An investment account statement shows what you own, what you paid for it, what it earned, what it cost you in fees, and how it performed. For a non-registered account, it’s also the starting point for tax. This page walks through each part. It’s part of the investing basics hub; for registered accounts, see how to read an RRSP statement or a RRIF statement.
The main sections
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Account summary | Account type (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP or non-registered), total market value and cash |
| Holdings | Each investment: units, price, market value, book value and unrealized gain or loss |
| Transactions | Purchases, sales, dividends and distributions, interest, fees, contributions, withdrawals and transfers |
| Income | Dividends, distributions and interest received in the period |
| Performance | Return for the period and longer periods; the annual performance report must use a money-weighted return, and some firms also show a time-weighted one |
| Fees | Commissions, account and management fees charged in the period |
Check the account type first: the same holding is taxed very differently in a TFSA, an RRSP and a non-registered account.
Book value, market value and gains
Market value is what your holdings are worth at the statement date. Book value (book cost) is what you paid, including purchase charges, adjusted for reinvested distributions, returns of capital and corporate reorganizations; some statements show original cost instead, and the statement says which it uses. The difference is your unrealized gain or loss, which isn’t taxed.
When you sell, the gain or loss is realized. In a non-registered account, a capital gain is the proceeds minus selling costs minus your adjusted cost base (ACB), and 50% of it is included in income. An allowable capital loss is applied first against your taxable capital gains of the same year. What is left (a net capital loss) can reduce taxable capital gains in any of the three years before, or in any future year. A net capital loss usually can only be applied against taxable capital gains, not other income. See the capital gains inclusion rate.
Your ACB for tax isn’t always the broker’s figure: check whether the statement shows book cost or original cost, since only book cost includes reinvested distributions and returns of capital. Even book cost can differ from your ACB if you hold the same security at more than one broker (the ACB is averaged across all of them), if return of capital or reinvested distributions are reported after year end, after a superficial loss, or when a transfer-in was recorded at market value. The responsibility for reporting the right figure is yours.
Superficial losses: A capital loss is a superficial loss, and can't be deducted, if you or a person affiliated with you (such as your spouse or common-law partner, or a corporation either of you controls) buys, or has a right to buy, the same or identical property in the period from 30 calendar days before to 30 calendar days after the sale, and still owns it or has a right to buy it 30 calendar days after the sale. If you are the one who acquires the substituted property, you can usually add the denied loss to its adjusted cost base, so it reduces your gain or increases your loss when you sell it.
Income
| Income | Tax in a non-registered account | Slip |
|---|---|---|
| Interest | Fully taxable | T5 |
| Eligible Canadian dividends | Grossed up, with the dividend tax credit (see below the table) | T5 |
| Other (non-eligible) Canadian dividends | Grossed up, with the dividend tax credit for non-eligible dividends | T5 |
| Foreign dividends | Fully taxable; a foreign tax credit may apply for tax withheld | T5 |
| Fund and ETF distributions | Depends on what the distribution is made of | T3 |
| Proceeds of sales | Used to calculate capital gains | T5008 |
Canadian dividends: Dividends from taxable Canadian corporations are grossed up and then reduced by a dividend tax credit; foreign dividends don't qualify. A dividend is an eligible dividend only when the Canadian corporation paying it to a resident of Canada designates it as one (eligible dividends usually come from Canadian public corporations and other corporations resident in Canada that are subject to the general corporate tax rate); other taxable dividends, usually from Canadian-controlled private corporations subject to the small business tax rate, are other than eligible (non-eligible) dividends. The taxable amount, reported on line 12000, is the dividend plus a gross-up of 38% for an eligible dividend or 15% for a non-eligible one, whose taxable amount also goes on line 12010. The federal dividend tax credit is 15.0198% of the taxable amount of eligible dividends and 9.0301% of the taxable amount of other dividends: the total of the credit amounts on your slips (T5 boxes 12 and 26, T3 boxes 39 and 51), or from the line 40425 chart of the Federal Worksheet without a slip. Outside Quebec, a provincial or territorial dividend tax credit, at the rates of the province or territory where you lived at the end of the year, is claimed on line 61520 of Form 428; Quebec residents claim Quebec's credit on their Revenu Québec return.
Inside a TFSA, income and gains generally aren’t taxed or reported. In an RRSP or RRIF they’re not taxed until withdrawn, when the withdrawal is taxed as income. See the dividend tax credit and the foreign tax credit.
Fees
| Fee | Where it shows up |
|---|---|
| Trading commissions | On each purchase or sale in the transactions; many brokers now charge none on stock and ETF trades |
| Account administration fees | Charged yearly or quarterly at some brokers, often waived above a minimum balance |
| Currency conversion | Built into the exchange rate on US-dollar trades, not listed separately |
| Advisor or robo-advisor management fees | Deducted from the account, usually monthly or quarterly |
| Fund management expense ratio (MER) | Deducted from the fund’s value rather than charged to you directly; from the 2026 reporting year, the annual charges report shows the total fund expenses you paid in dollars and each fund’s expense ratio |
For a non-registered account, the Canada Revenue Agency allows fees for certain investment advice as carrying charges, but not brokerage commissions (which go into the cost or proceeds instead). Fees for services on registered accounts such as RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and FHSAs aren’t deductible. The online broker comparison lists current commissions.
Performance
A time-weighted return measures how the investments performed, regardless of when money went in or out; it’s the one to compare with a fund’s published return or an index. A money-weighted return reflects your own deposits and withdrawals, so it shows what you actually earned; a large deposit just before a fall pulls it down. Returns over more than a year are usually shown annualized.
At tax time (non-registered accounts)
T5 and T5008 slips are due by the end of February, and T3 slips for funds and ETFs within 90 days of the trust’s year-end (March 31 for a December 31 year-end), so a return that includes fund distributions often can’t be completed until April. Use the statement’s transactions to check each sale against your ACB and to confirm any foreign tax withheld.
Related resources
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 23, 2026 and October 1, 2026. How we check facts.
- Canada Revenue Agency: Capital Gains – 2025
- Canada Revenue Agency: Eligible dividends
- Canada Revenue Agency: Federal dividend tax credit – Personal income tax
- Canada Revenue Agency: Lines 12000 and 12010 – Taxable amount of dividends from taxable Canadian corporations
- Government of Ontario: Ontario dividend tax credit