Registered retirement savings plan contributions reached a record $32.4 billion in 2006, Statistics Canada reported today. Contributions rose 5.8% from 2005.

Just under 6.2 million taxfilers contributed to an RRSP in 2006, an increase of 60,000 or 1% from 2005. This was the highest level since 2001, when over 6.2 million people contributed to an RRSP.

Alberta had the largest gain in the number of contributors, an increase of almost 26,000.

Data are from income tax returns filed in the spring of 2007.

Despite these record levels, many taxfilers aren’t contributing and the vast majority of contribution room remains untapped. Of the 88% of taxfilers eligible to contribute to an RRSP in 2006, about 31% actually made contributions, which is comparable to 2005. The contribution total represented about 7% of the total room available to eligible taxfilers, which is the same ratio as in 2005.

Total contributions increased in all provinces and territories in 2006 except for PEI (-7.2%), New Brunswick (-2.3%), and Nunavut, which remained relatively stable. The decrease in PEI is a turnaround from 2005, when the province had recorded the largest increase (+21.8%) in the country. In 2006, taxfilers in Alberta recorded the largest percentage increase (+12.5%) in total contributions, followed by those in the Northwest Territories (+12.1%) and Saskatchewan (+8.6%).

Nationally, the median contribution was $2,730 in 2006, up $100 from 2005. The median contribution in the three territories again surpassed those in all provinces, continuing a historical trend.

The highest median contribution at the census metropolitan area level occurred in Calgary, where it was $3,580, followed by Vancouver at $3,350, and Toronto at $3,250. The same three CMAs have occupied the top three positions for the last five years.

The largest percentage gains in total contributions among CMAs were in Greater Sudbury (+13.7%), followed by Thunder Bay (+13.0%), Calgary (+12.8%), and Edmonton (+11.2%). This is a change from 2005, when Calgary and Edmonton had the largest percentage increases in total contributions.

Of the 27 CMAs, 20 had an increase in the number of contributors in 2006, while the remainder were relatively stable.