First-time buyers · FHSA · TFSA · RRSP

FHSA, TFSA or RRSP first?

The FHSA and the RRSP give you the same tax refund for every dollar. The difference is what you have to pay back. Put in your income and what you can save, and see three ways to build a down payment side by side, with real 2026 tax for your province.

Your numbers

Province or territoryReal 2026 federal and provincial tax brackets.Your taxable income, per year

Before tax and before any FHSA or RRSP deduction. Assumed the same every year until you buy.What you can save, per year

The same amount goes in each year, split between the accounts by each route.Years until you buy

4 years

Year 1 is 2026; you buy at the end of 2029.Unused TFSA room today

Used by Route C. Each later year adds $7,000 (the 2026 limit). Up to $109,000 if you have been 18 or older and resident every year since 2009 and never contributed.

Kept in today's dollars: no investment growth is assumed, refunds are shown rather than reinvested, and 2026 tax rules apply to every year. You open the FHSA in year 1, and we assume you have enough RRSP room.

The honest answer, for your numbers

FHSA first. Then TFSA or RRSP: it depends on your tax rate later

Route A gives $4,512.00 more in refunds now than Route C. That extra is mostly a tax deferral: the $16,000 repaid into your RRSP is taxed when it comes out in retirement. With no growth and in today's dollars, as this page assumes, A comes out ahead only if your tax rate then is below the 28.2% this income saves now; if you expect a similar or higher rate later, or want the flexibility of money you never have to pay back, Route C. (Because HBP repayments come years later, real returns and inflation tilt it a little toward A.) Route A also means $1,066.66 a year more to repay, 2031 to 2045.

For a first-time buyer the FHSA normally comes first, with any employer match alongside: it is deductible going in, tax-free coming out on a qualifying withdrawal for your home, and never repaid. If your employer matches group-RRSP contributions, put in enough to get the full match alongside your FHSA, not instead of it (and check that your plan allows HBP withdrawals: some group or locked-in RRSPs do not). Once the FHSA is full, the real question is TFSA or RRSP next, which is what Routes A and C show for your income. You can use the FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan on the same home.

Same refund either way. The difference is what you must pay back.

A and B deduct every dollar you save (FHSA and RRSP contributions are both tax-deductible), so their refunds are identical: $13,536.00 over 4 years. But B, the RRSP alone, leaves you $32,000 more to pay back, because FHSA money never has to be repaid and HBP money does. And B uses $48,000 of RRSP contribution room where A uses $16,000; paying the HBP back later does not give that room back. C's refund is $9,024.00: smaller, because the money it keeps in a TFSA is not deductible.

Three ways to save the same $12,000 a year

FHSA first, then RRSP

FHSA → RRSP

Tax refunds over 4 years: $13,536.00
In the FHSA (tax-free, never repaid): $32,000
In the TFSA (tax-free, never repaid): $0
In the RRSP: $16,000
Taken out under the HBP: $16,000
Left in the RRSP for retirement: $0
Down payment available: $48,000
HBP to repay: $16,000
Each year, 2031 to 2045: $1,066.66
Extra tax if you skip one year: $300.79

RRSP only

RRSP → HBP

Tax refunds over 4 years: $13,536.00
In the FHSA (tax-free, never repaid): $0
In the TFSA (tax-free, never repaid): $0
In the RRSP: $48,000
Taken out under the HBP: $48,000
Left in the RRSP for retirement: $0
Down payment available: $48,000
HBP to repay: $48,000
Each year, 2031 to 2045: $3,200.00
Extra tax if you skip one year: $902.40

FHSA, then TFSA, then RRSP

FHSA → TFSA → RRSP

Tax refunds over 4 years: $9,024.00
In the FHSA (tax-free, never repaid): $32,000
In the TFSA (tax-free, never repaid): $16,000
In the RRSP: $0
Taken out under the HBP: $0
Left in the RRSP for retirement: $0
Down payment available: $48,000
HBP to repay: $0

Before you take money out under the HBP: leave new RRSP money in for at least 90 days. Contributions made in the 89 days before an HBP withdrawal may not be deductible. These numbers assume every RRSP dollar went in earlier than that, and that your last FHSA contribution goes in before you buy (FHSA contributions after your first qualifying withdrawal are not deductible).

