FHSA · Contribution limit
The 2026 FHSA limit is $8,000 a year, $40,000 lifetime.
You can carry forward up to $8,000 of unused annual room to the following year, which makes "how much can I put in this year" a different question from "what is the annual limit." The two only match if you contributed the full amount every prior year.
How much FHSA room do I have this year?
In the year you open your first FHSA, your participation room is $8,000. In the years after that, a new $8,000 is joined by whatever unused room you carried forward, and the carry-forward part is capped at $8,000. The annual limit, the carry-forward rule, and the $40,000 lifetime figure are published on canada.ca.
Can I put in $16,000?
Only if you carried a full year of unused room forward. This year's $8,000 plus $8,000 of carried-forward room is $16,000, which is the case most people mean when they ask. It is not a standing yearly maximum, and it is not open to someone in the first year of their first FHSA.
What does the $40,000 cover?
$40,000 is the lifetime cap on your participation room. Your room in a given year is reduced by everything you have already put into your FHSAs, and by anything you transferred in from your RRSPs, counted across every prior year. So the lifetime cap and the annual limit are two separate constraints on the same deposit.
Why does the carry-forward make this easy to get wrong?
Skip a year, or contribute less than the annual limit, and the difference rolls into next year's room, up to $8,000 of it. The account opened in 2023, so anyone who opened one at the start already has several years of history behind the number. A tracker that only checks this year's deposit against this year's limit will miss that. It has to know every prior year.
How do I get my exact number?
Enter when the account opened and your contribution history, and the app applies the CRA's carry-forward rule to return your real room, dated and to the cent. TFSA tracking is free; RRSP, FHSA, and RESP unlock together, once, for $19.99.
The engine is hash-verified, formula-certified, audit-grade: the certification record spells out exactly what is tested, and where the claim stops.
Other contribution limits
30 days to change your mind. One email, full refund.
Written by Mo Kechout Content verified