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First Home Savings Account (FHSA)

What is an FHSA?

Work towards your goal of buying your first home with a First Home Savings Account (FHSA). The FHSA is a new registered plan that can help you save for your first home tax-free. If you’re at least 18 (and no less than the age of majority in your province), have a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and have not owned a home where you lived this year or at any time in the preceding four calendar years, you may be eligible to open an FHSA.Legal Disclaimer 1

Reasons to Invest in an FHSA:

  • Use it to save up to $40,000 for your first home
  • Contribute tax-free for up to 15 years
  • Unused contribution room can be carried over to the next year, up to a maximum of $8,000
  • Potentially reduce your tax bill and carry forward undeducted contributions indefinitely
  • Pay no taxes on any investment earnings
  • Complements the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)
Is an FHSA right for me?

How an FHSA Works

Here’s how an FHSA can help you save for your first home:

A First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is a type of registered plan, which means you can hold investments in it to help you reach your goal of owning a home faster.

At RBC, there’s no minimum balance required to open an account and you’ll be able to hold a full range of investment products.

Tip: Whether you want to make your own investment decisions or have professionals manage your investments for you, it’s easy to invest in an RBC FHSA.

Since your investment earnings aren’t taxed, your money will have the opportunity to grow faster in an FHSA than it would in a traditional savings account.

You can make tax-deductible contributions of up to $8,000 a year in an FHSA, up to a lifetime maximum of $40,000. Unused room can be carried over to the next year, up to a maximum of $8,000.

Tip: Setting up regular (weekly, monthly, etc.) automatic contributions into your FHSA is an easy way to help you stay on track towards your savings goals.

Make a tax-free withdrawal at any time to purchase a qualifying home.

Tip: You’ll be able to use both an FHSA and the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) to purchase a qualifying home. Keep in mind that you’ll have to repay any funds through the HBP, but not with an FHSA.

Check out Save to Buy a Home for more tips on saving.

Numbers to Know

$8,000

Annual tax-deductible FHSA
contribution limit

$40,000

Lifetime FHSA
contribution limit

$0

How much you’ll pay in taxes
on FHSA earnings
(if you make a qualifying withdrawal to use for your first home)

Benefits When You Invest With RBC

Free digital tools to help you plan and save

See a clear view of your money, get tips and save automatically with smart tools such as MyAdvisor and NOMI Find & Save.

Advice when you need it

Speak with an advisor in-person, by phone or over video—whether you're investing $50 or $5,000.

Freedom to invest how you want

Work with an advisor, do it yourself, let advisors invest for you or try all three.

Compare the FHSA to Other Registered Plans

See how an FHSA compares to a TFSA or RRSP.

Compare Plans TFSA vs RRSP vs FHSA

FHSA FAQs

The funds in your First Home Savings Account (FHSA) have to be used by December 31 of the 15th year after opening your first FHSA account or the year you turn 71, whichever comes first. If you have not used the funds in your FHSA by that time, they can be transferred tax-free to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) without impacting your RRSP contribution room, or to your Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF); otherwise, your withdrawal will be taxed.

There are 2 ways you can open an account:

1) Through RBC Direct Investing:

  • Call your own shots with our low-cost online trading and investing service
  • Hold stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and more in your FHSA1
  • Make informed investment decisions using expert research and other resources like free real-time streaming quotes2

    • Open An Account

2) Through RBC InvestEase

  • Our pros will pick, buy and manage the investments in your FHSA for you
  • We match you to a low-cost, expertly constructed portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on your answers to a few simple questions
  • Track your progress online anytime and speak to a Portfolio Advisor if you have questions or need advice

    • Open An Account

Have Questions? Call 1-800-769-2563 (1-800-ROYAL-63).

To open a First Home Savings Account (FHSA), you must be:

  • At least 18 years of age and no less than the age of majority in the province where you live
  • A Canadian resident
  • A first-time homebuyer (meaning, you and/or your spouse or common-law partner have not owned a home where you lived in the calendar year in which you open the account or at any time in the preceding four calendar years)

You can hold the following product offerings in a First Home Savings Account (FHSA):

  • Savings deposits
  • Stocks, options and bonds
  • Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
  • Cash
  • GICs4
  • Mutual Funds

It depends. If you make a qualifying tax-free withdrawal, no taxes will be deducted from the amount, and you will not have to include the amount in your taxable income that year.

