Thirty-one percent of Canadians make contributions to RRSPs, but the two untold stories about RRSPs—not to chew up too much of your time—is that a Harvard study recently showed the average RRSP administration fee, what are called MERs, bleed about 35% to 40% of an RRSP over a 40-year work career. There are massive mutual fund fees charged to RRSPs. They don't have any protection against market slumps. So when markets tank by 52%, as we've seen in the last 18 months—they've rebounded since—your RRSP tracks that. The Canada Pension Plan is the same if you retire in a slump or if you retire in a good period. It's a defined benefit, not a defined contribution RRSP.
On October 27th, 2009. See this statement in context.