Should I overcontribute to my group RRSP and pay the tax penalty? + MORE Oct 23rd

Q. My employer has a fantastic group Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). They match employee contribution is up to 4%, of earnings, and they also provide a year-end bonus of 5% of earnings if you contribute the full 4%. Needless to say, I have taken advantage of this and been able to max out my RRSP contribution room.
However, I was on maternity leave for most of 2016. I still contributed to my RRSP with little income and now have almost no RRSP room.  So, do I reduce my contributions to account for my limited RRSP contribution room? Or do I keep up the full 4% to get the benefit of the employer’s 4% and 5% contribution and just pay the penalty of over-contributing this year? Even when you factor in the $2,000 wiggle room, I will be about $3,500 over.
— Thanks, Shelagh S.
A. Keep contributing. Sell a kidney to keep contributing to the max. First, the match your generous employer is offering up will likely exceed the CRA penalty by a wide margin. I don’t know what your income is, but let’s say that the 5% match is worth $3,000 to you…