Year by year

Year	FHSA room	FHSA	TFSA	RRSP	Refund
2026	$8,000	$8,000	$0	$4,000	$3,384.00
2027	$8,000	$8,000	$0	$4,000	$3,384.00
2028	$8,000	$8,000	$0	$4,000	$3,384.00
2029	$8,000	$8,000	$0	$4,000	$3,384.00

What goes into each account that year, and that year's tax refund. You buy at the end of the last year.

Not a first-time buyer?

Then you can't open an FHSA (one you opened while you qualified can stay open: see the rules below), and the Home Buyers' Plan is usually off the table too (it has its own first-time buyer test, with exceptions for a disability or the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership). The question becomes TFSA or RRSP. For a down payment the TFSA is usually the better fit: it comes out tax-free and never has to be paid back, while RRSP money taken out without the HBP is added to your income and taxed.

Owned a home before? Check the calendar years. For an FHSA opened in 2026, the test looks at 2022 to 2026. If you owned and lived in a home but moved out in 2021 or earlier, that home no longer counts against you. Living in a home your spouse or common-law partner owns counts against you too; renting does not. The exact tests are below.

The rules, exactly

Read from CRA's pages and the Income Tax Act on October 18, 2026.

First Home Savings Account (FHSA)

$8,000 of contribution room a year, starting the year you open your first FHSA. Nothing builds up before you open one, so it pays to open it early, even before you have money to put in.
Unused room carries forward, but at most $8,000 into a year, so the most you can put in in one year is $16,000.
Lifetime limit: $40,000 of contributions. Growth in the account does not count against it, and taking money out does not give room back.
Contributions are tax-deductible, like an RRSP's, and you can save the deduction for a later year. Unlike an RRSP, money you put in during January or February cannot go on the previous year's return.
A qualifying withdrawal to buy a home in Canada, while you meet the first-time buyer test below, comes out tax-free and never has to be paid back. Contributions made after your first qualifying withdrawal are not deductible.
Putting in more than your room costs 1% a month on the excess. Moving RRSP money into an FHSA uses FHSA room and gives no deduction.
It must close by December 31 of the earliest of: the 15th anniversary of opening your first FHSA, the year you turn 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal.
Don't buy? The FHSA can move into your RRSP (or RRIF) tax-free without using any RRSP room, but only as a direct transfer between the accounts, and only if you have not over-contributed.

Who counts as a first-time buyer: three separate tests

To open an FHSA: you are a resident of Canada, at least 18 (19 at some issuers, where that is the age of majority) and no older than 71 on December 31 of the year you open it. And at no time in that calendar year (before you open it) or the 4 calendar years before it did you live, as your principal residence, in a home owned (alone or jointly) by you, or by the person who is your spouse or common-law partner when you open it. Renting does not count against you, and neither does owning a rental you never lived in.
It is calendar years, not "five years from today". Open an FHSA in 2026 and the look-back is 2022 to 2026. Owned and lived in a home but moved out in 2021 or earlier? That home no longer counts against you: owning a home once does not shut you out forever (the other conditions above still apply). Moved out during 2022? Wait until 2027. In general, you can open one in the fifth calendar year after the last year you lived there (moved out in 2024: 2029).
To take an FHSA withdrawal tax-free, you pass a test at the time of each withdrawal: from January 1 of the fourth calendar year before through the 31st day before the withdrawal, you did not own and live in a home (your spouse's home does not matter for this one). You must have signed a written agreement to buy or build the home before you withdraw; the home must be in Canada and bought or built before October 1 of the year after the withdrawal; you must not have bought it more than 30 days before the withdrawal; you must intend to live in it within one year after buying or building it; and you must be a resident of Canada from the withdrawal until you buy or build it.
For the Home Buyers' Plan: the same 4-calendar-year window for you, plus your spouse or common-law partner at the time of the withdrawal must not have owned a home you lived in during your relationship. The same 30-day rule applies, a written agreement to buy or build the home must be in place before the withdrawal, and the home must be bought or built before October 1 of the year after the withdrawal.
Only the HBP has exceptions. A disability: you or a related person qualifies for the disability tax credit and the home is more accessible or better suited to that person. Or the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership: you have lived separate and apart for at least 90 days, starting in the withdrawal year or the 4 years before, and you generally must sell the old home by the end of the second year after the withdrawal unless you are buying out your former partner's share (it does not help if you live in a new partner's home). The FHSA has no exceptions like these.
The first-time buyer test for an FHSA is applied when you open it. Our reading of the rules: if you stop being a first-time buyer later, you can keep the FHSA, contribute and deduct until it has to close, but you cannot open a new one, and a home withdrawal is tax-free only if you pass the withdrawal test at that time. Otherwise it can move directly to your RRSP.

