Your guide to the First Home Savings Account

Saving for your first home just became easier.

What is an FHSA?

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is a new account designed to help Canadians save for a down payment on their first home tax free, with a lifetime contribution limit of $40,000.

How does an FHSA work?

Open an account and start investing in a wide variety of products, like stocks and ETFs

Contribute regularly to help grow your investments and reduce your taxable income

Withdraw your money for your first home’s down payment, tax free

Reasons to consider an FHSA

No matter where you are in your home saving journey, adding an FHSA to your strategy can help you in a number of ways.

Tax-deductible contributions

Like an RRSP, any contribution you make to your FHSA can reduce your taxable income and can help you pay less in taxes.

Grow your savings, tax free

Funds in an FHSA can be invested into stocks, ETFs and more, and gains they make are tax free.

Tax-free withdrawals for your first home

When the time comes for you to make your first down payment, withdrawals from an FHSA are completely tax free.

$250 minimum to start

If you open your FHSA as a self-directed investing account, you only need to fund it with $250 to start trading.

discover our account benefits

Who can open an FHSA?

To open an FHSA, you must meet the requirements below.

A first-time home buyer

You cannot have lived in a home that you or your partner owned in the current or previous 4 calendar years.

A Canadian resident

You must be a Canadian resident or citizen to open an FHSA.

18 years or older

You must be between 18 and 71 years old to open an FHSA.

FHSA vs RRSP vs TFSA

While all three accounts can help you buy your first home, the FHSA combines the major tax benefits of the TFSA and RRSP.

FHSA

FIRST HOME SAVINGS ACCOUNT

$8,000
December 31st

RRSP

REGISTERED RETIREMENT SAVINGS PLAN

18% of previous year’s income ($30,780 max)
60 days after December 31st

TFSA

TAX-FREE SAVINGS ACCOUNT

$6,500
December 31st

Start investing for your first home today

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Your FAQs about FHSAs

Yes. You can withdraw the full amount of your FHSA, and up to $35,000 from your RRSP as part of the Home Buyers’ Plan for the same home. However, you will be required to pay back your RRSP withdrawal amount within 15 years.

You must complete the RC725 - Request to Make a Qualifying Withdrawal from your FHSA form. However, if you already have a Questrade FHSA, you can just log into your account and select Withdraw funds under Requests to be provided with the necessary forms.

If you have an RRSP with another financial institution and want to transfer its funds to a Questrade FHSA, you will need to complete the RC720 form. However, if you already have a Questrade FHSA, you can just log into your account and select Transfer account to Questrade under Funding to be provided with the necessary forms and steps to take.

Yes. As long as the first-time home buyer criteria is met (you cannot have lived in a home that you or your partner owned in the current or previous 4 calendar years), you can open an FHSA.
It depends on when your closing date is. If your closing date is less than a month away, you may not receive the funds in time. These transfers will be reviewed on a case by case basis and are dependent on the CRA's processing times.

The information on this webpage is for information purposes only and should not be used or construed as financial or investment advice by any individual. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, expressed or implied is made by Questrade, Inc., its affiliates or any other person to its accuracy.

Questrade does not provide tax or accounting advice. These materials have been prepared for your information only and are not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax and accounting advisors for these matters.