Home Buyers' Plan Canada 2026: Withdraw Up to $35,000 From Your RRSP

Quick answer

The RRSP Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) lets eligible first-time home buyers withdraw up to $35,000 from their RRSP tax-free to use as a down payment on a qualifying home. Couples can each withdraw $35,000, for a combined maximum of $70,000. The money must be repaid to your RRSP over 15 years starting two years after the year of withdrawal — roughly $2,333 per year on a full $35,000 withdrawal. Missing an annual repayment does not attract interest, but the missed amount is added to your income and taxed.

For most first-time buyers in 2026, the newer First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is a better primary vehicle because withdrawals are fully tax-free with no repayment required. But the HBP and FHSA can be used together on the same home purchase — and using both can add up to $75,000 or more per person toward a down payment. This guide covers both.

HBP basics: who qualifies and how it works

To use the Home Buyers' Plan you must meet three core conditions at the time of withdrawal:

1. 1.First-time buyer: You must not have owned a home that you lived in as your principal place of residence in the current calendar year or in any of the four preceding calendar years. If you owned a home until 2021 and have been renting since, you qualify again in 2026.
2. 2.Written agreement to buy or build: You must have a signed purchase agreement or construction agreement before October 1 of the year after your withdrawal. This is stricter than people expect — you cannot withdraw first and then start house-hunting.
3. 3.90-day rule: The RRSP funds you withdraw must have been in the account for at least 90 days before the withdrawal date. Contributions made within 90 days of withdrawal do not qualify — they can be withdrawn but do not generate a tax deduction for the year of contribution.

The qualifying home must be located in Canada and intended to be your principal residence no later than one year after buying or building it. Investment properties and vacation cottages do not qualify.

Repayment: 15 years, starting two years after withdrawal

HBP withdrawals must be repaid to your RRSP over 15 years, beginning in the second calendar year after the year you made the withdrawal. If you withdrew in 2026, your first required repayment is due by December 31, 2028 (in the 2028 tax year). Each year you must repay at least 1/15 of the total amount withdrawn. Repayments are designated using Schedule 7 of your T1 tax return — they are contributions to your RRSP but are not tax-deductible (since you already got the deduction when you first contributed to the RRSP).

Missing a repayment does not trigger a CRA penalty, but the shortfall is added to your income and taxed. At a 40% marginal rate, a missed $2,333 repayment costs approximately $933 in extra tax that year.

The 90-day rule and why timing matters

The 90-day rule catches many first-time buyers off guard. You might plan to put $15,000 into your RRSP in January 2026 specifically to withdraw it under the HBP by March for a spring home purchase. The problem: CRA requires the funds to be in the RRSP for at least 90 days before withdrawal. A January 2 deposit cannot be withdrawn under the HBP until approximately April 3.

There is a tax trap embedded in this rule. You can technically withdraw funds that have been in the account less than 90 days — but if you do, those contributions are not deductible for that tax year. You lose the RRSP deduction entirely on those contributions. CRA considers the oldest contributions in the account to be withdrawn first (a first-in, first-out approach for HBP purposes), which means if you have older contributions already in the account, a new contribution followed quickly by a withdrawal usually works out fine — the withdrawal draws from the older funds. But confirm your specific situation with a tax professional before acting.

The practical solution: Contribute to your RRSP at least 90 days before you expect to need the funds. If you are planning a home purchase in spring 2027, contribute by the end of 2026 or early January 2027 at the latest.

HBP vs. FHSA: which is better for first-time buyers?

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA), introduced in April 2023, is in many ways superior to the HBP for first-time buyers because withdrawals for a qualifying home purchase are completely tax-free and there is no repayment obligation. Both accounts provide an upfront tax deduction on contributions, but the FHSA removes the 15-year repayment obligation entirely.

The FHSA was introduced in 2023 and is available at most major financial institutions and online brokerages. You must be a first-time buyer and a Canadian resident to open one. Maximum account lifespan is 15 years or until you turn 71, whichever comes first.