RRSP Home Buyers' Plan (HBP)

Take up to $60,000 per person out of your RRSP, tax-free, to buy a qualifying home while you meet the first-time buyer test (it does not have to be your first-ever home; for withdrawals after April 16, 2024; it was $35,000 before). Two first-time buyers buying together can each take $60,000. Check that your plan allows it: some RRSPs, such as locked-in or group RRSPs, do not allow HBP withdrawals.
It must be paid back into your RRSP over 15 years. A year's repayment you skip is added to your income for that year and taxed.
When repayments start: for a first HBP withdrawal made in 2026, 2027 or 2028, the fifth year after the withdrawal year (a 2026 withdrawal is repaid 2031 to 2045). For a first withdrawal after 2028, under current law, the second year after.
Leave new RRSP money in for at least 90 days: contributions made in the 89 days before an HBP withdrawal may not be deductible.
Paying the HBP back does not give you back the RRSP contribution room your original contributions used.
You can use the FHSA and the HBP for the same home.

Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)

Not tax-deductible, so there is no refund going in. Withdrawals are tax-free for any purpose, never have to be repaid, and the amount comes back as room on January 1 of the next year (putting it back in the same year can over-contribute).
Over-contributing costs 1% a month on the excess, with no cushion. An FHSA cannot be moved directly into a TFSA.
The 2026 limit is $7,000; this calculator assumes the same each later year, in today's dollars. Someone 18 or older and resident in Canada every year since 2009 who has never contributed can have up to $109,000 of room.

RRSP room

This calculator assumes you have enough RRSP room. Your real new room each year is 18% of last year's earned income, up to $33,810 for 2026, plus unused room carried forward (and less any pension adjustment). Your notice of assessment shows the number.
A deduction only helps until your tax reaches zero; beyond that it does no good this year. FHSA and RRSP deductions can be carried forward and claimed in a later year instead. This calculator does not model that.

Where the rules come from: CRA, Opening your FHSAs · CRA, Contributing to your FHSA · CRA, Tax deductions for FHSA contributions · CRA, Withdrawals and transfers out of your FHSAs · CRA, Closing your FHSA · CRA, What is the Home Buyers' Plan · CRA, Participating in the HBP · Finance Canada, Spring Economic Update 2026 measures enacted (HBP repayment start) · Income Tax Act, s. 146.01 (Home Buyers' Plan, incl. the 2026–2028 repayment start) · Income Tax Act, s. 146.6 (First Home Savings Account) · CRA, What is a TFSA · CRA, TFSA contribution room · CRA, TFSA withdrawals · CRA, RRSP and TFSA dollar limits · CRA Taxology podcast, TFSA or RRSP: what's the difference

Where the tax figures come from (British Columbia, 2026): CRA — Tax rates and income brackets for 2026 (federal, provincial and territorial tables) · CRA — T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas, January 2026 (federal basic personal amount and its phase-down; the indexed provincial and territorial amounts) · Government of B.C. — Personal income tax rates (2026 brackets) · Government of B.C. — Basic tax credits (basic personal amount, B.C. tax reduction) · Government of B.C. — Budget 2026 tax changes (lowest rate 5.06% to 5.60%; tax reduction raised by $115 to $690) · CRA — T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas, July 2026 (the prorated B.C. 6.14% and $805 — withholding only)

General information, not financial advice: this page shows how the accounts work for tax, which contribution gives a refund and what has to be paid back, never which investments will do better. Confirm the tax treatment for your situation with an accountant. Want the full explanation in plain words? Read FHSA, TFSA or RRSP first?

