RRSP or TFSA? Which to choose?

I DIY investing is mostly with CIBC. They have a platform to start TFSA and RRSP.

At first, I was thinking about investing in RRSP alone. If you think of your RRSP room and tax refunds, you will do that too. 

When I was having part-time jobs, I had to pay taxes on income. A little bit of research made me understand taxes withheld was not correct. Each employer was cutting the tax based on what they paid me. So, I was like, okay, I will put money in RRSP. That worked. 

Then, I happened to read books and blogs on TFSA. It has a big potential!  You can have your money grow thee without worrying about taxes in the future. If you are making hourly wages and it is not a big amount, it is good to have TFSA. The money withdrawn from TFSA is not considered as your income. But RRSP withdrawals are considered as your income and that will make you receive less benefit from the government. 

So, I changed strategy and think more of TFSA now a days. 

I started with investing in ETFs. Now I am more interested in investing in dividend paying stocks. 

An important thing for every one to know about TFSA: if you invest in US companies, then dividend tax is withheld. For Canadian stocks, the dividend is not taxed. 

Bindu