Using HBP and FHSA together for the same home

CRA explicitly allows using both the HBP and FHSA withdrawals for the same qualifying home purchase in the same year. This means a first-time buyer with both accounts could potentially access up to $75,000 from tax-advantaged accounts (up to $35,000 HBP + up to $40,000 FHSA lifetime), and a couple could access up to $150,000 combined — a meaningful contribution toward down payments in high-cost markets like Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary.

In practice, most first-time buyers in 2026 do not have $40,000 sitting in an FHSA unless they opened the account in 2023 and contributed the maximum each year ($8,000 in 2023, $8,000 in 2024, $8,000 in 2025 — and the account allows carry-forward of one year's unused room, so $16,000 in year 2 if the account was opened in year 1). The FHSA is most powerful when opened as early as possible — even if you cannot contribute the full $8,000 immediately, opening the account starts the contribution-room clock.

Can you use the HBP again for a second home?

Technically yes — but only if you qualify as a first-time buyer again under CRA's rolling four-year window. If you used the HBP in 2015, sold your home in 2021, and have been renting since, you have not owned a principal residence in 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025 — making you eligible again in 2026 under the standard definition. The key is that the four preceding calendar years and the current year must all be free of principal residence ownership.

If you have an outstanding HBP balance from a previous use, you must have fully repaid that balance before making a new HBP withdrawal. Partial repayment is not enough — the slate must be clean. Check your outstanding HBP balance at CRA My Account under "RRSP and related plans."

What happens if you can't repay — the real tax cost

Life happens: job loss, divorce, illness, or other financial pressures can make RRSP repayments difficult in some years. CRA does not charge interest or penalties on missed HBP repayments — but the missed amount is added to your taxable income for that year and taxed at your marginal rate. This effectively undoes part of the tax-free benefit of the HBP withdrawal.

If you withdraw the full $35,000 and then consistently fail to repay for all 15 years, the entire $35,000 will be included in your income over those 15 years — roughly $2,333 per year. This is the same as if you had never used the HBP and had simply taken that money as ordinary income originally. In other words, the HBP gives you a temporary interest-free loan from your RRSP. Not repaying it converts the withdrawal into taxable income — exactly what it would have been without the program.

At a 40% marginal rate, the full cost of missing all 15 repayments is approximately $14,000 in extra tax over those years. At a 25% marginal rate in retirement, the cost is approximately $8,750. Compare this to the benefit of the original RRSP deduction you claimed — if you were at a 43% rate when you contributed, a $35,000 RRSP contribution saved roughly $15,050 in tax. The HBP still comes out ahead even with incomplete repayment at lower retirement rates, which is the core reason the program exists.

How to request your HBP withdrawal: T1036 form

To make an HBP withdrawal, you complete CRA Form T1036 (Home Buyers' Plan Request to Withdraw Funds from an RRSP) and submit it to your RRSP issuer — your bank, credit union, or brokerage. The financial institution then processes the withdrawal without deducting withholding tax (unlike a regular RRSP withdrawal, which triggers automatic withholding of 10–30%).

1. 1.Download Form T1036 from canada.ca or ask your financial institution for a copy. Some institutions have their own version that satisfies the same requirement.
2. 2.Complete Part A of the form yourself — you certify that you meet the first-time buyer and qualifying home requirements, and specify the withdrawal amount.
3. 3.Submit the form to your RRSP issuer. They complete Part B and process the withdrawal — typically within 2–5 business days for an in-branch request, or 5–10 business days online.
4. 4.You may make multiple withdrawals across multiple RRSPs as long as the combined total does not exceed $35,000 in the calendar year. Use a separate T1036 for each institution.
5. 5.You will receive a T4RSP slip from your RRSP issuer for tax purposes. Report the withdrawal on your T1 return using Schedule 7. Because you designated it as an HBP withdrawal, it is not included in your taxable income for the year.

The deadline to make an HBP withdrawal is October 1 of the year after the year you entered into a purchase agreement. If you signed a purchase contract in October 2026, you have until October 1, 2027 to make the withdrawal under the plan. Keep a copy of your signed purchase agreement — your RRSP issuer or CRA may ask to see it as proof of qualifying intent.