This guide covers who qualifies, how much you can take out, when repayments start under the current relief, and what one missed year adds to your tax bill.

The short answer

The Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) lets a first-time buyer withdraw up to $60,000 from their RRSPs to buy or build a qualifying home in Canada, with no tax withheld, as long as they pay it back over 15 years. If your first withdrawal is in 2026, the CRA says your first repayment year is 2031.

The HBP is run by the Canada Revenue Agency. The rules below come from the CRA’s Home Buyers’ Plan pages. It is a loan from yourself, not a grant: every dollar has to go back into an RRSP, a PRPP or an SPP, or be taxed as income.

Who can use the Home Buyers’ Plan

You have to meet every one of these conditions when you withdraw. If one fails, the CRA can treat the withdrawal as taxable income for the year you received it.

• You are a first-time home buyer. You did not live in a home that you, or your current spouse or common-law partner, owned as your main residence at any time in the four previous calendar years, or earlier in the current year (the 30 days just before the withdrawal do not count).
• You have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home. A pre-approved mortgage does not count.
• You are a resident of Canada from your first withdrawal until you buy or build the home.
• You intend to live in the home as your main residence within one year after buying or building it.
• Your HBP balance was zero on January 1 of the withdrawal year, if you used the plan before.

The CRA gives an example of the look-back period: for a withdrawal on July 31, 2026, the period runs from January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2026. Someone who sold their last home years ago can qualify again once that window is clear.

Two exceptions to the first-time rule

Disability. If you are a specified disabled person, or you withdraw to help one buy a home, you do not need to be a first-time buyer. The home must be more accessible or better suited to that person’s needs. A specified disabled person is generally someone who is entitled to the disability amount, or who has a certified Form T2201 for the year.

Separation. If you live apart from your spouse or common-law partner at the time of the withdrawal, and the separation started in that year or the four years before, you can qualify. If you still own your previous main residence, you must sell it within two years after the end of the withdrawal year, unless you are buying out your former partner’s share.

What counts as a qualifying home

Any housing unit in Canada, existing or under construction: a detached or semi-detached house, townhouse, mobile home, condo unit, or an apartment in a duplex, triplex, fourplex or apartment building. A co-op share qualifies only if it gives you an equity interest. A share that only gives you the right to rent does not.

How much you can withdraw, and how

The limit is $60,000 in total per participation period, from RRSPs where you are the annuitant. You can split it across several RRSPs. Locked-in and group RRSPs usually do not allow withdrawals. Your issuer does not withhold tax on HBP withdrawals of $60,000 or less. Any amount over $60,000 is taxable income for that year, and the issuer withholds tax on the excess.

1. Sign a written agreement to buy or build the home.
2. Fill out Area 1 of Form T1036, Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) Request to Withdraw Funds from an RRSP. You need a separate form for each withdrawal.
3. Give it to your RRSP issuer, who fills out Area 2 and releases the money.
4. Make any further withdrawals in time. Extra withdrawals are allowed only in the same calendar year as the first one and in January of the next year.
5. Buy or build the home before October 1 of the year after your first withdrawal.

Watch the 89-day rule. If you put money into an RRSP in the 89 days before an HBP withdrawal, part of that contribution may not be deductible. The non-deductible part is the amount by which those contributions exceed the RRSP’s value after the withdrawal.

If you miss the October 1 deadline, the CRA allows an extra year in two cases: you sign another written agreement before that date to acquire the home by October 1 of the following year, or, for a home you are building, you have already paid arm’s-length contractors or suppliers at least as much as you withdrew. Otherwise you must cancel your participation.

When repayments start

You have up to 15 years to repay. What changed recently is when the 15 years begin. Under the older rule, the first repayment year was the second year after your first withdrawal. Budget 2024 introduced temporary relief that pushes the start to the fifth year for first withdrawals made from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025.

