10/16/2026
๐๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐จ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป?
An FHSA is a registered account that helps first-time home buyers save for their home. You can contribute up to $8,000 each year, with a lifetime limit of $40,000, and these contributions are tax-deductible. If you use the money to buy your first home, you can withdraw it tax-free. If you do not use the funds to buy a home,
you can usually transfer them tax-free to your RRSP or RRIF, or you can withdraw them, but you will have to pay tax on those withdrawals.
On May 14, 2026, a French Technical Interpretation examined whether buying a qualifying home without making a qualifying withdrawal would end the FHSAโs participation period, limit future contributions, or affect transfers to an RRSP or RRIF.
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
The CRA decided that simply buying a qualifying home does not end the FHSAโs participation period. This period ends at the end of the year after the first of these events: 14 years after opening your first FHSA, turning 70, or making your first qualifying withdrawal. Acquiring a home alone does not trigger it. Also, receiving a home as a gift or inheritance counts as an acquisition, not just a purchase. So, during this period, you can keep your FHSA open and keep contributing as long as you stay within the annual limit.
๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐
-๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐น
However, if you buy and live in the home, it can affect your ability to make another qualifying withdrawal in the future. If you want to use FHSA funds tax-free to buy another qualifying home later, you must meet the rules for a qualifying withdrawal at that time. This includes the first-time homebuyer requirement. Usually, you must not have owned and lived in a home as your main residence at any time during the four years before the withdrawal, or earlier in the same year. So, if you still own and live in your first home during this period, you generally will not meet this condition.
๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ/๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐
Before your FHSA participation period ends, you can transfer FHSA funds (as long as they are not excess amounts) directly to your RRSP or RRIF tax-free. This does not use up your RRSP deduction room. If you acquired a qualifying home without making a qualifying withdrawal, you can still make this transfer.
๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
Think about whether it is better to keep your FHSA open or close it with a qualifying withdrawal after you have acquired a home.
