CETFA wants Ottawa to stem the flow of savings to US funds and create an incentive for Canadians to invest in domestic companies and funds
Rising living costs have made it harder for many Canadians to set money aside, and the industry body representing the country's exchange-traded fund sector says a growing share of whatever savings households do manage to build is ending up outside Canada altogether.
The Canadian ETF Association (CETFA) has unveiled a proposal for what it's calling the Maple Investment TFSA, an account designed to give Canadians a financial incentive to save while keeping more of that capital invested domestically.
Under the proposal, households earning $90,000 a year or less would have their contributions matched by the federal government on a dollar-for-dollar basis, up to $1,000 annually, provided the funds are invested in Canadian companies or Canadian-domiciled funds. A saver who contributes $1,000 would see the government add a further $1,000 to the account.
CETFA points to a widening gap in where Canadian money is actually invested. The association estimates Canadians now hold roughly $300 billion in US-domiciled ETFs, capital it argues could instead be deployed to support homegrown businesses and jobs.
"For too many Canadians, saving feels out of reach — and the savings that do happen are increasingly leaving the country," said Eli Yufest, Executive Director of CETFA. "The Maple Investment TFSA changes both. It rewards people for putting money aside, and it makes sure that when they do, their money is working for Canada — supporting Canadian businesses and Canadian jobs. It's a simple, targeted way to help families get ahead while strengthening our own economy."
Existing TFSA usage falls short
CETFA's case also rests on how underused the existing Tax-Free Savings Account already is.
The association cites figures showing close to 90% of TFSA holders fail to use the full contribution room available to them, while nearly half keep their TFSA balances in cash rather than investments, leaving years of potential market growth untapped. The new program is intended to push more savers toward investing rather than sitting on uninvested cash.
CETFA says the Maple Investment TFSA doesn't need to be built as an entirely separate product. It could instead be layered onto the existing TFSA framework that millions of Canadians already hold, an approach the association says would make adoption simpler since the underlying account structure would already be familiar.
CETFA pegs the cost of the matching grant at approximately $2.7 billion annually for the federal government, or about 0.08% of the size of Canada's economy. Over a 25-year horizon, the association estimates the total cost at $69 billion to $77 billion. In exchange, CETFA projects the program could pull as much as $55 billion in new investment into Canadian markets over that period and bring an additional 13 million Canadians into a savings account who don't currently have one. Because eligibility is capped at the $90,000 income threshold, CETFA notes that all of the government support under the program would flow to lower- and middle-income households.
Budget 2026
The association is now pushing for the proposal to be included in the federal government's Budget 2026 and has suggested it could be introduced as a phased or pilot program first, allowing its effects to be measured before any wider expansion.
CETFA represents Canada's exchange-traded fund industry nationally, working with investors, advisors, regulators and policymakers on ETF adoption. As of May 31, Canadian ETFs held close to $850 billion in assets across more than 2,000 funds, offered by 49 domestic asset managers and held by more than one in five Canadians.
