The FHSA contribution limit is $8,000 a year and $40,000 over your lifetime, with up to $16,000 in a single year when you carry forward unused room. This guide covers the 2026 and 2027 limits, how carry-forward works in real examples, and what happens if you go over. YieldMaple checked the CRA’s “Participating in your FHSAs” page (last updated by the CRA on September 17, 2026) and its FHSA deductions page on September 29, 2026: the annual limit is $8,000 and unused room carries forward up to $8,000. This page is general education, not financial advice.
For the full account rules, see FHSA explained. To compare accounts for a down payment, read FHSA vs TFSA.
FHSA contribution limits at a glance
| FHSA limit | Amount or rule |
|---|---|
| Annual contribution limit (2026) | $8,000 |
| New room for 2027 | $8,000 |
| Lifetime contribution limit | $40,000 |
| Carry-forward of unused room | Up to $8,000 |
| Most room in one year | $16,000 |
| Carryforward in the year you open your first FHSA | $0, so room only starts building from the year you open an account |
| Tax on an over-contribution | 1% per month on the highest excess amount in each month |
| Contribution deadline | December 31 (no 60-day window) |
Sources: CRA, “Participating in your FHSAs” and “Tax deductions for FHSA contributions”, checked September 29, 2026.
In plain terms: the annual limit is $8,000, the lifetime limit is $40,000, and carry-forward is capped at $8,000, so no one can have more than $16,000 of room in a year. Over-contributions are taxed at 1% per month on the highest excess amount in each month, and each year’s contributions must be in by December 31.
What is the FHSA contribution limit for 2026?
The FHSA contribution limit for 2026 is $8,000 of new room, plus up to $8,000 carried forward from 2025 if you opened your first FHSA in 2025 or earlier.
That gives three common situations in 2026:
- You open your first FHSA in 2026: your room is $8,000. The carryforward in the year you open is $0, so room only starts building from the year you open an account.
- You opened in 2025 and contributed the full amount: your 2026 room is $8,000.
- You opened in 2025 and contributed nothing: your 2026 room is $16,000, the $8,000 for 2026 plus $8,000 carried forward.
The limit covers cash contributions and transfers from an RRSP combined. Per the CRA, RRSP-to-FHSA transfers are not deductible (they still use FHSA room).
What is the FHSA limit for 2027?
The FHSA limit for 2027 is $8,000 of new room: the CRA’s own 2027 room calculations on its “Participating in your FHSAs” page add a flat $8,000 for the year.
The FHSA’s annual amount is a flat dollar figure, and it has been the same since the account launched on April 1, 2023. Your 2027 room is that amount plus whatever you carry forward from 2026, capped at $8,000.
| Year | New FHSA room | Most room possible that year |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $8,000 | $8,000 (first year the account existed) |
| 2024 | $8,000 | $16,000 |
| 2025 | $8,000 | $16,000 |
| 2026 | $8,000 | $16,000 |
| 2027 | $8,000 | $16,000 |
The “most room possible” column applies only if you opened your first FHSA in an earlier year and used none of the previous year’s room. Every year is also capped by what is left of the $40,000 lifetime limit.
What is the FHSA lifetime limit?
The FHSA lifetime limit is $40,000 of contributions and RRSP transfers, counted across every FHSA you hold.
- Five full years reach it. Five years of full contributions add up to the lifetime limit.
- Growth doesn’t count. Per the CRA, investment income and capital gains earned in an FHSA generally do not count toward your participation room. An FHSA that grows well past the lifetime limit through investment gains is not over-contributed.
- Deductions share the cap. The most you can deduct over your lifetime is $40,000 (RRSP-to-FHSA transfers reduce it).
- The account has an end date. Your participation period ends December 31 of the year of the earliest of: the 15th anniversary of opening your first FHSA, turning 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal.
How does FHSA carry-forward work?
FHSA carry-forward lets you add unused room from the previous year to this year’s $8,000, but the amount carried forward is capped at $8,000.
The CRA’s formula for every year after the first is the lesser of $8,000 and your unused room from the prior year. Four worked examples, three taken from official government examples:
Example 1: partial contribution (Finance Canada example). Someone contributes $5,000 in their first year. The next year they can put in $11,000 ($8,000 of new room plus the $3,000 left unused the year before).
Example 2: skipped first year (CRA example). Someone opens a first FHSA in June 2026 and contributes nothing. Their 2027 room is $16,000, the maximum for any one year.
Example 3: a long break. Someone opens an FHSA in 2024 and contributes nothing in 2024, 2025 or 2026. Their 2027 room is still $16,000, not $32,000, because carry-forward never exceeds $8,000. The two years of skipped room beyond the cap are gone.
Example 4: an over-contribution (CRA example). Someone with $8,000 of room contributes $8,000 and also transfers money from an RRSP in the same year, leaving an excess of $5,000 ($13,000 put in against $8,000 of room). Their 2027 room falls to $3,000 (the $8,000 of new room minus the $5,000 excess).
The takeaway from Example 3: skipping more than one year permanently costs room. Reaching the lifetime limit takes at least five years of contributions, and anyone who skips years needs more years to get there.
When does FHSA contribution room start?
FHSA contribution room starts in the calendar year you open your first FHSA, not at age 18 and not when you become a resident. The carryforward in that first year is $0, so room only starts building from the year you open an account.
That is the main difference from the other registered accounts. TFSA room builds every year from age 18 whether or not you have an account, and RRSP room builds from earned income. With the FHSA, a year without an open account adds no room at all. Someone eligible in 2024 who first opens an FHSA in 2026 has $8,000 of room in 2026, not $24,000.
