FHSA Calculator Canada 2026
Project your First Home Savings Account growth, tax savings, and total down payment power. Canada’s most powerful home-buying account — tax deduction going in, tax-free coming out.
Why the FHSA Is Canada’s Best Home-Buying Tool
The First Home Savings Account uniquely combines tax-deductible contributions like an RRSP and tax-free withdrawals like a TFSA — but only for a qualifying first home purchase. No other Canadian account gives you both a deduction going in and tax-free growth and withdrawal coming out.
Unused contribution room carries forward by up to $8,000. Open your FHSA as early as possible — even with a $1 contribution — because carry-forward room accumulates from the year you open the account, not the year you start contributing meaningfully.
For the same qualifying purchase you can use both. The HBP lets each person withdraw up to $60,000 from their RRSP (updated August 2024), repayable over 15 years. A couple using both programs can access up to $200,000 in registered savings for their down payment.
Unlike RRSPs, there is no 60-day grace period for FHSAs. Contributions made in January or February of 2027 count toward your 2027 tax year, not 2026. Set a reminder to contribute before year-end to claim the deduction on your 2026 return.
FHSA Calculator — Frequently Asked Questions
$8,000 per year and $40,000 lifetime. Up to $8,000 of unused room carries forward, so you can contribute a maximum of $16,000 in a single year.
Canadian residents aged 18 to 71 who are first-time buyers — meaning you didn't own a home you lived in during the current year or the previous four calendar years.
Yes — contributions are deductible like an RRSP, and qualifying withdrawals to buy a first home are completely tax-free like a TFSA. It's the only account with both benefits.
Yes. $40,000 from the FHSA (tax-free, no repayment) plus up to $60,000 from the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan equals $100,000 per person toward the same home.
Transfer the full balance to your RRSP or RRIF tax-free, without using any RRSP room. See our FHSA guide for the full strategy.
The only account that is deductible going in and tax-free coming out
The FHSA is genuinely unique in the Canadian system. Contributions are tax-deductible like an RRSP, and qualifying withdrawals to buy a first home are completely tax-free like a TFSA. Nothing else gives you both ends.
The limits are $8,000 a year, $40,000 lifetime. Unused room carries forward, but only up to $8,000 — so the most you can ever contribute in one year is $16,000, and skipping two full years permanently loses room. Critically, room only starts accumulating once you open an account. Opening one costs nothing and starts the clock, which is the single best action for anyone who might buy within fifteen years.
Combining with the Home Buyers' Plan
You can use both the FHSA and the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan on the same purchase — a change from the original rules, and still widely misreported. That is $40,000 from an FHSA plus $60,000 from the HBP, up to $100,000 per person toward a down payment, or $200,000 for a qualifying couple.
The difference between them matters: HBP money must be repaid to your RRSP over 15 years, and a missed repayment is added to your income. FHSA money is never repaid. If you can only fund one, fund the FHSA first. You may also transfer RRSP funds into an FHSA tax-free, though that uses FHSA room and does not restore RRSP room.
Deadlines that catch people out
- The contribution deadline is December 31, not the RRSP's 60-day grace period. A January contribution counts for the new year.
- The account has a 15-year maximum life, or until the end of the year you turn 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal — whichever comes first.
- You must be a first-time buyer — not having owned a home you lived in during the current year or the previous four calendar years. A previous owner can become eligible again after that window.
- Over-contributions cost 1% per month on the excess, with no $2,000 buffer of the kind the RRSP allows.
You can also deduct in a later year than you contribute — worth doing if you expect a materially higher income soon, since the deduction is worth more at a higher marginal rate.
If you never buy a home
Nothing is lost. You can transfer the entire balance, including growth, into an RRSP or RRIF tax-free — and it does not use RRSP contribution room. That makes the FHSA close to risk-free: you take the deduction now, and if the purchase never happens the money simply becomes retirement savings. Withdrawing it as cash instead is the only bad outcome, since that amount is fully taxable. Given the deduction, the tax-free growth, the compatibility with the HBP and the costless exit, there is very little reason for an eligible Canadian not to open one. See our FHSA guide for the detail.