RPP will transfer into a LIRA, and a federal jurisdiction will transfer into an LRSP.

The outgoing institution may also add other costs to the transfer on top of the transfer fees themselves.

We strongly recommended speaking with the outgoing institution first to understand if any other charges may occur.

One example to consider would be the Deferred Sales Charge (DSC) attached to many mutual funds if the transfer is to be requested as In-Cash, where the mutual fund would be liquidated (sold) before the transfer completes.

Questrade unfortunately cannot reimburse any deferred sales charges, and will only rebate the transfer fee itself.

End-of-year transfer requests for RIFs (Retirement Income Funds) or LIFs (Life Income Funds) may be placed on hold until the new year.

We strongly recommended speaking with the outgoing institution first to understand if any other charges may occur.

The exact date varies from year to year, and may differ based on your pension plan, but it is typically from late November onwards.

Fund cut-off dates are usually released to financial institutions in late October, at which time you can contact our support staff to learn the cut-off dates for your RIF or LIF.

Is a transfer of cash or investments considered a contribution or withdrawal?

Depending on the source of the funds, it may be considered a contribution. Please check the documentation you received from your plan administrator for more details.

Some RPPs will transfer completely into a LIRA or L-RSP, sometimes a portion of the RPP can be contributed to a “regular” RRSP.

Can I transfer investments like Stocks, ETFs or Mutual Funds without selling them?

Yes, absolutely. With a broker-to-broker transfer, in most cases we can usually bring your investments over as-is (known as in-kind).

All publicly traded North American Stocks & ETFs can be transferred in-kind, and most Mutual Funds can also be transferred in-kind.

How much does a transfer in request cost?

From the Questrade side? $0. Transfer requests processed by Questrade are completely free to initiate.

Your outgoing institution/broker, however, will usually charge a transfer-out fee. These range from $35-$150 for most Canadian institutions. The good news? We’ll cover your transfer fees charged by your outgoing institution up to $150.

For more details, please see here.

To claim a transfer fee rebate, please upload a copy of a recent statement showing the transfer charge. When uploading select ‘rebate’ as the document type.

How long does a transfer typically take to complete?

While we attempt to process every transfer as quickly as possible, processing times at other financial institutions are out of our control. We will generally send out every transfer request within 1-3 business days of your request to transfer.

Certain institutions can be a little slower at fulfilling the request. In many cases, we have to wait for the outgoing institution to mail us a transfer cheque, which can add an extra delay. The total processing time for these types of transfers can be 20-30 business days. 

We will actively reach out to give you updates whenever we get them or if anything else is required on your end.

1. First, contact the RPP Administrator of your former employer to receive the following information:
   • Confirm the pension legislation your RPP is held under (Federal vs Provincial - if Provincial, which province?).
   • Confirm if your former employer has a specific form to be filled out.
     • Many employers will provide a variety of options for what happens to your RPP, please chat with your plan administrator about the options available.
     • Sometimes a portion of the RPP needs to be transferred into a “locked in” plan, and sometimes a portion can be sent to a “regular” non-locked in RRSP. Please check with either the plan administrator, or your employer for details.
2. If the company does not have its own transfer form, one of the following forms will be used to complete the RPP transfer request. If you are unsure which one to use, please contact the sending institution to confirm the type of plan the funds are currently held with and if there are any other documents required.
   • A CRA T2151 form is for RPP’s and Deferred Profit Savings Plans (DPSPs)
   • A CRA T2033 form is for RRSPs, RRIFs, Specified Pension Plans (SPP) and Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPP)
3. Open the Questrade account that you will be transferring to, and ensure your new account documents (like the “Statement of acceptance”, or “addendum” forms) are uploaded. New accounts are generally approved within 1-2 business days once all required documents are submitted. If you are unsure on which account to open:
   • Most Provincial jurisdiction RPPs can be transferred to a LIRA account.
   • Most Federal jurisdiction RPPs can be transferred to a Locked-in RSP account (LRSP).

4. Fill out and sign the relevant areas on the T2151 or T2033 forms before submitting to Questrade. There may also be a section that needs to be completed by your RPP administrator. Our transfers department will complete the remainder of the form and then send it back directly to the administrator to be processed.
   • Most pension administrators will now accept digital copies of transfer forms, if this is the case, please upload your signed and completed T2151 or T2033 directly to the destination Questrade account. Please ensure the document is uploaded as a “Transfer account form” document type, and double check you’re uploading this for the correct Questrade account.
   • Some pension administrators will only accept physical copies and hand-signatures for their transfer forms. Please double check if this is the case with your administrator. If required, you can mail your completed forms to us at:
     • 5700 Yonge Street, Suite 1900
       North York, ON, M2M 4K2
     • If using a courier, please add the following note: “Speak with building concierge to access 19th floor reception”
5. Once sent, the status of the transfer is available on the Questrade website under Funding > Transfer Account to Questrade.

However once we send the request to the outgoing institution, the processing time is variable. Many institutions can take longer to send the account to Questrade. For instance, in some cases, RPP administrators will still mail cheques for these transfers, therefore adding to the processing time.

After your funds or investments arrive, you will be able to start trading the following business day with a self-directed account.

If you’re transferring into a Questwealth Portfolios account, it may take 1-3 business days for your funds to be invested in the portfolio of your choice after the transfer is complete.