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First Home Savings Account

Also known as: FHSA · First Home Savings Account

A federal savings account for first-time home buyers, with $8,000 of contribution room a year and a $40,000 lifetime maximum. It is deductible on the way in and tax-free on the way out, which is what sets it apart from the other registered accounts.

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA), introduced April 1, 2023, is a federal tax-deferred savings vehicle designed specifically for first-time home buyers. Contribution room accrues at $8,000 per year (with up to $8,000 of unused room carried forward) to a lifetime maximum of $40,000. Contributions are tax-deductible (like an RRSP); qualifying withdrawals for a first home purchase are tax-free (like a TFSA), combining the best features of both.

The FHSA can be combined with the Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) for the same purchase, allowing a first-time buyer to access up to $100,000 of tax-advantaged savings between the two programs ($60,000 HBP + $40,000 FHSA). The account must be closed by December 31 of the year the earliest of these occurs: the 15th anniversary of opening it, the year you turn 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal.

Home Buyers' Plan — A federal program allowing first-time home buyers to withdraw up to $60,000 tax-free from RRSPs to purchase a home, repaid over 15 years.
First Time Home Buyers' PTT Exemption — A BC Property Transfer Tax exemption for qualifying first-time home buyers, available for homes up to $835,000 fair market value: full exemption (no PTT) to $500,000, $8,000 off from $500,000 to $835,000, linear phase-out $835,000–$860,000.
Newly Built Home PTT Exemption — A BC Property Transfer Tax exemption for a newly built home worth $1,100,000 or less, phasing out in a straight line to $1,150,000.
CMHC Default Insurance Cap — The maximum home purchase price eligible for CMHC default mortgage insurance, raised from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 effective December 15, 2024.

@misc{bronsonjob-cra_fhsa_contribution_room,
  author       = {Job, Bronson},
  title        = {{FHSA annual + lifetime contribution room}},
  howpublished = {BC Real Estate Codex},
  year         = {2023},
  url          = {https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#cra.fhsa.contribution_room},
  urldate      = {2026-11-06},
  note         = {Fact ID: cra.fhsa.contribution_room, version 1.}
}

APA — Press, journalism

Job, B. (2023). FHSA annual + lifetime contribution room. *BC Real Estate Codex*. Retrieved 2026-11-06, from https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#cra.fhsa.contribution_room

Plain link — Slack, email, Twitter

FHSA annual + lifetime contribution room — Bronson Job PREC, BC Real Estate Codex (2026-11-06). https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#cra.fhsa.contribution_room

Fact id: cra.fhsa.contribution_room · v1 · machine-readable: /api/v1/facts/by-id/cra.fhsa.contribution_room.json

License: This definition is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: "First Home Savings Account", BC Real Estate Glossary by Bronson Job, https://www.bronsonjob.com/glossary/fhsa.

Bronson Job PREC, REALTOR® at Momentum Realty Inc.. GVR Member #6015742 · FVREB Member #FJOBBR

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