Canada Disability Savings Bond (CDSB)
BCEI (Bon canadien pour l'épargne-invalidité) in French
Quick definition
The Canada Disability Savings Bond (CDSB) is money the federal government deposits into a lower-income beneficiary's RDSP with no contribution required: up to $1,000 a year and $20,000 over a lifetime, paid until the end of the year the beneficiary turns 49.
How much the bond pays
If adjusted family net income is $35,000 or less (as of July 2026), the government deposits the full $1,000 for the year into the RDSP. Above that, the bond shrinks gradually and reaches zero at $53,359. The lifetime maximum is $20,000 per beneficiary, and payments continue until the end of the year the beneficiary turns 49.
Payment is automatic. Once the plan exists, the government checks income every year and deposits whatever the beneficiary qualifies for. There is no annual form, no renewal, and no minimum balance.
Open the account. That is the entire strategy.
Everything about the bond comes down to one action: an RDSP that exists collects it, and an RDSP that does not exist collects nothing. No deposit is required, ever. A beneficiary who qualifies every year from 30 to 49 receives $20,000 without contributing a cent, before any investment growth.
If money is tight, that is not a reason to wait; it is the exact situation the bond was designed for. The account can be opened with zero dollars at a participating financial institution, and the government starts depositing on its own. For eligible low-income Canadians, an unopened RDSP is a standing offer of $1,000 a year being declined by default.
Carry-forward: up to $11,000 in one year
Bond entitlements accumulate from 2008 or from the year the beneficiary became eligible for the Disability Tax Credit, whichever is later, and the past 10 years of unused entitlements are claimable. Opening a plan late therefore triggers a lump-sum deposit, capped at $11,000 of bonds in a single year (as of July 2026): the current year's $1,000 plus up to $10,000 of missed years.
Whose income counts, and why tax filing matters
Until the end of the year the beneficiary turns 18, eligibility is based on the parents' family income. From the year the beneficiary turns 19, it is based on their own income (plus a spouse's, if any). Since many adult beneficiaries have modest incomes, the full bond often becomes available at exactly that point, even in families that never previously qualified.
Eligibility for a given year comes from tax returns filed two years earlier, so the beneficiary must file a return every year, even with zero income. Like the GIS for seniors, the bond is income-tested through the tax system: no return, no bond.
If contributions ever become possible, the grant stacks on top
The bond needs no contributions, but the same account also pays the CDSG when contributions do happen. At the income levels where the full bond applies, every $1,500 contributed attracts $3,500 of grant. A family member's occasional gift can therefore multiply on top of the automatic bond, all in one plan.
In Canada
The CDSB is federal and identical in every province, and RDSP savings and withdrawals are generally exempt from income-tested federal and provincial benefits, so collecting the bond does not erode social assistance or disability supports. The gateway is Disability Tax Credit approval, which is what makes someone eligible to open an RDSP at all.
The 10-year holdback applies to bonds just as it does to grants: government money received in the 10 years before a withdrawal must be repaid at $3 for every $1 withdrawn. The bond rewards accounts that are opened early and left alone.
Worked example
Karim is 34, has been approved for the Disability Tax Credit since 2019, and lives on about $28,000 a year. In 2026 he opens an RDSP with $0. The bond deposits $1,000 for the current year plus $7,000 of carry-forward for 2019 through 2025: $8,000 of government money, no contribution ever made. If his income stays below the threshold, another $1,000 arrives each year until he reaches the $20,000 lifetime maximum or the end of the year he turns 49, whichever comes first, all of it growing tax-deferred.
Reviewed by Alexandre Bernier, CFP®, CIM®, PFP®·Updated July 2026