To make a qualifying withdrawal from your First Home Savings Account (FHSA) you must meet the following conditions:

  • Be a first-time homebuyer
  • Have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home in Canada by October 1 of the year after you make the withdrawal from your FHSA
  • Intend to live in the home within a year of buying or building it
  • Be a resident of Canada throughout the period from the withdrawal to the acquisition of the house

You can also transfer funds from your FHSA to another FHSA, Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) on a tax-free basis.

If you make a withdrawal from your FHSA for any other purpose, your withdrawal will be subject to withholding tax and the amount you withdraw will be added to your taxable income. Plus, your FHSA contribution room will not be re-instated.

Once you make a qualifying withdrawal, you will need to close your account and transfer or withdraw all funds left in your FHSA by December 31 of the following year. If you make a non-qualifying withdrawal, you will not have to close your account (unless you have had it for 15 years or are turning 71)—but your contribution room will not be reinstated.

You can open a First Home Savings Account (FHSA) and make tax-deductible contributions of up to $8,000 annually, to a lifetime maximum of $40,000. If you don’t contribute the full $8,000 in a single year, the balance can be carried forward and added to next year’s contribution amount. This means that if you contribute less than $8,000 within the year, you can contribute the unused amount in the subsequent year in addition to the $8,000 annual contribution limit and contribute a maximum of $16,000 in a given year.

Your funds and any investment earnings can stay in the FHSA and grow tax-free with every contribution you make until you’re ready to buy your first home. As long as you use the funds for your qualifying first home, you won’t have to pay any taxes on your FHSA withdrawal(s).

The funds in your FHSA have to be used by December 31 of the 15th year after opening the account, or by December 31 of the year you turn 71, whichever comes earlier. If you have not used the funds in your FHSA by that time, you can transfer the funds from your FHSA on a tax-free basis to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) without impacting your RRSP contribution room, or to your Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF). Otherwise, you can withdraw funds from your FHSA, but your withdrawal will be taxed.

No, you can use both your First Home Savings Account (FHSA) as well as make a withdrawal from your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) under the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) (opens in a new window) to purchase a qualifying home. Keep in mind that with a HBP withdrawal, you’ll have to repay any funds you withdraw from your RRSP. There is no repayment requirement for withdrawals from an FHSA.

Yes, you can carry forward any unused FHSA contribution room from the prior year up to a maximum of $8,000 (subject to your lifetime contribution limit of $40,000). This means that if you contribute less than $8,000 within the year, you can contribute the unused amount in the subsequent year in addition to the $8,000 annual contribution limit.

For example, if you contribute $5,000 to your FHSA in 2023, you would be allowed to contribute $11,000 in 2024 (i.e., $8,000 plus the remaining $3,000 from 2023).

See All FAQs

Invest in an FHSA today

Choose from the following options to open an account:

Have Questions ?

Call 1-800-769-2563 (1-800-ROYAL-63) or book an appointment with an RBC Advisor.

Royal Bank of Canada and RMFI shall not be liable for any losses or damages arising from any errors or omissions in information contained in this calculator.

Financial planning and investment advice are provided by RMFI. Mutual Funds are sold by RMFI. RMFI, RBC Global Asset Management Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Trust Corporation of Canada and The Royal Trust Company are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. RMFI is licensed as a financial services firm in the province of Quebec.

Information about the First Home Savings Account is based on what is currently available from the Canadian government and can be subject to change.

You may be eligible to open an FHSA if you or your spouse have never owned a home in which you lived at any time during the part of the calendar year before the account is opened or at any time in the preceding four calendar years.
Assets in an FHSA must be Qualified Investments under the Income Tax Act. If the FHSA holds non-Qualified Investments, it could be subject to tax.
Real-time streaming quotes are available automatically to all clients for exchange listed equities, ETFs and most over-the-counter (OTC) securities. Real-time streaming quotes for options and grey market OTC securities are available to Active Traders and Royal Circle clients upon accepting the terms and conditions of all exchange agreements on the RBC Direct Investing online investing site
Certain GICs cannot currently be purchased, sold or transferred into your FHSA.