[Addy]

The options, according to the Government of Canada website for RDSP's are (see below).
And I'm either not familiar with any of these, or are not overly happy about having to deal with some of them due to reasons I don't really know why. I'm hoping others can chime in with their experiences to help get me on the right track. I have until the end of this year to file so I can get backdated ten years.

Financial Organizations The following financial organizations offer the RDSP, the Grant and the Bond:
ATB Securities Inc.
Bank of Montreal
Bank of Nova Scotia
Central 1 Credit Union
Central 1 Trust Company
Community Trust Company
CIBC Desjardins
Investors Group Trust Co. Ltd.
Fonds d'investissements FMOQ inc. (French only)
Mackenzie Financial Corporation
RBC Royal Bank
TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.
Natcan Trust Company

 

[twa2w]

I don't have a recommendation, sorry. One of the things you will face is the lack of knowledge on the part of any of these folks. Unfortunately the government made the rules convoluted and there are so few of them sold at any one location that few 'bankers' have the time or inclination to learn and retain all the details and keep up to speed.
IIRC the rbc only allows certain people to sell them (investment and retirement planners). Other than that, for simplicity sake, I would suggest going to your current bank, make some inquiries as to the knowledge levels, experience setting these up, or commitment to learning and helping you. If you are not already knowledgable yourself, learn as much as you can. You may have to hold your Bankers hand to get through the process unfortunately.
Start now, maybe try a few local branches of various banks to get a feel. This may help with the initial setup but as you know Bankers turnover faster than people change underwear so maybe my initial suggestion of just dealing with your current institution is best.
Not sure where you live but if there is a group, service, or institution that deals with disabled persons, you may want to check with them for recommendations.
I know when they first came out, I tried to learn as much as I could about them and promote them to people who voukd benefit from them. I had surprisingly few takers for what I thought was a generous program.( one of the better ones out of the supposed hard hearted Harper government).

Good luck. Sorry to be a downer.

 

[AltaRed]

I don't think many discount brokers have RDSP offerings. I see the list contains TD Waterhouse so that might be the only 'brokerage'. https://www.td.com/ca/products-services/investing/td-direct-investing/accounts/rdsp/index.jsp

I am with Scotia iTrade and BMO IL and neither has it from the best I can tell.

 

[Potato]

TD Direct Investing is the only self-directed brokerage to offer RDSP. If you haven't already, I'd suggest you check out Alan Whiton's site (Big Cajun Man) https://www.canajunfinances.com/rdsp/ -- he's one of the few writers with direct experience using an RDSP and has some good articles explaining the quirks and frustrations of TD's implementation.

 

[gardner]

Potato, thanks for the link to canajunfinances. An interesting read.

My recommendation would be the TD product as it is a fully self-directed account. I believe that RBC has the friendliest product for in-branch mutual fund type accounts. The folks at the branch know how the program works and are helpful with the paperwork, but the actual account product is not as flexible as the TD one.

 

[Brainer]

As someone with an RDSP, I can tell you that TD is the only one that allows you to to have any meaningful choice of investments. Every other brokerage I've contacted only allows either savings account, or some combination of GICs, funds or similar. In other words, go with TD if you want any choice at all. And NO, no one at almost any brokerage seems to know anything about RDSPs. Sure, they're a little complex, but when the government is giving out free money (grants/bonds), you'd think that brokerages would try to get it, along with the nice PR of helping the disabled.

Guess it's not a juicy enough steak for them.

Potato, thanks for the link to canajunfinances. An interesting read.

My recommendation would be the TD product as it is a fully self-directed account. I believe that RBC has the friendliest product for in-branch mutual fund type accounts. The folks at the branch know how the program works and are helpful with the paperwork, but the actual account product is not as flexible as the TD one.

 

[hebsie]

The options, according to the Government of Canada website for RDSP's are (see below).
And I'm either not familiar with any of these, or are not overly happy about having to deal with some of them due to reasons I don't really know why. I'm hoping others can chime in with their experiences to help get me on the right track. I have until the end of this year to file so I can get backdated ten years.

