Late February is the busiest single stretch on the Canadian tax calendar for a small business owner who is also an employer: T4 and T5 information slips are due to the Canada Revenue Agency by February 28, 2025, and the RRSP contribution deadline for the 2024 tax year falls just a few days later, on March 3, 2025 (the usual March 1 cutoff shifts to the next business day because it lands on a Saturday). For Toronto-area owner-managers running payroll and paying themselves through a mix of salary and dividends, these two deadlines interact directly with each other — and missing either one carries a real, avoidable cost.
T4 and T5 slips: due February 28, 2025
Every employer must issue T4 slips (Statement of Remuneration Paid) to employees and file the corresponding T4 Summary with the CRA by the last day of February following the calendar year in which the income was paid — for 2024 income, that deadline is February 28, 2025. The same February 28 deadline applies to T5 slips (Statement of Investment Income), which is the slip most owner-managed corporations use to report dividends paid to shareholders.
Source: Canada Revenue Agency — When to file a T4 information return.
Late-filing this return is not a soft deadline: CRA charges a penalty of $10 to $25 per day the T4 or T5 information return is late, depending on the number of slips involved, with a minimum $100 penalty and a maximum that scales up to $7,500 for larger filers. For a Toronto CCPC that pays its owner a mix of salary (reported on T4) and dividends (reported on T5), both slip types are due on the same date — a detail worth confirming with whoever prepares your payroll, since it is easy to file the T4 on time and overlook the T5 if dividends were a late-in-the-year decision.
RRSP contribution deadline: March 3, 2025
The deadline to make an RRSP contribution that can be deducted on your 2024 personal tax return is 60 days after the end of the calendar year. For the 2024 tax year, that 60th day is Saturday, March 1, 2025, which CRA administratively extends to the next business day — Monday, March 3, 2025.
Source: Canada Revenue Agency — RRSPs and other registered plans for retirement: Contributions you withheld.
For an owner-manager, this deadline is not just a personal-finance date — it directly affects the 2024 personal tax bill on income already drawn from the corporation. An RRSP contribution made by March 3, 2025 can still shelter 2024 employment or self-employment income, provided you have unused contribution room (found on your most recent CRA Notice of Assessment). This is the last lever available after year-end to reduce 2024 personal tax once salary and dividend amounts for the year are already fixed.
How the two deadlines fit together for an owner-manager
| Deadline | What's due | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| February 28, 2025 | T4 slips + T4 Summary for 2024 employment income | Any corporation that paid salary/wages in 2024 |
| February 28, 2025 | T5 slips + T5 Summary for 2024 dividends and investment income | Any corporation that paid dividends in 2024 |
| March 3, 2025 | Last day to contribute to an RRSP and deduct it on your 2024 return | Individuals with unused RRSP contribution room |
The practical sequence: T4/T5 filings finalize exactly how much salary and dividend income you personally received in 2024, which in turn determines your RRSP deduction limit calculation and how much of your 2024 personal tax bill an RRSP contribution can still offset. Filing the slips a few days before the RRSP deadline — rather than after — gives you an accurate income figure to plan the contribution against instead of estimating.
What Toronto-area owners should do
- Confirm your T4 and T5 filings are submitted, not just prepared, by February 28 — CRA's penalty clock starts the day after the deadline, regardless of whether the delay was administrative.
- Check your RRSP contribution room on your latest CRA Notice of Assessment or through CRA My Account before assuming you have room to contribute — over-contributing past your limit (beyond a small buffer) triggers its own penalty.
- Decide the RRSP contribution amount based on final 2024 salary/dividend figures, not a rough estimate made mid-year, now that the T4/T5 numbers are locked in.
- If your corporation pays dividends specifically to fund an RRSP contribution, remember dividend income does not generate RRSP contribution room on its own — only earned income (salary, wages, self-employment income) does. This is a common point of confusion for owner-managers who pay themselves primarily in dividends.
- Flag any T4/T5 corrections needed before the RRSP deadline if you are using 2024 income figures to calculate contribution room for a spousal RRSP or your own plan.
For a broader look at how salary-versus-dividend decisions affect both corporate and personal tax in Ontario, see our Ontario corporate tax guide. If your corporation is still working out this year's incorporation or compensation structure, our guide to incorporating a business in Ontario covers the basics.
Key takeaways
- T4 and T5 slips for 2024 income are due to CRA by February 28, 2025, with daily penalties starting the next day for late filers.
- The RRSP contribution deadline for the 2024 tax year is March 3, 2025 (the usual March 1 cutoff moved to the next business day).
- Dividend income alone does not create RRSP contribution room — only salary, wages and self-employment income do.
- Filing T4/T5 slips before the RRSP deadline gives owner-managers a confirmed 2024 income figure to plan the final contribution against.
- Check your actual RRSP contribution room via CRA My Account rather than estimating — over-contributions carry their own penalty.
If you want your T4/T5 filings and year-end owner compensation planning coordinated in one pass, RN Canada works with Toronto-area business owners remotely through our bookkeeping and payroll and tax return preparation services from our Edmonton and Vancouver offices.