RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan: Limit, Rules and Repayment

1. What the Home Buyers’ Plan Is and Who Can Use It

The basic idea. The Home Buyers’ Plan is not an account. It is a set of rules that lets you take money out of RRSPs you already hold and put it toward a first home. A normal RRSP withdrawal is added to your income, and the issuer withholds tax at source: 10% on $5,000 or less, 20% on amounts over $5,000 up to $15,000, and 30% on larger amounts outside Quebec. An HBP withdrawal is not taxed when you take it. In exchange, you owe the amount back to your RRSPs over 15 years, and in any year you repay less than the minimum, the shortfall is added to your income.

Who can use it. To withdraw under the HBP you must be a first-time home buyer under the four-year test in section 3, have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home, intend to occupy that home as your principal residence within one year after buying or building it, and be a resident of Canada when you withdraw. These conditions apply at the moment of withdrawal, so confirm them again if you take the money out in more than one instalment.

Where the money comes from. Only money already inside your RRSPs can come out. The HBP does not create new money or new room. If your RRSPs hold $25,000, that is your practical ceiling, even though the HBP limit is $60,000. Money you contribute shortly before the withdrawal needs extra care because of the 89-day rule in section 6.

RRSP first-time home buyer basics. When people search for “RRSP first-time home buyer”, they usually mean the HBP. It only helps once you have savings inside an RRSP, which is why buyers starting from zero often look at the First Home Savings Account first. Our RRSP guide explains how the account itself works, and the RRSP contribution limit page shows how your room is set: 18% of your previous year’s earned income, up to $33,810 for 2026, less any pension adjustment, plus unused room carried forward.

What the HBP really costs. The withdrawal is tax-free, but it is not cost-free. Money taken out stops growing inside your RRSP until you put it back, and the repayments come out of income you have already paid tax on. Those two costs are the main reason many first-time buyers look at the FHSA before the HBP: a qualifying FHSA withdrawal never has to be paid back. Section 11 sets the HBP beside the FHSA, the TFSA and a regular RRSP withdrawal.

2. HBP Limit: $60,000 per Person Since April 16, 2024

The current HBP limit. You can withdraw up to $60,000 in total under the Home Buyers’ Plan. The $60,000 limit applies to withdrawals made after April 16, 2024, the day the 2024 federal budget was tabled. Before that, the limit was $35,000.

The limit is per person. Each participant has their own $60,000. Two spouses or common-law partners who both qualify can each withdraw $60,000 toward the same home, for $120,000 combined ($60,000 x 2 = $120,000). Section 10 shows how a couple can add two FHSAs on top.

The limit is a total, not a yearly amount. You can split the money across several withdrawals during the withdrawal window described in section 5, but all of them together cannot exceed $60,000. Each withdrawal needs its own Form T1036.

Your RRSP balance is the real cap. The HBP lets you withdraw up to the limit, but only from what your RRSPs actually hold. Anything above $60,000 stays in the RRSP and keeps growing tax-deferred.

Why the higher limit matters. With the $60,000 HBP limit, one buyer who also fills an FHSA to its $40,000 lifetime limit can have up to $100,000 of tax-advantaged money for a first home before any FHSA growth ($60,000 + $40,000 = $100,000). Only the $60,000 from the RRSP has to be repaid.

3. The RRSP First-Time Home Buyer Test

The four-year rule. You count as a first-time home buyer for the HBP if, during the current year (ignoring the 30 days before your withdrawal) or any of the previous four calendar years, you did not live in a home that you or your spouse or common-law partner owned. The test is about homes that were owned and lived in. Owning a home years ago does not shut you out for good; only the look-back window matters.

How the window works. Say your withdrawal is on May 3, 2027. The four previous calendar years are 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. In 2027, the 30 days before the withdrawal (April 3 to May 2, 2027) are ignored. So the test covers January 1, 2023 to April 2, 2027. If you sold a home you lived in and moved out in 2022, and have rented since, you pass.

The 30-day allowance. Because the 30 days before the withdrawal are ignored, buying the new home and moving in shortly before you withdraw does not by itself fail the test, as long as no other owned home falls inside the window.