What this calculator does that most don't

Works out each year's refund from the real 2026 federal and provincial tax brackets for all thirteen provinces and territories, never a single "marginal rate" guess
Shows the Home Buyers' Plan repayment, the years it runs, and the tax if you skip a year
Puts three orders side by side, FHSA then RRSP, RRSP alone, and FHSA then TFSA then RRSP, and shows what Route A's extra refund saves now, against the tax rate you expect when the money comes out in retirement
Tracks FHSA room the way CRA counts it: yearly room, the capped carry-forward and the lifetime limit

Want a real plan, not just an estimate?

Send Ramin exactly what you just calculated — your scenario rides along automatically, so the first conversation starts at your numbers, not at zero.

or use the full contact form

Free personalized quote

Buying your first home?

Once you know where the down payment comes from, the next questions are how much you qualify for and what it costs to close. We'll run your exact numbers. Free, no obligation, same-day reply.

Get my free personalized quote

No credit pull · No spam · Reply within hours

Common questions

Should I put money in an FHSA or my RRSP first?+

If you are a first-time buyer, usually the FHSA. Both are tax-deductible, so the refund is the same per dollar. The difference comes after: a qualifying FHSA withdrawal for your home comes out tax-free and never has to be paid back, while RRSP money taken out under the Home Buyers' Plan must be paid back over 15 years. Fill the FHSA first ($8,000 a year, $40,000 lifetime), then decide where the rest goes.

FHSA, TFSA or RRSP: in what order?+

For a first-time buyer, the FHSA normally comes first: it is deductible going in, tax-free coming out on a qualifying withdrawal for your home, and never repaid. Once it is full, the real question is TFSA or RRSP next. The RRSP gives a refund the TFSA does not, and its Home Buyers' Plan money has to be repaid; the TFSA gives no refund and nothing to repay. Much of the RRSP's bigger refund is a tax deferral: the money is taxed when it comes out in retirement, so an RRSP helps most when your tax rate now is higher than it will be then. The calculator shows both side by side, and the tax rate your income saves now, so you can compare it with the rate you expect in retirement. If your employer matches group-RRSP contributions, put in enough to get the full match alongside your FHSA, not instead of it, and check that your plan allows HBP withdrawals (some group or locked-in RRSPs do not).

Can I use the FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan for the same home?+

Yes. You can take your FHSA out tax-free and up to $60,000 from your RRSP under the Home Buyers' Plan for the same home. Two first-time buyers buying together can each do both.

Do I have to pay back money I take out of an FHSA?+

No. A qualifying FHSA withdrawal to buy a home in Canada, while you meet the first-time buyer test, is tax-free and never has to be repaid. That, not a bigger refund, is what puts it ahead of the RRSP for a down payment.

What happens if I miss a Home Buyers' Plan repayment?+

The amount you should have repaid that year is added to your income and taxed. The calculator shows what one skipped year would cost at your income. You repay over 15 years. When repayments start: for a first HBP withdrawal made in 2026, 2027 or 2028, the fifth year after the withdrawal year (a 2026 withdrawal is repaid 2031 to 2045). For a first withdrawal after 2028, under current law, the second year after.

I owned a home before. Can I still open an FHSA?+

Possibly. The test counts calendar years: you must not have lived, as your principal residence, in a home you or your spouse or common-law partner owned (your spouse or partner at the time you open it) at any time in the year you open the FHSA, before you open it, or in the 4 calendar years before. For an FHSA opened in 2026 that is 2022 to 2026, so a home you moved out of in 2021 or earlier no longer counts against you (the residency, age and spouse conditions still apply). Moved out during 2022? You can open one in 2027. Renting does not count against you.

What if I never buy a home?+

Your FHSA can move into your RRSP or RRIF tax-free without using any RRSP room, as long as it is a direct transfer and you have not over-contributed. It has to close by December 31 of the earliest of the 15th anniversary of opening your first FHSA, the year you turn 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal.

Case Studies — files like this

Anonymized case studies from our files. Names and identifying details removed.

The whole question, in plain words: FHSA, TFSA or RRSP first? →

Know your down payment? See what it buys with the affordability and stress test calculator, what insurance costs under 20% down with the mortgage insurance calculator, and the cash you need on the day with the closing cost calculator.

Every calculator here is built on published Canadian government rules and lender methodology. This one was built and checked for accuracy on October 18, 2026 — the arithmetic verified against those rules and the page re-read on screen. Rates and thresholds change — we confirm the current numbers for your file before you rely on them.