2025 RRSP, TFSA, and FHSA Contribution Limits

Three registered accounts form the backbone of Canadian tax-advantaged saving: the RRSP, the TFSA, and the newer FHSA for first-time buyers. Here are the 2025 limits and rules for each.

RRSP — Registered Retirement Savings Plan

2025 RRSP Contribution Limit

The annual RRSP dollar limit for 2025 is:

$32,490

This is up from $31,560 in 2024, an increase of $930. The dollar limit is indexed to average wage growth (not CPI), so it tends to rise each year. The CRA announces each year’s limit in advance, typically the previous autumn.

How Your Personal RRSP Limit Is Calculated

Your personal deduction limit is not simply $32,490. It is the lesser of:

1. 18% of your 2024 earned income
2. $32,490

Plus any unused RRSP room carried forward from previous years.

Earned income for RRSP purposes includes employment income, net self-employment income, and rental income — but not investment income, pension income, or EI benefits.

Example: If you earned $100,000 in 2024, your 2025 RRSP room from this year’s earnings is 18% × $100,000 = $18,000. That is well below $32,490, so the 18% cap applies.

If you also have $20,000 of unused room from prior years, your total 2025 RRSP deduction limit is $38,000.

Where to Find Your RRSP Room

The CRA shows your exact deduction limit on:

• The Notice of Assessment (NOA) from your 2024 tax return
• CRA My Account online portal
• Box A of your T1028 if the CRA mails you one

Pension Adjustment (PA)

If you belong to a Defined Benefit (DB) or Defined Contribution (DC) pension plan, your employer reports a Pension Adjustment on your T4. This amount is subtracted from the new room you earn each year, ensuring pension members and non-pension workers accumulate retirement savings on a comparable basis.

RRSP Spousal Contributions

You can contribute to a spousal RRSP using your own deduction room, directing the deduction to yourself while the plan grows in your spouse’s name. This is a powerful income-splitting tool in retirement: if your spouse will be in a lower tax bracket at withdrawal, combined taxes on retirement income are reduced.

The 3-year attribution rule applies: withdrawals from a spousal RRSP within two calendar years of the last spousal contribution are attributed back to the contributor and taxed in their hands.

Carry-Forward Rules

Unused RRSP room carries forward indefinitely. There is no limit to how much room you can accumulate. Canadians who could not afford contributions in lean years can make large catch-up contributions once income improves.

RRSP Contribution Deadline

To claim a deduction on your 2025 T1: contributions must be made by March 2, 2026 (60 days after December 31, 2025 lands on Sunday, March 1, 2026, so the deadline rolls to the next business day).

RRSP Maturity

An RRSP must be converted by December 31 of the year you turn 71. Options include converting to a RRIF, purchasing an annuity, or taking a lump-sum withdrawal (fully taxable).

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TFSA — Tax-Free Savings Account

2025 TFSA Contribution Limit

The annual TFSA limit for 2025 is:

$7,000

This is the same as 2024. The TFSA limit is set in $500 increments based on CPI and has been $7,000 since 2023.

Cumulative TFSA Room (as of 2025)

For a Canadian who has been eligible since the TFSA was introduced in 2009 and has never contributed, the total available room in 2025 is:

TFSA Carry-Forward and Re-Contribution Rules

• Unused TFSA room carries forward indefinitely — it never expires
• When you withdraw from your TFSA, that room is restored on January 1 of the following year (not immediately)
• Over-contributing incurs a penalty of 1% per month on the excess amount

TFSA Eligibility

You must be:

• A Canadian resident for tax purposes
• 18 years of age or older (19 in provinces where the age of majority is 19)
• Hold a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN)

Non-residents who hold a TFSA and continue contributing face a 1% monthly tax on any contributions made while non-resident.

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FHSA — First Home Savings Account

2025 FHSA Contribution Limit

The FHSA annual contribution limit is:

$8,000 per year

with a $40,000 lifetime maximum.

The FHSA launched in April 2023, but participation room only starts accruing in the year you open your first FHSA — there is no room for the years you were eligible but had no account. Once an account is open, room you do not use is not lost on a deadline. The CRA recomputes a participation room carryforward every year and caps it at $8,000 — the cap is the limit, not a deadline.

In the CRA’s own example, Wendy opened her first FHSA in June 2025, contributed nothing that year, and the statement with her 2026 notice of assessment showed a participation room of $16,000. One thing does depend on you: file Schedule 15 with your return for the year you open the account even if you contributed nothing, because the CRA’s room statement is not accurate until you do.

FHSA Eligibility

To open an FHSA you must be:

• A Canadian resident
• At least 18 years old (or 19 in provinces with a higher age of majority)
• A first-time home buyer: you have not owned a qualifying home in the current calendar year or any of the preceding four years

FHSA Tax Treatment

The FHSA combines the best features of the RRSP and TFSA:

Contributions reduce your taxable income (like an RRSP), and qualifying withdrawals to purchase a first home are completely tax-free (like a TFSA withdrawal).

Carry-Forward Rules for FHSA

Once your first FHSA is open, the CRA works out your participation room carryforward for the next year as the lesser of:

• $8,000, or
• $8,000, plus this year’s carryforward, minus everything you contributed to your FHSAs and transferred in from your RRSPs this year

Next year’s participation room is that carryforward plus another $8,000, subject to the $40,000 lifetime cap.

What that means in practice:

• The carryforward is capped at $8,000, so in the ordinary case the most you can put in during a single year is $16,000
• Unused room does not expire. Leaving the account idle does not shrink your $40,000 lifetime capacity — it only limits how fast you can use it up
• CRA example: Vivi opened an FHSA in April 2025 and contributed $6,000, so her carryforward for 2026 is $2,000 ($8,000 + $0 − $6,000)
• Our illustration, derived from the CRA formula rather than quoted from it: open an account and contribute nothing for three years and your room reads $8,000, then $16,000, then $16,000 — the carryforward stops growing at $8,000, but it never falls away

A taxable withdrawal that did not resolve an excess contribution can create separate re-participation room on top of this, which is why a CRA statement occasionally shows a figure that is not $8,000 or $16,000. Your own numbers are on your notice of assessment, Form T1028, or the Savings and pension plans tab of your CRA account.

Work your own carryforward and lifetime room through with the FHSA calculator.

FHSA and the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)

You can use both the FHSA and the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) to purchase your first home. The HBP allows you to withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP (as of 2024) tax-free, repayable over 15 years. Combining HBP and FHSA withdrawals can provide a significant down payment boost. Unlike HBP withdrawals, FHSA qualifying withdrawals do not need to be repaid.

FHSA Investment Options

Like RRSPs and TFSAs, FHSAs can hold stocks, bonds, ETFs, GICs, and mutual funds. Growth and income within the account are completely tax-sheltered.

FHSA Deadline

If you have not bought a qualifying home by December 31 of the year you turn 71, or after 15 years from the year you first opened an FHSA, the FHSA must be closed. You can transfer the balance to an RRSP or RRIF without affecting your RRSP room, or withdraw the funds (taxable).

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Quick Comparison Table

Sources

• CRA — Contributing to an RRSP or PRPP
• CRA — TFSA contribution room
• CRA — First Home Savings Account
• CRA — Participating in your FHSAs