Your spouse’s or partner’s home counts. If, during the window, you lived in a home your spouse or common-law partner owned, you are not a first-time buyer, even if your name was never on the title. This catches many couples where one partner already owns the home they share.

Two exceptions. The test is waived for a buyer helping a person with a disability, and for someone who is living separate and apart from a spouse or common-law partner after a breakdown of the relationship. Each exception has further conditions that go beyond this guide, so a tax professional can confirm whether yours fits before you withdraw.

The FHSA uses a similar test. To open a First Home Savings Account you must not have lived in a home owned by you, or by your current spouse or partner, in the current year before opening or the previous four calendar years. A first-time buyer test, looking at a home you owned and lived in, applies again at each qualifying withdrawal. Our FHSA eligibility guide walks through it.

4. What Counts as a Qualifying Home and the Purchase Deadline

A written agreement first. When you withdraw, you need a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home. For most buyers that is a signed agreement of purchase and sale for a resale home or a written contract with a builder. Without it, you cannot withdraw under the HBP.

You must plan to live there. You must intend to occupy the home as your principal residence within one year after buying or building it. A property bought only to rent out does not meet this condition.

Buy or build before October 1 of the next year. The home must be acquired or built before October 1 of the year after the year of your first withdrawal. A first withdrawal in 2027 means the home must be acquired or built before October 1, 2028.

Resident at the time of withdrawal. You must be a resident of Canada when you withdraw. If you become a non-resident before the withdrawal, you cannot use the HBP for that purchase.

New builds and long closings. Pre-construction homes often close years after the agreement is signed. Because the deadline runs from the year of your first withdrawal, withdrawing in the year the home will close, rather than the year you sign, keeps you inside it. Check your expected closing date with your builder before you set the withdrawal date.

Same deadline style as the FHSA. A qualifying FHSA withdrawal also needs a written agreement with a completion date before October 1 of the year after the withdrawal. If you take both in the same calendar year, the two deadlines line up, which makes planning simpler.

5. How to Withdraw: Form T1036 and the Withdrawal Window

Form T1036. For each HBP withdrawal you complete Form T1036 and give it to the issuer of the RRSP, such as your bank, credit union or brokerage. The form tells the issuer that the withdrawal is made under the Home Buyers’ Plan.

The withdrawal window. All HBP withdrawals must be made in the calendar year of your first withdrawal or in January of the following year. A first withdrawal in October 2027 leaves you until January 31, 2028 for any further withdrawals.

Several withdrawals, one limit. You can draw from more than one RRSP, or from the same RRSP more than once, within the window. For example, $30,000 in October 2027 and $20,000 in January 2028 add up to $50,000, which is inside the $60,000 limit and inside the window. A third withdrawal in February 2028 would be too late.

Sell first, then withdraw. Most RRSPs hold investments, not cash. The amount you need has to be in cash inside the RRSP before the issuer can pay it out, and selling investments and settling the trades takes a few business days. If you plan to move an RRSP from one institution to another first, our guide on how to transfer an investment account explains the steps.

Plan backward from the closing date. The table shows one buyer’s timeline for a June 15, 2027 closing. Each step lines up with a rule from this guide.

6. The 90-Day Rule for Recent RRSP Contributions

The rule. RRSP contributions made in the 89 days before an HBP withdrawal may not be deductible. The Canada Revenue Agency describes an 89-day period, and it is often called the 90-day rule because money that has been in the plan for at least 90 days before the withdrawal sits outside the window.

What it stops. The rule stops a buyer from routing cash through an RRSP for a few days just to claim a deduction and then pulling the same money out for the home. Money that has been saved in the RRSP for months is not affected.

What it can cost. Losing a deduction means losing the refund it would have produced. The table shows the refund at risk on a $10,000 contribution for someone with $70,000 of taxable income, using 2026 federal and provincial brackets, basic personal amounts, the Ontario surtax and Health Premium and the Quebec abatement, and ignoring other credits.

