FHSA Calculator
First Home Savings Account room, tax savings and growth
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Your FHSA at the end of 2030
$46,415
You contribute
$40,000
Growth
$6,415
Estimated tax saved
$11,860
A qualifying withdrawal to buy your first home can take all of it out, growth included, without it being added to your income, and you do not have to repay it.
Tax saved on 2026's deduction
$2,372
On $8,000 deducted
Marginal rate at your income
29.65%
20.50% federal + 9.15% provincial
Account must close by
Dec 31, 2041
For an account opened in 2026; sooner if you turn 71 first, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal
FHSA room and balance by year
| Year | Carried in | Room | Contributed | Lifetime total | Year-end balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $0 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $8,400 |
| 2027 | $0 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $16,000 | $17,220 |
| 2028 | $0 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $24,000 | $26,481 |
| 2029 | $0 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $32,000 | $36,205 |
| 2030 | $0 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $40,000 | $46,415 |
Assumes you open your first FHSA in 2026, contribute at the start of each year, make no withdrawals or RRSP transfers, and deduct each contribution in the year you make it. Tax saved uses 2026 bracket rates for every year and leaves out credits, surtaxes and premiums.
By the Coast FIRE Calculator editorial team · Methodology · Official sources: CRA: First Home Savings Account (FHSA); CRA: Participating in your FHSAs (participation room and carryforward) · Sources checked September 28, 2026 · Corrections: hello@coastfirecalculator.io
FHSA limits
| Rule | Amount |
|---|---|
| Participation room in the year you open your first FHSA | $8,000 |
| Added each later year | $8,000 |
| Unused room you can carry forward | Up to $8,000 |
| Yearly amount plus the largest carryforward | $16,000 |
| Lifetime limit on contributions and RRSP transfers | $40,000 |
| Lifetime limit on FHSA deductions | $40,000 |
| Tax on an excess FHSA amount | 1% of the highest excess in each month |
| Latest age to open | 71 at December 31 of the year you open |
From CRA's FHSA pages, checked September 28, 2026. The $16,000 figure is simple addition; re-participation room from certain taxable withdrawals can add more.
How FHSA participation room works
Your room starts in the year you open your first FHSA, at $8,000. Each later year adds $8,000 plus a carryforward of the room you did not use, but the carryforward can never be more than $8,000, so skipping two years does not stack up $24,000. Room also stops once your contributions and RRSP transfers reach $40,000.
For example, open an FHSA in 2026 and put in $3,000: $5,000 is unused, so your 2027 room is $8,000 plus $5,000, or $13,000.
The room is one total across all your FHSAs, and both contributions and transfers from your RRSPs use it. CRA's example: with $8,000 of room, a $7,500 RRSP transfer plus a $500 contribution uses all of it. Investment income and growth inside the FHSA do not count against your room. Only the account holder can contribute.
Who can open an FHSA
When you open the account you must meet all of these conditions:
- You are a resident of Canada.
- You are at least 18 (19 where that is the age of majority) and no older than 71 on December 31 of the year you open it.
- You are a first-time home buyer: in this calendar year and the previous 4, you did not live, as your principal residence, in a qualifying home that you owned or jointly owned.
- If you have a spouse or common-law partner, you also did not live in one they owned or jointly owned in that time.
The first-time buyer test for making a qualifying withdrawal later is separate and checked again at that time.
Tax saved by an $8,000 FHSA deduction in 2026
| Province or territory | Taxable income $50,000 | Taxable income $75,000 | Taxable income $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | $1,760 | $2,440 | $2,440 |
| British Columbia | $1,568 | $2,256 | $2,256 |
| Manitoba | $2,032 | $2,660 | $2,660 |
| New Brunswick | $1,872 | $2,760 | $2,760 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $2,125 | $2,800 | $2,904 |
| Nova Scotia | $2,316 | $2,974 | $2,995 |
| Northwest Territories | $1,592 | $2,328 | $2,328 |
| Nunavut | $1,440 | $2,200 | $2,200 |
| Ontario | $1,524 | $2,372 | $2,372 |
| Prince Edward Island | $2,198 | $2,968 | $2,968 |
| Quebec | $2,055 | $2,889 | $2,889 |
| Saskatchewan | $1,960 | $2,640 | $2,640 |
| Yukon | $1,632 | $2,360 | $2,360 |
Federal plus provincial or territorial tax on the income, minus the same tax after the deduction, at the 2026 brackets from CRA and Revenu Quebec, checked September 28, 2026. For Quebec the federal part is after the 16.5% Quebec abatement. Credits, surtaxes such as the Ontario surtax, and the Ontario Health Premium are not included.
Contributions are deductible in the year you make them or any later year, even after the FHSA is closed, up to $40,000 in total. Contributions made after your first qualifying withdrawal, transfers in from an RRSP, and excess amounts you designate as a withdrawal cannot be deducted. Putting in $8,000 a year for 5 years from 2026 at a 5% return gives about $46,415 at the end of 2030, with about $11,860 of tax saved in Ontario at $75,000 of income.
Buying your home, or not
A qualifying withdrawal is not added to your income and does not have to be paid back. To qualify you must be a first-time home buyer at the time of the withdrawal, have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home in Canada before October 1 of the year after the withdrawal, not have bought it more than 30 days before, stay a resident of Canada until you buy it, intend to live in it as your main home within a year, and give Form RC725 to your FHSA issuer.
If you do not buy, you can transfer the money directly to your RRSP or RRIF with no immediate tax, and it does not use your RRSP deduction room. You pay tax on it later when it comes out of the RRSP or RRIF. A withdrawal that is not qualifying, and anything left after your participation period ends, is taxable income. The RRSP calculator shows your own room; the TFSA calculator covers money you want to keep flexible, since you cannot transfer directly from an FHSA to a TFSA.
Sources
- CRA: First Home Savings Account (FHSA)
- CRA: Participating in your FHSAs (participation room and carryforward)
- CRA: Opening your FHSAs
- CRA: Tax deductions for FHSA contributions
- CRA: Withdrawals and transfers out of your FHSAs
- CRA: Closing your FHSAs
- CRA: Current year tax rates and income brackets (2026)
- Revenu Quebec: Income tax rates
- Revenu Quebec: Line 215, FHSA deduction
- CRA T4032-QC, Payroll Deductions Tables, Quebec, January 2026 (16.5% abatement)