Is topping up SRS actually worth it just for the tax relief?

Been contributing to SRS for years, here's the honest calculus. SRS is worth it in proportion to your marginal tax rate. If you're in a high bracket, every dollar contributed saves you that bracket's percentage in tax now, that's a real, immediate return. If you're in a low bracket, the tax saving is small and the lock-up may not be worth it. The lock-up isn't forever, you can withdraw from the statutory retirement age, and crucially only 50% of withdrawals are taxable if you spread them out then, so many people pay little or no tax on the way out. The catch people miss: don't just park SRS as idle cash, it earns almost nothing sitting there, you should invest it, into funds, shares, T-bills, so it actually grows over the decades. Done right, high earner, invested, withdrawn gradually in retirement, it's a solid tax-efficient wrapper. Done wrong, low earner, left as cash, locked up, it's underwhelming. Match it to your tax rate and commit to investing it.