How to stay clear. Count forward 90 days from your last contribution before you withdraw. A contribution made on February 1, 2027 is 91 days old on May 3, 2027, so a withdrawal that day falls outside the 89-day window. If your closing date is fixed, make any top-up at least 90 days before you need the cash, or withdraw only money that was already in the plan.

The RRSP deadline trap. RRSP contributions made in the first 60 days of a year can be deducted for the previous year. A buyer who contributes in late February to get a refund for last year, then withdraws in April for a spring closing, lands inside the 89-day window. Please check the dates before making a last-minute RRSP contribution in a year you plan to buy.

7. Home Buyers’ Plan Repayment: When It Starts and How Long It Lasts

Fifteen years. You have up to 15 years to repay. Each year’s minimum is your remaining HBP balance divided by the number of years left, so the first minimum is 1/15 of what you withdrew. A $60,000 withdrawal means a first-year minimum of $4,000 ($60,000 / 15 = $4,000).

The normal start. Repayment normally starts in the second year after the year of your first withdrawal. A first withdrawal in 2021, for example, had 2023 as its first repayment year.

The deferral for first withdrawals in 2022 to 2025. Temporary relief in the 2024 federal budget pushed the start back by three more years for first withdrawals made from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025. For those buyers, repayment starts in the fifth year after the first withdrawal, so a 2022 first withdrawal has 2027 as its first repayment year.

Extended to first withdrawals in 2026 to 2028. The deferral has since been extended. The extension was announced and is confirmed in the Canada Revenue Agency’s main Home Buyers’ Plan guidance (updated February 17, 2026): first withdrawals made from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028 also start repaying in the fifth year after the withdrawal. A 2026 first withdrawal therefore has 2031 as its first repayment year. The agency’s separate guidance on making repayments had not yet been updated for the extension as of October 22, 2026, so you may still see wording that mentions only 2022 to 2025.

The 2029 cliff. Under the rules as they stand, a buyer whose first withdrawal is in 2029 starts repaying in 2031, two years earlier than a buyer whose first withdrawal is in 2028. If your purchase closes around the turn of 2028 and 2029, the year of the first withdrawal changes your schedule by two years.

Paying more than the minimum. Because each year’s minimum is the balance divided by the years left, paying extra lowers later minimums. If you repay $10,000 in the first repayment year on a $60,000 balance, $50,000 is left with 14 years to go, so the next minimum is $3,571.43 ($50,000 / 14).

8. Schedule 7, Minimum Payments and Missed Repayments

How a repayment is made. You repay by contributing to an RRSP and designating the amount as an HBP repayment on Schedule 7 of your income tax and benefit return for that year. The designation is what makes the contribution count against your HBP balance, so do not skip that line when you file.

When a payment counts. A repayment for a year can be made during that year or in the first 60 days of the following year. A buyer whose first repayment year is 2031 can therefore make the 2031 repayment as late as the 60th day of 2032.

If you repay less than the minimum. The shortfall is included in your income for that year as RRSP income on line 12900 and taxed at your marginal rate. The shortfall also reduces your HBP balance, so you do not owe that amount again later.

What a missed payment costs. The table shows the extra tax if someone with $80,000 of taxable income misses a $4,000 minimum entirely, using 2026 federal and provincial brackets, basic personal amounts, the Ontario surtax and Health Premium and the Quebec abatement.

Choosing to let a payment become income. Because a shortfall is simply taxed as income, some people let a payment lapse in a year when their income is unusually low, such as a year of parental leave or full-time study. It is allowed, but that money then stays out of the RRSP for good and no longer grows tax-deferred for retirement.

Keep your own record. Keep a simple schedule of your HBP balance, each year’s minimum and the repayments you designate. If you paid extra in a year, your next minimum drops, and a written record helps you file Schedule 7 correctly.

9. HBP and FHSA: Using Both for the Same Home

Yes, you can use both. You can make an HBP withdrawal and a qualifying FHSA withdrawal for the same qualifying home, as long as you meet the conditions of each program at the time of each withdrawal. The two are separate, so using one does not reduce the limit of the other.

