What is the FHSA limit for 2026?

You get $8,000 of FHSA participation room in the year you open your first FHSA, and $8,000 more each year after that, plus up to $8,000 of unused room carried forward. Contributions and transfers from your RRSPs both use the room, up to a $40,000 lifetime limit.

Can I carry forward unused FHSA room?

Yes, up to $8,000. Unused room from one year carries into the next, so the most you can put in during a single year is $16,000. Room only starts once you have opened your first FHSA: opening one early starts it, even if you don’t contribute that year.

Do RRSP transfers count toward FHSA room?

Yes. Your participation room covers contributions and transfers from your RRSPs combined, across all your FHSAs. Contributions are generally deductible on your tax return; transfers from your RRSPs are not.

Who can open an FHSA?

A resident of Canada who is at least 18 (19 where that is the legal age to sign a contract) and no older than 71 on December 31 of the year the account is opened, and who is a first-time home buyer: you didn’t live in a home owned by you — or by your spouse or common-law partner — in that year or the previous four calendar years.

What if I contribute too much to my FHSA?

Going over your participation room creates an excess FHSA amount, taxed at 1% per month on the highest excess in each month until it’s removed. It is reported on form RC728, and an excess left at the end of the year reduces the next year’s room.

How long can I keep an FHSA open?

Your maximum participation period ends on 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. Before then, you can transfer what’s left to an RRSP or RRIF on a tax-deferred basis, or withdraw it as taxable income.

Free tool · FHSA room · no signup

FHSA contribution-room calculator Room for your first home, year by year.

Work out your FHSA participation room year by year: the annual limit, the carryforward and what’s left of the lifetime limit.Confirm that this ordinary participation-room worksheet fits your situation, then enter every year’s amount.

Participation room per year

$8,000

Lifetime limit

$40,000

Track your accounts free Edit the inputs

Confirm that this ordinary participation-room worksheet fits your situation, then enter every year’s amount.

Quick answer

FHSA limit 2026: $8,000 a year, $40,000 for life

Participation room per year: $8,000; $8,000 in the year you open your first FHSA
Most room in a single year: $16,000; $8,000 plus up to $8,000 carried forward
Lifetime limit: $40,000; Contributions and RRSP transfers combined

Your FHSA participation room is $8,000 in the year you open your first FHSA. After that, each year adds $8,000 plus up to $8,000 of unused room carried forward from the year before — so at most $16,000 in one year — until your contributions and RRSP transfers reach the $40,000 lifetime limit.

Checked on canada.ca, October 6, 2026. Source: Participating in your FHSAs — participation room and carryforward

Your inputs

Use your records across all your FHSAs, in Canadian dollars. Count contributions and RRSP transfers together; enter 0 for a year with none.

Year you opened your first FHSA

Contributions + RRSP transfers so far in 2026 ($)

Since opening my first FHSA I have had no excess FHSA amount, no withdrawals or designated amounts, and my participation period is still open.

Your estimate

Ordinary case: the first year’s room is the annual limit; each later year adds the annual limit plus last year’s unused room (capped), never more than the lifetime limit minus everything already contributed or transferred.

Confirm that this ordinary participation-room worksheet fits your situation, then enter every year’s amount.

Investment income inside the FHSA doesn’t use room. Excess amounts, taxable or qualifying withdrawals, designated amounts and re-participation room change the CRA calculation and aren’t modelled. Your CRA account shows your official participation room.

FHSA limits at a glance

The CRA’s participation-room rules, in dollars. Room only starts once you open your first FHSA.

FHSA participation-room rules
Rule	Amount
Room in the year you open your first FHSAContributions and RRSP transfers share it, across all your FHSAs.	$8,000
Room added each later yearPlus the carryforward, within the lifetime limit.	$8,000
Unused room you can carry forwardOnly from the year before — it never builds up beyond this.	$8,000
Most room in a single year$8,000 + $8,000 carried forward.	$16,000
Lifetime limitGrowth inside the account doesn’t count.	$40,000
Maximum participation periodEnds December 31 of the year of the 15th anniversary of opening — sooner at 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal.	15 years

Worked example

The default scenario, computed with this tool’s own math — replace the inputs above with your own numbers.

You open your first FHSA in 2024 with $8,000 of room and put in $5,000; the $3,000 left over carries forward, so 2025 opens with $11,000. You contribute $8,000, and in 2026 the room is $11,000 ($3,000 carried in). After $3,000 so far, $8,000 is left — and $24,000 of the $40,000 lifetime limit.

Carried forward into 2026: $3,000
2026 participation room: $11,000
Room left in 2026: $8,000
Lifetime room left: $24,000
2027 room if you stop now: $16,000

Common questions

What the numbers mean — and what they leave out.

What is the FHSA limit for 2026?: You get $8,000 of FHSA participation room in the year you open your first FHSA, and $8,000 more each year after that, plus up to $8,000 of unused room carried forward. Contributions and transfers from your RRSPs both use the room, up to a $40,000 lifetime limit.
Can I carry forward unused FHSA room?: Yes, up to $8,000. Unused room from one year carries into the next, so the most you can put in during a single year is $16,000. Room only starts once you have opened your first FHSA: opening one early starts it, even if you don’t contribute that year.
Do RRSP transfers count toward FHSA room?: Yes. Your participation room covers contributions and transfers from your RRSPs combined, across all your FHSAs. Contributions are generally deductible on your tax return; transfers from your RRSPs are not.
Who can open an FHSA?: A resident of Canada who is at least 18 (19 where that is the legal age to sign a contract) and no older than 71 on December 31 of the year the account is opened, and who is a first-time home buyer: you didn’t live in a home owned by you — or by your spouse or common-law partner — in that year or the previous four calendar years.
What if I contribute too much to my FHSA?: Going over your participation room creates an excess FHSA amount, taxed at 1% per month on the highest excess in each month until it’s removed. It is reported on form RC728, and an excess left at the end of the year reduces the next year’s room.
How long can I keep an FHSA open?: Your maximum participation period ends on 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. Before then, you can transfer what’s left to an RRSP or RRIF on a tax-deferred basis, or withdraw it as taxable income.

Your other registered accounts

TFSA, FHSA and RRSP room with the CRA’s own figures — plus a free tracker for the wheel trades inside them.

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