First Time Home Buyers' Plan (RRSP)

First Time Home Buyers' Plan (RRSP)

Finding a down payment for your first home may be challenging. The government has come up with a plan that helps encourage people to save through their RRSP's while also allowing them to use the funds for a down payment.

You're encouraged to save and receive a tax receipt for the contribution. You're then allowed to withdraw under certain circumstances and will need to repay it back over a period of time.

The HBP withdrawal limit is $35,000. This applies to withdrawals made after March 19, 2019. Please view the government website to ensure up to date numbers.
  1. Funds must be repaid within a 15 year period
Certain conditions must be met in order to be eligible to participate in the HBP, including the following:
  1. you must be considered a first-time home buyer
  2. you must have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home, either for yourself or for a related person with a disability
  3. you must be a resident of Canada when you withdraw funds from your RRSPs under the HBP and up to the time a qualifying home is bought or built
  4. you must intend to occupy the qualifying home as your principal place of residence within one year after buying or building it. If you buy or build a qualifying home for a related person with a disability, or help a related person with a disability to buy or build a qualifying home, you must intend that the related person with a disability occupies the qualifying home as their principal place of residence
Your RRSP contributions must stay in the RRSP for at least 90 days before you can withdraw them under the HBP. If this is not the case, the contributions may not be deductible for any year.

Most lenders will require a 90 day history of account statements tracing the origin of the funds.

This article was last updated 2021-12-07
For full information please consult the government website for current information:

    • Related Articles

    • RRSP Withholding Taxes

      RRSP's, also known as Registered Retirement Savings Plans, are a great way to reduce taxes in your higher income tax years and allocate that income in the lower tax years. Ideally people will contribute when they are in a higher tax bracket than when ...

    • Spousal RRSP Attribution Rules

      Spousal RRSP's are a great way to equalize retirement assets when one person has a significantly higher income level. If a spouse or common-law partner contributed to your spousal RRSP in the current or preceding two tax years then they may have to ...

    • Should I take CPP Early or Late? Canada Pension Plan payments

      Are you thinking about taking your CPP, Canada Pension Plan, early or deferring it past 65? There is a large difference between taking the pension at 60 versus 70. Many of our clients say that they may not live that long and would rather take the ...

    • Donating Shares to a Charity

      We received questions about donating shares to a charity many times. When someone is looking to make an impact on a charity and they want to do so by donating financial assets then there are some questions that come into play. The first questions is ...