How much FHSA contribution room do you have?
The First Home Savings Account stacks $8,000 CAD a year up to a $40,000 CAD lifetime cap. Unused room carries forward — one year's worth at most — and a 15-year clock starts the day you open it.
Your account
Your contributions
All-time totals$16,000 CAD accrued this year, including $8,000 CAD carried over from last year.
How FHSA contribution room works
- You can contribute $8,000 per year, up to a lifetime maximum of $40,000. Contributions are deductible like an RRSP, and a qualifying withdrawal to buy a first home is tax-free like a TFSA.
- Room only starts once you open the account — unlike a TFSA, nothing accrues for the years before that.
- Unused room carries forward, but only up to $8,000. Skipping two years does not give you $24,000 of room in the third.
- The account can stay open for 15 years, until the end of the year you turn 71, or until the year after your first qualifying withdrawal, whichever comes first. Unused balances can then move to an RRSP or RRIF tax-free.
- You must be a Canadian resident aged 18 to 71 and a first-time home buyer: no home you or your spouse owned and lived in during this year or the previous four.
- Transfers from an RRSP into an FHSA use FHSA room but do not create a new deduction; the money was already deducted once.
Source rules: CRA: First Home Savings Account
FHSA questions, answered
How much can I contribute to an FHSA each year?
$8,000 per calendar year, plus up to $8,000 of carried-forward room from a previous year in which the account was open. The lifetime limit is $40,000.
Does FHSA room accumulate before I open the account?
No. Participation room begins in the year you open your first FHSA. This is the biggest difference from a TFSA, and the main reason to open the account early even if you cannot fund it yet.
Can I use both the FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan?
Yes. Since 2023 you can make a tax-free FHSA withdrawal and an RRSP Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal of up to $60,000 for the same home purchase.
What happens to my FHSA if I never buy a home?
When the account reaches its 15-year limit or you turn 71, the balance can be transferred to an RRSP or RRIF without using RRSP room and without tax. Cashing it out instead is taxable income.
Is the FHSA deduction like an RRSP deduction?
Yes. Contributions reduce taxable income in the year you claim them, and like an RRSP you can carry the deduction forward to a higher-income year. Contributions in the first 60 days of a year do not count for the previous year, unlike an RRSP.
Related calculators
Looniee tracks FHSA room with the carry-forward cap and the lifetime limit applied, alongside your TFSA and RRSP. Create a free account or try the live demo.
Informational only — verify your numbers at CRA My Account before contributing.