"This is probably one of the best times to consider a loan to get caught up and into a regular investing system," says Heather Clarke, director of advanced financial planning for Investors Group Inc. in Winnipeg.

"Generally, at the end of the day you'll get a refund. Then you can pay down the loan or put the money toward next year's contribution," says Ms. Clarke.

Nevertheless, she cautions that RRSP loans should never become habit.

Instead, the discipline imposed by loan repayments should evolve into regular contributions, she says.

Even better, she suggests, is taking out a loan to get a leg up on next year's contributions.

Royal Bank of Canada last year saw a decrease in the number of RRSP loans taken out, with 74,000 using this route, down from 88,000 the year before.

But it's difficult to track the real borrowing story given the number of people now using lines of credit, says Lorna Dover, Toronto-based manager of registered products with Royal Bank.

However, signs are that more customers are going the loan route this year. The bank has increased the number of pre-approved RRSP loan offers to 300,000 customers this year, up from 250,000 last year, Ms. Dover says.

"Getting an RRSP loan can be a smart, economical solution," says Patricia Lovett-Reid, managing director of TD Asset Management. "Given economic uncertainly and market turbulence, there are bargains out there at a time when rates are so low."

Rather than an either-or approach, making contributions and topping up with a loan can make sense, she notes.

To demonstrate, she cites the hypothetical example of a 35-year-old making $60,000, which puts her in a 40-per-cent tax bracket.

This investor contributes $6,800 throughout the year with preauthorized monthly contributions. She decides in February to maximize her contributions with a $4,000 loan, bringing her total RRSP contributions for the year to $10,800.

Receiving the loan on Feb. 5, she defers principal payments for 120 days. Her total contributions will result in a tax refund of $4,320.

As long as she receives the refund before May 5, when payments start, she will be able to repay the $4,000 loan plus the interest accrued for three months which, at 5 per cent, for example, would add up to about $50.

If however, this investor opted not to get a loan, she would still receive an income-tax refund of $2,720. If she put that money into her RRSP, this scenario would result in a total of $9,520 going into her RRSP.

Not only would the second scenario result in less money going into her RRSP, with the first investor coming out $1,280 ahead, the second investor would actually have spent $270 more to achieve lower results.

Not everyone is a fan of RRSP loans.

"As a philosophy, we don't leverage to invest," says Arsenio Bonifacio, retirement plan marketing team leader for Edward Jones in Mississauga.

He adds that he doesn't advise any loan term longer than one year, stressing the importance of paying the borrowed amount back as quickly as possible.

Before taking out a loan, Mr. Bonifacio says, investors should consider other options, such as whether they have other non-registered investments they can contribute in kind, or whether there is a way to invest systematically to reach set goals.

Investors also need to be cautious about where they put their money if they borrow to make an RRSP contribution, says Don Reed, president and chief executive officer of Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. in Toronto.

"I'm guessing rates could be compelling," Mr. Reed says, but he adds that investors need to remember that low-yield investments like GICs or money-market funds will not produce a return high enough to make borrowing attractive or sensible.