Here's where this can get complicated.

Bonds will go back 10 years and can be paid out up and to a max of $11,000 in any given year (on unused entitlements). And obviously that's dependant on you qualifying for the DTC during that 10 year period, and the exact dollar amount us dependant on your family income.

For example, let's say that you're 49 and starting an RDSP now. As long as you qualify for it, in 2017 you can claim the unpaid bond money back to 2008 (the start of the program), so 10 years (or 10k)

But grants are different. You can only get paid the max ($10,500) in any calendar year. So it's not as simple as you contributing $1500 to get $3500 when you're claiming unused entitlements for past years (but that's another topic in itself).

The basic jist, you only get to claim the $ equivalent of three years at a time for grant monies. So if this is your 49th year, you're only going to be able to contribute $1500 x 3, and are only going to get the $10,500 in grant money. The remaining seven years past will be lost. You can't contribute $1500 x 10 and expect to get $3500 x 10, it doesn't work that way.

And it's also trickier than just contributing $1500/year for unused years. They have a schedule where they pay out the 200% match first, then the 300% next (or was that vice/versa -- hmmm, I'd have to double check on that). From CRA

----------
If your family income is less than or equal to $91,831:

For the first $500 you contribute each year to the RDSP, the Government will deposit $3 for every $1 you contribute, up to $1,500 a year
For the next $1,000 you contribute each year to the RDSP, the Government will deposit $2 for every $1 you contribute, up to an additional $2,000 a year
----------

So it's takes a bit of math -- or waiting for the RDSP paperwork in the spring of every year -- but you actually need to contribute slightly more than the $1500/year to maximize past years unpaid grant money.

I can expand on this more if you're interested, I'd just have to go thru some papers to get the exact numbers for you

 

[Brainer]

Great info. I was surprised when I applied that the folks at the RDSP office @ the Canada Disability Savings Program (866) 204-0357 were willing to help me out with the calculations of what I would likely qualify for.

Also, while normally I wouldn't refer to corporate sites, the site
www.rdsp.com
is quite informative, and describes things in plain English. I wouldn't bother with their services, but the website itself is well written in plain English.

Here's where this can get complicated.

Bonds will go back 10 years and can be paid out up and to a max of $11,000 in any given year (on unused entitlements). And obviously that's dependant on you qualifying for the DTC during that 10 year period, and the exact dollar amount us dependant on your family income.

For example, let's say that you're 49 and starting an RDSP now. As long as you qualify for it, in 2017 you can claim the unpaid bond money back to 2008 (the start of the program), so 10 years (or 10k)

But grants are different. You can only get paid the max ($10,500) in any calendar year. So it's not as simple as you contributing $1500 to get $3500 when you're claiming unused entitlements for past years (but that's another topic in itself).

The basic jist, you only get to claim the $ equivalent of three years at a time for grant monies. So if this is your 49th year, you're only going to be able to contribute $1500 x 3, and are only going to get the $10,500 in grant money. The remaining seven years past will be lost. You can't contribute $1500 x 10 and expect to get $3500 x 10, it doesn't work that way.

And it's also trickier than just contributing $1500/year for unused years. They have a schedule where they pay out the 200% match first, then the 300% next (or was that vice/versa -- hmmm, I'd have to double check on that). From CRA

----------
If your family income is less than or equal to $91,831:

For the first $500 you contribute each year to the RDSP, the Government will deposit $3 for every $1 you contribute, up to $1,500 a year
For the next $1,000 you contribute each year to the RDSP, the Government will deposit $2 for every $1 you contribute, up to an additional $2,000 a year
----------

So it's takes a bit of math -- or waiting for the RDSP paperwork in the spring of every year -- but you actually need to contribute slightly more than the $1500/year to maximize past years unpaid grant money.

I can expand on this more if you're interested, I'd just have to go thru some papers to get the exact numbers for you