How the FHSA differs. A First Home Savings Account gives $8,000 of participation room a year from the year you open your first FHSA, up to $40,000 over your lifetime. Unused room carries forward, capped at $8,000, so the most you can add in one year is $16,000. Contributions are deductible in the year made or a later year, and a qualifying withdrawal for a first home is tax-free and never repaid. The contribution deadline is December 31; there is no 60-day period as with the RRSP. Our FHSA guide covers every rule.

Matching the conditions. A qualifying FHSA withdrawal needs a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home with completion before October 1 of the year after the withdrawal. You must not have acquired the home more than 30 days before the withdrawal, you must occupy or intend to occupy it as your principal residence within one year, and you must be resident in Canada. The FHSA side uses Form RC725; the HBP side uses Form T1036.

Check both tests. The FHSA checks first-time buyer status when you open the account and again at each qualifying withdrawal, while the HBP checks it at withdrawal. Confirm each test separately before you sign, especially if your living situation changed recently.

After the purchase. Your FHSA has to be closed by December 31 of the year after your first qualifying withdrawal. The HBP keeps going for its 15 years of repayment. If you are still saving, an FHSA dollar earns the same kind of deduction as an RRSP dollar but never has to be paid back, which is why our FHSA vs RRSP comparison looks at which to fund first.

The planner below adds up what one buyer or a couple could have from FHSAs and the HBP by a target year, using an assumed return you choose.

10. Couples: Up to $200,000 From the HBP and Two FHSAs

Each partner has their own limits. The $60,000 HBP limit is per participant, and the $40,000 FHSA lifetime limit is per person. A couple who both qualify can therefore use up to $120,000 from the HBP ($60,000 x 2) and $80,000 of FHSA contributions ($40,000 x 2) for the same qualifying home. That is $200,000 ($120,000 + $80,000), plus whatever the FHSAs earned along the way.

Both must qualify on their own. Each partner has to pass the first-time buyer test. Because the HBP test counts a home owned by either spouse, if one partner owned the home you both lived in during the window, neither of you is a first-time buyer for that withdrawal.

Both must have the money. To reach the full amount, each partner needs at least $60,000 inside their RRSPs and five years of full FHSA contributions ($8,000 x 5 = $40,000). FHSA room only starts in the year each partner opens an account, so the earlier each one opens, the sooner the full $40,000 is reachable.

Worked example. This example is hypothetical. Sam and Alex live in Ontario and open FHSAs in January 2026. Each contributes $8,000 every January from 2026 to 2030. We assume a 3% yearly return, which is an assumption and not a forecast. Each also has $60,000 in RRSPs. They buy their first home in 2031.

What they can use in 2031. Two FHSAs at $43,747.28 each give $87,494.56 ($43,747.28 x 2), all tax-free and never repaid. Two HBP withdrawals of $60,000 give $120,000. Together that is $207,494.56 ($87,494.56 + $120,000) toward one home.

The deductions along the way. At 2026 Ontario rates, Sam’s $8,000 FHSA deduction on $84,000 of taxable income saves $2,372 a year and Alex’s on $76,000 saves $2,522 a year. Over five years that is $11,860 for Sam ($2,372 x 5) and $12,610 for Alex ($2,522 x 5), or $24,470 in total.

What they owe back. Their first HBP withdrawals are in 2031, after the extended deferral window, so under current rules repayment starts in 2033 (the second year after). Each owes at least $4,000 a year from 2033 to 2047, or $8,000 a year as a couple. The FHSAs must be closed by December 31, 2032.

11. Home Buyers’ Plan vs FHSA, TFSA and a Regular RRSP Withdrawal

Four ways to fund a down payment. First-time buyers in Canada usually draw on some mix of the HBP, an FHSA, a TFSA and, less often, a regular taxable RRSP withdrawal. The table compares the rules that matter most for a home purchase.

HBP vs FHSA. Both give you a deduction on the way in and tax-free money for the home. The difference is the repayment: the HBP is a loan from your future retirement savings, while the FHSA is not. For new savings, the FHSA usually comes out ahead; for RRSP money you already hold, the HBP is the way to use it without tax. Our FHSA vs RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan page runs the numbers.

