When I started seriously looking at buying my first place, I had money spread across a few different registered accounts. I knew the RRSP had some kind of “Home Buyers’ Plan” but had no idea how much I could actually take out, what the rules were, or whether I could combine it with other accounts. I spent a weekend reading CRA pages and financial blogs until the picture finally came together.

Turns out, the total amount a first-time buyer can pull from registered accounts, tax-free, is more than a lot of people realize. For a single person, you could access over $100,000. For a couple buying together, that number doubles past $200,000. The catch is that each account has its own rules, limits, and gotchas.

None of this is financial advice, and I’m not an advisor. These limits and programs can change with any federal budget. What follows is how I understood it when I went through the process, updated with the latest numbers. Always confirm the details before making any moves.

The RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)

The Home Buyers’ Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP to buy or build a qualifying home. If you’re buying with a partner and both of you are first-time buyers, you can each withdraw $60,000, for a combined $120,000.

The withdrawal is tax-free as long as you meet the conditions: you must be a first-time home buyer (haven’t owned a home you lived in during the current year or the previous four calendar years), and you need a written agreement to buy or build before October 1 of the year after withdrawal.

There’s one big condition people miss: the money must have been sitting in your RRSP for at least 90 days before you can withdraw it under the HBP. You can’t contribute $60,000 on a Monday and pull it out on a Wednesday. Plan ahead.

The repayment schedule

Here’s the part that trips people up. The HBP isn’t a permanent withdrawal. It’s essentially a loan from your own RRSP. You have to pay it back over 15 years. For withdrawals made between 2022 and 2025, repayments don’t start until the fifth year after withdrawal. For all other HBP withdrawals, repayments start the second year after withdrawal.

So if you withdraw $60,000, you owe your RRSP $4,000 per year for 15 years. If you miss a repayment, that year’s amount gets added to your taxable income. You don’t get a penalty notice. It just shows up as income on your tax return, and you owe tax on it.

It’s manageable if you plan for it. But I’ve talked to people who withdrew the full amount, forgot about the repayment schedule, and were surprised by a higher tax bill two years later.

The FHSA: the newer, better tool

The First Home Savings Account launched in 2023, and in some ways it’s a better deal than the HBP. You can contribute up to $8,000 per year with a lifetime contribution cap of $40,000. Contributions are tax-deductible (like an RRSP), and withdrawals for a qualifying home purchase are completely tax-free (like a TFSA), including any investment growth inside the account. And the best part: no repayment. The money is yours, free and clear.

When I bought my place, the FHSA didn’t exist yet. I had to use the HBP, which meant committing to 15 years of repayments. If I were doing it today, I’d max out the FHSA first, then layer the HBP on top.

Using FHSA and HBP together

Yes, you can use both for the same home purchase. This is the combination a lot of first-time buyers don’t realize is available.

Here’s what that looks like for one person:

Source	Max withdrawal	Repayment?
FHSA	Full balance (up to $40,000 contributed + growth)	No
RRSP (HBP)	$60,000	Yes, over 15 years
Total	$100,000+

For a couple where both people are first-time buyers:

Source	Max (each)	Max (couple)
FHSA	$40,000 contributed + growth	$80,000+ contributed + growth
RRSP (HBP)	$60,000	$120,000
Total	$100,000+	$200,000+

$200,000 or more tax-free toward a down payment, depending on how much your FHSA investments have grown. That’s a serious number, and it’s all within the rules. It takes some planning, though. You’d want to max out both accounts well in advance. The FHSA has a $40,000 lifetime contribution cap, so it takes a minimum of five years to fill. The HBP requires the RRSP funds to have been there for at least 90 days.

What about your TFSA?

Your TFSA doesn’t have a special home-buying program because it doesn’t need one. You can withdraw from your TFSA anytime, for any reason, completely tax-free. No application, no repayment, no conditions.

If you’ve been maxing out your TFSA and it’s grown significantly, it can be a meaningful part of your down payment. The only thing to watch is contribution room: when you withdraw, that room comes back the following January. So if you pull $30,000 from your TFSA in June for a down payment, you can put $30,000 back in starting the next calendar year.

The TFSA is your most flexible tool. It’s the one with no strings attached.

Common misconceptions

A few things I see come up repeatedly:

“I can withdraw $60,000 from my RRSP penalty-free for anything.” No. The HBP is specifically for buying a qualifying first home. Withdraw from your RRSP for other reasons and it counts as taxable income.
“The HBP money doesn’t need to be paid back.” It does. Over 15 years. Miss a payment and it becomes taxable income that year.
“I can contribute to my RRSP and withdraw under the HBP the next day.” The funds need to sit for at least 90 days first.
“The FHSA and HBP can’t be used together.” They can. You can use both for the same purchase.
“I need to use all of these to buy a home.” You don’t. Pull from whatever combination makes sense for your situation. Some people only use the TFSA. Others go all in on the HBP. It depends on what you’ve saved and where.

Putting it all together

If you’re a few years out from buying, the playbook is fairly straightforward: open an FHSA now (the clock starts when you open the account), contribute to it every year, keep building your RRSP, and let your TFSA grow as a flexible backup. When the time comes, you’ll have options, and knowing which levers to pull will save you thousands in taxes.

When I went through this, I didn’t have a clear picture of what was available to me. I pieced it together from government websites and late-night reading. If you’re earlier in the process than I was, you’re already in a better spot.

How much can you withdraw to buy a house?