The FHSA

First Home Savings Account

An account to buy your first home: contributions are like an , and the withdrawal to buy isn’t taxed, like a .

The 2026 numbers

Numbers checked against the official sources on September 29, 2026.

Building a down payment and paying less tax along the way.
Taking it all out, growth included, tax-free to buy.
If the purchase never happens, moving it to your RRSP tax-free without using RRSP .

First-time buyers aged 18 to 71 who live in Canada: this year (before opening) and in the previous 4 calendar years, you didn’t live in a home owned by you or your current spouse.
In a couple, each person has their own room: up to $80,000 for the same home.

Room starts the year you open the account: $8,000 a year, up to $40,000 in total. No account, no room: opening early, even with nothing in it, starts the clock.
Unused room carries forward to the next year, up to $8,000.
Every contribution is deductible, but you can save the deduction for a year when your income, and your , is higher.
The account must close by the end of the 15th year after you open it, the year you turn 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal, whichever comes first.
It works together with the for the same home: up to $60,000 more from your RRSP.

Employment income of $60,000 in Québec

You open an FHSA and put in $8,000 this year.

Province or territoryExample: Québec

Calculated with 2026 federal and provincial tax.

Fictional example, round numbers.

Waiting until you have money to open the account: room only starts once it’s open.
Putting in more than your room: the excess is taxed at 1% a month.
Withdrawing for anything other than a qualifying purchase: the withdrawal is then taxed as income.
Not checking you qualify when you open it: you must be a first-time buyer at opening.