LIRA or locked-in RRSP – which plan applies to you?
It all depends on which jurisdiction (provincial or federal) your employer's plan was established under.
How do these plans work?
With a LIRA or a locked-in RRSP, you manage your supplemental pension plan yourself and watch it grow tax free.
Unlike an RRSP, these investments are locked in, because they're intended to provide you with retirement income. This means you usually can't take out the money until you retire.
You have to transfer your LIRA or Locked-In RRSP into a LIF/LRIF or a life annuity by December 31 of the year you turn 71.