A Spousal RRSP is a Registered Retirement Savings Plan whose annuitant (the eventual recipient) is your spouse, but you make the contributions. The contribution comes out of your RRSP room and gets recorded as your deduction, but the funds and future withdrawals belong to your spouse.
Why bother: if you and your spouse expect to retire with significantly different incomes (the most common case: one of you was the higher earner), withdrawals from a Spousal RRSP are taxed at your spouse's marginal rate, not yours. Properly used, this can save thousands a year in retirement.
The 3-year attribution rule: contributions made in the current year or any of the two preceding years are attributed back to the contributor for tax purposes if withdrawn. In plain English: if you contribute to a Spousal RRSP in 2026, your spouse can't withdraw from any of their spousal RRSP plans until 2029 without that withdrawal showing up on your tax return.
Practical setup: open the Spousal RRSP account at any major brokerage (Wealthsimple, Questrade, Banks). The application asks for both spouses' SINs and names the contributor and annuitant explicitly.
The Tax-Free First Home Savings Account (FHSA) has made Spousal RRSPs slightly less common for younger couples — but they remain very useful for couples where one spouse is in a much higher bracket and they're saving for retirement, not a first home.