HBP vs TFSA. A TFSA gives no deduction, but its withdrawals are tax-free, are never repaid, and the room comes back on January 1 of the next year. That makes it the most flexible place for money you may or may not spend on a home. The FHSA vs TFSA for a down payment page covers that choice, and our TFSA guide explains the account.

HBP vs a regular RRSP withdrawal. Taking RRSP money out without the HBP means tax withheld at source and the full amount added to your income for the year. Outside Quebec, a $20,000 regular withdrawal has $6,000 withheld at the 30% rate ($20,000 x 30%), and the final tax depends on your marginal rate. Quebec residents have federal tax withheld at 5%, 10% or 15% plus Quebec tax. For a qualifying first home, the HBP avoids that tax entirely as long as you repay.

Retirement trade-off. Every HBP dollar is a dollar not compounding for retirement until it is repaid. The TFSA vs RRSP comparison explains why the RRSP’s long-term value depends on tax rates now and later.

12. Where to Hold the RRSP You Plan to Use

The HBP works at your current issuer. HBP withdrawals come out of the RRSPs you already hold at a bank, credit union, insurer or brokerage, so you do not need a special account. What matters is that the money is in cash inside the RRSP when you withdraw.

Match the investments to the date. Money you will need within a year or two is exposed to market swings if it stays in stocks or equity funds. Many buyers move the part they plan to withdraw into cash or GICs inside the RRSP as closing approaches. A GIC that cannot be cashed before maturity has to mature before your withdrawal date. Our GIC rates page and GIC vs high-interest savings account comparison explain the trade-off.

Deposit insurance and investor protection. CDIC insures eligible deposits, including GICs, up to $100,000 per category per member institution, and RRSP, TFSA and FHSA deposits are separate categories. At an investment dealer, CIPF covers property missing if a member firm fails, not market losses, up to $1,000,000 combined for retirement accounts such as RRSPs, and a separate $1,000,000 for general accounts, which include TFSAs and FHSAs.

Comparing providers. If you are opening or moving accounts before you buy, our rankings of the best RRSP accounts and the best FHSA accounts compare costs and features, and our reviews of Questrade, Wealthsimple and Qtrade go deeper. Rankings follow our published broker rating methodology, and our advertiser disclosure explains how WealthScale is funded. The way we source and check every figure is set out in our editorial standards.

Allow time for transfers. Moving an RRSP between institutions is done by direct transfer, and it can take time. If your closing date is close, withdraw from the RRSP where the money already sits rather than starting a transfer in the weeks before.

13. Common Home Buyers’ Plan Mistakes

Topping up the RRSP just before withdrawing. Contributions made in the 89 days before an HBP withdrawal may not be deductible. A $10,000 top-up at $70,000 of income can cost $2,750 to $3,682.75 in lost refund depending on the province, as the table in section 6 shows. Contribute early or withdraw only older money.

Assuming every year gets the five-year grace period. Under current rules the fifth-year start covers first withdrawals made from 2022 to 2028 only. A first withdrawal in 2029 goes back to the normal second-year start unless the relief is extended again.

Missing the October 1 deadline. The home has to be acquired or built before October 1 of the year after your first withdrawal. Long pre-construction closings are the usual cause of trouble, so match the withdrawal year to the closing year.

Withdrawing outside the window. All withdrawals must fall in the calendar year of the first one or in January of the next year. A February top-up withdrawal is outside the HBP.

Forgetting a spouse’s home. Living in a home your spouse or partner owned during the look-back window fails the first-time buyer test, even if you are not on the title.

Not designating the repayment on Schedule 7. A contribution only counts as a repayment when you designate it on Schedule 7. If you forget, the minimum is treated as unpaid and added to your income on line 12900.

Losing track after a long deferral. A buyer who withdrew in 2027 makes no repayment until 2032. Five years is long enough to forget, so please put the first repayment year in your calendar the day you withdraw.

Treating the HBP as the only option. For new savings, the FHSA gives the same kind of deduction without a repayment. Using the HBP while leaving FHSA room unused is a common and costly gap.