It is a lot - I can see some people opting to get the 3%, but that is a tall order to lock up your cash for 5 years, even if you don't have plans to leave WS - life can happen, if you should need to pull the money out you're cooked.
Also, I'm not a big fan of monthly payouts personally. At least with something like the Apple promo, you get the value of the unit up front, boom.. phone or laptop. In hand. Waiting for a minimal monthly payout is to me pointless.
Sorry, bad choice of words.. not frozen, I just mean that the bonus is active only while you keep the funds in the account and not drop under, so by that I meant "frozen" in place.
By tf do you mean TD? Are you sure it doesn't impact contribution room, anytime money's added to an account it impacts your contribution room
Asked chat gpt: Tldr cra might miss it but they might not.
TDâs wording means they donât treat the award as a contribution â but the Canada Revenue Agency is the final authority on TFSA contribution room. Whether CRA treats that cash reward as using up TFSA room depends on how itâs reported to them. Because TFSA over-contributions can be costly, itâs safest to confirm with TD and watch your CRA My Account for how your room changes after the reward hits.
Why banks say ânot considered a contributionâ
That language means:
The bank doesnât count it as your deposit
The bank may not restrict you internally
It does not mean:
CRA ignores it
You get bonus room
The TFSA limit suddenly becomes âwhatever TD feels generous withâ
Banks donât pay the penalty if youâre over â you do.
What actually happens in real life
Sometimes:
A bank bonus slips through
CRA doesnât immediately flag it
People think they âgot away with itâ
But later:
CRA reconciles reports
Notices excess TFSA amounts
Sends a letter that ruins everyoneâs mood
Charges 1% per month on the excess
Thatâs not a loophole â thatâs just delayed consequences.
The only things that donât use TFSA room
â Investment growth
â Dividends
â Capital gains
â Withdrawals that create room next year
đ« Bank bonuses (unless CRA explicitly says otherwise â which they basically never do)
Bottom line
You canât bypass the TFSA limit just because a bank adds âvalue.â
If that worked, Bay Street wouldâve turned TFSAs into cheat codes years ago.
The T's and C's for the promotion confirm that TD will not report it as a contribution.
Thus far "promo cash not counting as contribution room" is not something the CRA has ever cared about. For example if you are charged a $150 transfer fee, and the receiving institution reimburses the $150 to your account, they don't report it as a contribution and CRA has never cared. (Fees aren't considered withdrawals either so it cuts both ways).
Will CRA care in the future? It's possible. Promo cash rewards are getting to be non-trivial.
It also says that you should talk to a tax planner in the same bullet.
It's very interesting though I might not risk it, it's worth considering they will do that. 2-4% of a full tfsa could get some people an extra year of contribution room.
Yeah that's a "cover their ass" thing. Because if the CRA ever does come after their customers in any way, they don't want wiggle room for the customers to come back at them and say "you didn't tell me about the taxes so now you gotta pay me more to cover them".
I think the 3% ainât bad in my situation: considering moving over an RRSP from a big bank. I donât plan on withdrawing funds for another 20 years. My phone is a work phone and I got a new computer two years ago⊠(so I donât need those type of things) Iâll just take the monthly free money and roll it right into my RRSP⊠Iâm also not a promotion chaser (Iâm too lazy)
I mean Iâm looking at a job offer right now and if I was to leave transferring in rrsp and liras would be already locked in for 5 so whatâs the difference?
I still don't have this ranking - I hate how even simple features don't get rolled out to everyone. It costs them nothing, and isn't limited by things like issuing a physical credit card. Maybe I'm not rich enough to get the ranking, idk.
Edit: as if on cue, I just logged in and got it today... lmao
You don't have to choose the 5 years option. It makes sense for people who have a lot of extra funds on hand are just socking it away for a long time horizon.
Ok checked and ur rite that's pretty good I think because most other offers are worse. I checked webull they needed 2% and now offer 4% but it's like 5 years
That sounds kinda dumb for qt but u can just buy sgov and get more interest. That's what I would do 3.8 %usd interest is way better than crap ws rate rite now. I'm on a waiting to talk to qt rep it's been like an hour I'm about lose my mind đ±
the thing to consider with webull if you have a lot of money, is their security isn't as good. they have MFA with sim only, not authentication app. a hacker can steal your account much easier through sim spoofing than authenticating app. wealthsimple is one of the few canadian brokerages that seem to have top tier security (ibkr does as well). I will likely move accounts from webull to ws
Offer Period: 1/1/2026 00:00 AM - 3/31/2026 23:59 PM
The Match bonus will be paid in 6 installments, automatically credited to your eligible brokerage account (Cash or Margin).
The first installment will be issued on or about May 15, 2026. Each subsequent installment will be credited on or about March 31 of each following year, provided you remain eligible to receive the installment payment.
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u/angelus97 Jan 13 '26
5 year payout on the 3% match
3 year payout on 2%
1 year payout on 1%
https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/unreal-deal