Plan your FHSA, year by year.
See your contribution room, projected balance at your target purchase year, and exactly how much tax you'll save — including carry-forward math and full Canadian provincial brackets.
Last updated: 2026-05-11
$8,000
- Projected balance, 2031
- $47,657
- Total contributions
- $40,000
- Compounding adds
- $7,657
- Total tax saved
- $11,860
- Effective marginal rate
- 29.6%
- Lifetime room remaining
- $0
| Year | Contribution | Tax saved | Balance EOY | Room left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $8,000 | $2,372 | $8,186 | $32,000 |
| 2027 | $8,000 | $2,372 | $16,791 | $24,000 |
| 2028 | $8,000 | $2,372 | $25,836 | $16,000 |
| 2029 | $8,000 | $2,372 | $35,343 | $8,000 |
| 2030 | $8,000 | $2,372 | $45,337 | $0 |
| 2031 | $0 | $0 | $47,657 | $0 |
Estimates only. FHSA rules: $8,000 annual + $40,000 lifetime cap, carry-forward up to $8,000 of unused room, account closes 15 years after opening or at age 71. Tax savings use 2025 federal + provincial brackets — verify against canada.ca for the latest figures.
Carry-forward, lifetime caps, and the tax-savings math
The FHSA combines the deduction-on-contributions tax break of an RRSP with the tax-free-withdrawal magic of a TFSA. To project your situation accurately, three pieces of math have to be right: the carry-forward rule, the lifetime cap, and the tax savings.
Carry-forward
Your contribution room is $8,000 per year. Anything unused in a given year carries to the next — but the carry-forward bucket itself is capped at $8,000. So missing two years of contributions doesn't give you $24,000 of room next year, it gives you $16,000 (the current $8,000 + $8,000 of carry-forward, max). Carry-forward only starts accumulating after you open the account, so opening earlier is essentially free.
Lifetime cap
The account closes after 15 years from opening, or at age 71 (whichever comes first). The lifetime contribution cap is $40,000. To max out a $40,000 lifetime cap inside the 15-year window, you need to start contributing earlier rather than later.
Tax savings
FHSA contributions are tax-deductible in the year contributed. The tax you save isn't simply contribution × marginal rate — when your deduction spans bracket boundaries, the math is more subtle. This calculator walks the full federal + provincial bracket schedule and computes:
taxSaved = totalTax(income) − totalTax(income − contribution)
If your contribution sits entirely within one tax bracket, this collapses to contribution × marginal rate. If it crosses a bracket boundary, the math splits proportionally across the affected brackets. The result is the actual cash you save in tax that year.
FHSA articles on Robinn
Frequently asked questions
- How is the carry-forward calculated?
- Each year you don't contribute the full $8,000, the unused amount can carry forward — but the carry-forward bucket itself is capped at $8,000. So even if you miss two or three years of contributions, you only ever get $8,000 of carry-forward room added to the current year's $8,000 limit, for a maximum annual contribution of $16,000. And carry-forward only accumulates after you open the account: opening it earlier is essentially free and worth doing even if you can't fund it yet.
- What if I open the FHSA but don't contribute this year?
- Opening an FHSA without contributing is perfectly fine and often the right move — it starts the carry-forward clock at no cost. Next year you'll have $16,000 of contribution room (the new $8,000 + the $8,000 you didn't use this year). Most brokerages open an FHSA in about 5 minutes and don't charge fees for an empty account.
- Can I contribute more than $8,000 in one year?
- Yes, if you have carry-forward room. Up to $16,000 in a year if you have a full $8,000 of unused carry-forward stacked on the current year's $8,000. Over-contribute beyond your room and CRA charges a 1% per month penalty on the excess until you withdraw it.
- What if I don't know my marginal tax rate?
- Use the default: enter your province and household income, and we'll compute your combined federal + provincial marginal rate from the bracket tables automatically. Most users don't need the manual override — it's there for people whose income includes complications like investment income, RRSP deductions, or business income, where the simple input doesn't capture the full picture.
- What does this calculator NOT account for?
- Three things. (1) It doesn't account for CMHC premiums or stress test qualification — those come at the mortgage stage, separate from FHSA planning. See our affordability + stress test calculator for that. (2) It doesn't model future tax bracket changes — we use current 2026 brackets and assume they stay roughly the same. (3) It doesn't model investment volatility — the chart shows a smooth growth curve at your chosen return rate, but real markets move year to year. Treat the projection as a planning estimate, not a forecast.
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