FHSA (First Home Savings Account) Calculator

How it works

Room each year = $8,000 + unused room carried forward (max $8,000), within $40,000 lifetime Balance: start-of-year deposits (B + c) × (1 + r); end-of-year B × (1 + r) + c; monthly B × (1 + r) + c/12 × Σ (1 + rₘ)^j, rₘ = (1 + r)^(1/12) − 1 Refund = tax on income − tax on (income − contribution), or contribution × marginal rate Down payment = FHSA balance (× 2 for a couple) + HBP withdrawal (up to $60,000 each) · minimum down payment = 5% of the first $500,000 + 10% of the rest (20% at $1.5 million or more)

The First Home Savings Account, launched in 2023, combines the best features of Canada’s two main registered accounts. Contributions are deductible, so you get a refund at your marginal tax rate as with an RRSP, and a qualifying withdrawal for a first home is tax-free with nothing to repay, as with a TFSA. You get $8,000 of participation room in the year you open your first FHSA and each year after, up to $40,000 in total. If you contribute less than $8,000, up to $8,000 of the unused room carries forward, so a catch-up year can take up to $16,000. Room only starts once the account is open, so opening one early starts the clock even if you deposit nothing yet. The calculator applies these limits year by year, caps planned deposits at the room available, grows the balance at your return and works out each year’s refund from the provincial tax tables or your own marginal rate. Deductions do not have to be claimed in the year you contribute; claiming them in a higher-income year can give a bigger refund. Couples each get their own FHSA and Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal of up to $60,000 from their RRSPs, and the HBP is repaid over 15 years; for a first HBP withdrawal made from 2026 to 2028, repayments start in the fifth year after the withdrawal. If you never buy, the FHSA can be transferred to an RRSP or RRIF tax-free without using RRSP room, but it must close within 15 years of opening or by the end of the year you turn 71.

Worked example

$8,000 a year for five years at 5%, deposited at the start of each year, puts in $40,000 and grows to about $46,415. In Ontario at $70,000 of taxable income each deduction returns about $2,372, so the five refunds total roughly $11,860. A couple doing the same has about $92,830 between them, and adding $60,000 each from their RRSPs under the Home Buyers’ Plan brings the down payment to about $212,830. Deposited monthly at 7%, $8,000 a year for five years grows to about $47,730.

Sources: CRA — First Home Savings Account (FHSA) · CRA — Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)

Frequently asked questions