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Asset Location Optimizer

Which ETFs belong in your RRSP, TFSA, and non-registered?

Enter your holdings and account sizes. The optimizer scores each ETF across your accounts based on foreign withholding tax, dividend tax treatment, and account type, and tells you the ideal placement to minimize your tax drag.

Read the Canadian asset-location guide →Understand TFSA withholding tax →

Account sizes

Leave blank: Non-Reg absorbs any overflow.

Your holdings

ticker · account · asset class
Recommended placement
ETFRRSPTFSANon-Reg
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Set account sizes and add at least one ETF to see placement scores.

Next steps

ETF SplitSee what splitting your all-in-one into components saves in MER and withholding tax.RebalancingCarrying out a location plan usually means buying and selling, so check your weights against target afterwards.Brokerage ReviewsExecuting the plan is easier at a brokerage with cheap USD-side trading.

How placement is scored

Each holding is classified by what it actually owns and where it is listed, then scored against every account you have. Canadian equity, US equity in a Canadian wrapper, US equity listed in the US, developed international, emerging markets and fixed income each behave differently once tax is applied, and a fund's listing country matters as much as its holdings.

The optimizer counts unrecoverable drag only. Withholding you can claim back through the foreign tax credit is not a cost, which is why a non-registered account is not penalized for US dividend withholding the way a TFSA is. What drives the ranking is what you cannot recover: the 15% lost inside a TFSA, and the fund-level withholding buried in a US-listed international fund.

The result is a recommended account for each holding and an estimate of what moving it would save per year against where you hold it today. Account sizes matter, because a placement is only available if the account is large enough to hold the position.

The rules doing the work

US-listed US equity belongs in an RRSP. The treaty exemption means a fund like VTI or VOO pays its US dividends into an RRSP with nothing withheld. The same fund in a TFSA loses 15% of every dividend permanently, which is roughly a quarter of a percent a year at typical yields. That is larger than the fee difference that usually drives fund selection.

Canadian-listed wrappers lose the tax everywhere but a taxable account. A fund such as VFV pays the withholding internally before you see a distribution. Only a non-registered account can recover it, through the T3 slip.

US-listed international funds are the TFSA's worst case. Two layers of withholding stack, neither recoverable inside the account.

Interest-paying holdings avoid taxable accounts. Bond interest is taxed at your full marginal rate, with none of the relief that capital gains or eligible Canadian dividends receive.

Before you move anything

Moving a holding out of a non-registered account has a tax cost even when you do not sell. A brokerage can usually contribute it in kind to a TFSA or RRSP, but that counts as a disposition at fair market value, so an accrued gain is realized now to save a fraction of a percent a year, and the arithmetic often favours leaving it alone. Estimate the bill with the capital gains tax calculator before acting on a recommendation.

The cheap way to fix placement is with money you have not invested yet. Direct new contributions to the account each holding should have been in, and the portfolio converges on the right layout without a single taxable sale. A rebalance you were doing anyway is the other free moment to correct it.

Estimates only. Scores are based on publicly available tax rules and representative fund structures, using assumed yields and blended withholding rates rather than your funds' actual distributions. The optimizer does not model your marginal rate, contribution room, the tax cost of moving a holding, currency conversion, or provincial differences. Withholding rates and treaty rules can change. Verify with your brokerage or a qualified tax professional before acting. This is for planning and information only, not financial or tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is asset location, and how is it different from asset allocation?+
Asset allocation is what you hold: the split between stocks and bonds, Canada and the rest of the world. Asset location is which account each of those holdings sits in. Allocation decides your risk and most of your return. Location decides how much of that return the tax system takes on the way through, and unlike allocation it is close to free to get right.
Why does an RRSP treat US-listed ETFs differently from a TFSA?+
The Canada-US tax treaty exempts recognized retirement plans from US withholding on eligible US-source dividends held directly. An RRSP holding a US-listed fund of US stocks such as VTI or VOO therefore receives those dividends without the usual 15% deduction. A TFSA, FHSA or RESP gets no treaty relief, so 15% of each US dividend is withheld and there is no foreign tax credit to recover it, because the income was never taxable in Canada.
Does holding VFV in my RRSP avoid the withholding tax?+
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. VFV is a Canadian-listed fund, so the fund itself pays the 15% US withholding before the money reaches your account. The treaty exemption applies to the plan holding US securities directly, and it cannot reach through a Canadian-domiciled wrapper. The 15% is lost in an RRSP and a TFSA alike; only in a non-registered account does it flow through on a T3 slip as creditable foreign tax.
Why does the optimizer treat non-registered accounts as having no US withholding drag?+
Because in a taxable account the withholding is generally recoverable. The foreign tax paid flows through to your T3 slip and you claim it as a foreign tax credit when filing, which offsets Canadian tax on the same income. The optimizer scores unrecoverable drag only, so US withholding in a non-registered account is not counted as a cost. Fund-level withholding inside a US-domiciled international fund is different: it is never creditable to a Canadian holder, so it counts as drag in every account.
Why do funds like VXUS and AVDV score so badly in a TFSA?+
They stack two layers of withholding. The fund is US-domiciled and holds non-US stocks, so foreign countries withhold at the fund level first and that layer is never recoverable by a Canadian. Then the US withholds again on the dividend the fund pays out, and inside a TFSA there is no treaty relief and no credit to claim. A US-listed international fund is close to the worst thing you can put in a TFSA on tax grounds alone.
Where should bonds go?+
Usually not in a non-registered account. Interest is taxed at your full marginal rate with none of the preferential treatment capital gains or eligible Canadian dividends receive, which makes taxable accounts an expensive place to hold fixed income. The optimizer scores bonds well in both an RRSP and a TFSA and poorly outside them. Which of the two registered accounts is better depends on your bracket now versus in retirement, which the RRSP vs TFSA calculator answers directly.
Should I sell holdings to move them into the right account?+
Not automatically, and you may not have to sell at all. Most brokerages can contribute a holding in kind from a non-registered account to a TFSA or RRSP, so you keep the position and stay in the market. What you cannot avoid is the tax: an in-kind contribution is a deemed disposition at fair market value, so an accrued gain is realized just as if you had sold, and a loss on such a transfer is denied outright rather than claimable. Either way you are paying tax today to save perhaps 25 basis points a year, which is why fixing placement with new contributions, or as part of a rebalance you were going to do anyway, is usually the better path.
How precise are the drag estimates?+
They are planning estimates built on representative yields and blended withholding rates, not on your funds' actual distributions. The model assumes roughly 1.7% on US equity and 3% on international, with blended withholding of about 7% to 11% depending on the region. Real yields move, fund structures change, and treaty rules can be revised. Use the ranking of placements with more confidence than the exact dollar figure.