To open one, the CRA requires that you be a resident of Canada, meet the age test (18 or older (19 where that is the legal age to sign a contract) and 71 or younger on December 31 of the year you open it) and be a first-time home buyer, meaning you did not live, as your principal residence, in a home you owned or jointly owned (in Canada or abroad) earlier in the current calendar year or in the previous 4 calendar years. Opening an FHSA with no deposit still starts the room clock, and the CRA requires Schedule 15 with your tax return for the year you open your first FHSA, even with no contributions.
What happens if you go over the FHSA limit?
If you go over the FHSA limit, the CRA taxes the excess at 1% per month on the highest excess amount in each month until it is withdrawn, designated or absorbed by next year’s room.
You report and pay that tax on Form RC728, the FHSA Return. An excess left at year-end also reduces the following year’s room, as in Example 4 above, where next year’s room dropped to $3,000 (the $8,000 of new room minus the $5,000 excess).
The most common causes:
- Adding up several FHSAs wrong. Holding more than one FHSA is allowed, but one participation room covers all of your FHSAs combined.
- Forgetting an RRSP transfer. Transfers use the same room as contributions.
- Counting years before the account was opened. Room starts only in the year you open your first FHSA.
- Stacking two years of carry-forward. The carryforward cap is $8,000, no matter how many years you skip.
Is there an FHSA contribution deadline?
Yes: FHSA contributions count for the calendar year, so the deadline for 2026 room is December 31, 2026. Contributions made in the first 60 days of a year cannot be deducted on the previous year's return, unlike RRSP contributions.
The deduction itself is flexible. You can claim contributions in the year you contribute or a future year, so a contribution made in a low-income year can be deducted in a later year when your tax rate is higher. One limit applies: deducting contributions made after your first qualifying withdrawal is not allowed for any year.
How FHSA contributions reduce your taxes
FHSA contributions are deducted from your income like RRSP contributions, and a qualifying withdrawal to buy a first home is tax-free like a TFSA withdrawal.
A worked example with an illustrative marginal tax rate of 30%:
- Contribution: $8,000
- Tax reduction: $2,400
- Net cost of the contribution: $5,600
Spread across a year, the full annual limit works out to about $667 a month. Your real saving depends on your own marginal rate, which the RRSP contribution limit guide and your notice of assessment help you estimate.
How the FHSA limit fits with TFSA and RRSP room
The FHSA, TFSA and RRSP each have separate room, so using one does not reduce the others.
| Account | 2026 limit | Room starts | Contribution deductible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| FHSA | $8,000 (lifetime $40,000) | Year you open your first FHSA | Yes |
| TFSA | $7,000 | Age 18, as a resident | No |
| RRSP | Up to $33,810 | Earned income | Yes |
The FHSA allows $8,000 a year, the TFSA dollar limit is $7,000 for 2026, and RRSP room is unused room carried forward, plus the lesser of 18% of last year's earned income and the annual RRSP limit, minus your pension adjustment, up to $33,810 for 2026. The RRSP’s Home Buyers’ Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 for a first home, and using both is allowed, as long as you meet the conditions of each at the time of each withdrawal. The Home Buyers’ Plan guide covers its repayment rules.
Couples: each partner who qualifies as a first-time home buyer can open their own FHSA with their own $40,000 lifetime limit, for $80,000 of combined room. The first-time buyer test also looks at homes a spouse or partner owned: you also can't have lived, as your principal residence, in a home your spouse or common-law partner owned in that same period.
For the TFSA side, see the TFSA contribution limit guide.
Where can you hold an FHSA?
You can hold an FHSA at a bank, credit union or online brokerage, and it can contain generally the same qualified investments allowed in an RRSP or TFSA. The limit is the same wherever you open it.
- Self-directed brokerage FHSA (ETFs and stocks): a Wealthsimple FHSA charges $0 commission on listed stocks and ETFs, and Wealthsimple lists its account minimum as none; the Wealthsimple Trade review covers the platform. Questrade charges $0 to buy and sell Canadian and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs.
- Savings FHSA (cash): EQ Bank pays 1.50% on its FHSA savings account (rates effective October 2, 2026).
- GICs: many banks offer GICs that can be held in an FHSA.
Investments such as ETFs can fall in value, while cash and GICs don’t; how close you are to buying a home affects how much that swing matters. The best FHSA in Canada comparison and the best brokerage for an FHSA compare providers side by side, and our complete Wealthsimple guide covers the rest of the platform.
What happens to FHSA room if you never buy a home?
If you never buy a home, your contributions are not lost: you can move the money directly to an RRSP or RRIF with no immediate tax, and generally no effect on your unused RRSP deduction room (Form RC721).
That transfer has to happen before your participation period ends, which ends December 31 of the year of the earliest of: the 15th anniversary of opening your first FHSA, turning 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal. After that date no more FHSA room is available, so the limit only matters while the account is open.
Bottom line
The FHSA contribution limit is $8,000 a year for 2026 and $8,000 for 2027, with a $40,000 lifetime cap. Carry-forward is capped at $8,000, so the most room in any single year is $16,000.
The rules that cost people room or money:
- Room starts only in the year you open your first FHSA.
- Skipping more than one year loses room permanently.
- RRSP transfers and every FHSA you hold share one limit.
- Contributions must be in by December 31; there is no 60-day window.
Read next
- FHSA explained: how the account works from opening to withdrawal
- Best FHSA in Canada: where to open one
- FHSA vs TFSA: which account to fill first for a down payment
- RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan: pairing the HBP with an FHSA
- TFSA contribution limit: TFSA limits by year
- How to invest in Canada: what an FHSA can hold