The CRA’s main HBP page (modified February 17, 2026) says this relief has been extended to first withdrawals made from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028, and gives the example that a first withdrawal in 2026 means a first repayment year of 2031. The CRA’s repayment page (modified January 20, 2026) still describes only the 2022 to 2025 window, so check your HBP statement of account for your own dates.

Source: CRA HBP pages, modified January 20 and February 17, 2026. Years in the third column count 15 repayment years from the first. Repaying early does not change the length of your repayment period.

How the minimum repayment is worked out

Each year, your minimum is your HBP balance divided by the number of years left in your repayment period. In the first year that means one fifteenth of what you took out. You can repay more, or repay it all at once, at any time. Paying extra lowers the minimum for later years.

A worked example: $40,000 withdrawn in 2026

This is a hypothetical. Say you withdraw $40,000 from your RRSP in 2026 and buy your first condo that year. Under the extended relief, your first repayment year is 2031 and your last is 2045. Your minimum for 2031 is $40,000 divided by 15, or $2,666.67. If you pay exactly that every year, the minimum stays the same and the balance reaches zero after the 2045 payment.

Now say money is tight in 2031 and you designate only $1,000 as a repayment. The $1,666.67 shortfall is added to your 2031 income on line 12900 and taxed at your marginal rate. Your HBP balance drops to $37,333.33, because the taxed amount counts against it, and your 2032 minimum is $37,333.33 divided by the 14 years left, which is still $2,666.67.

Calculated with a script and checked by reproducing the two CRA examples on its repayment page: $16,500 over 15 years is $1,100, and a $30,000 withdrawal with $14,000 repaid leaves a minimum of $1,454.55 over 11 years.

How to make and report a repayment

1. Contribute to your RRSP, PRPP or SPP in the repayment year or in the first 60 days of the next year.
2. Fill out Schedule 7 with your tax return and enter the repayment on line 24600.
3. Check your statement. Your HBP statement of account comes with your notice of assessment and shows your balance and next minimum. You can also see it in your CRA account or call 1-800-959-8281.

Only contributions you designate as HBP repayments on Schedule 7 reduce your HBP balance. Repayments must go into an RRSP, PRPP or SPP. You cannot repay HBP withdrawals into an FHSA.

Using the HBP with the FHSA

You can make HBP withdrawals and a qualifying FHSA withdrawal for the same home, as long as you meet the conditions for each at the time of each withdrawal. The difference is that HBP money has to be paid back. Our FHSA guide covers how that account works, and the TFSA vs RRSP vs FHSA comparison helps you decide where new savings should go.

If you need mortgage default insurance, our CMHC insurance cost guide works out the premium by down payment.

Special situations

If you do not buy a home

You generally have to cancel your participation and return the money. Cancellation payments are generally due by December 31 of the year after your first withdrawal. Form RC471, or a letter, must reach the CRA within 60 days after that date. Any amount you do not return is added to your income on line 12900.

If you become a non-resident

If you leave before buying a home, you can cancel your participation or include the unpaid amount in income. If you leave after buying, you must repay the remaining balance before you file your return for the year you became a non-resident, or within 60 days after leaving, whichever comes first. Otherwise the balance is included in your income.

At 71, or on death

You cannot contribute to an RRSP, PRPP or SPP after the end of the year you turn 71. Keep this in mind if your repayment period runs past that year. If a participant dies, the HBP balance is included in their income for the year of death, unless the surviving spouse or common-law partner jointly elects on Form RC98 to keep making the repayments.

If you repay more than you planned, keep an eye on your RRSP room. Our guide to the RRSP over-contribution penalty explains what happens if you go over your limit.

Frequently asked questions

• Sources, checked November 1, 2026: CRA: What is the Home Buyers’ Plan (modified 2026-02-17); CRA: How to participate in the HBP (modified 2026-01-20); CRA: How to make withdrawals under the HBP (modified 2026-01-20); CRA: How to repay amounts withdrawn under the HBP (modified 2026-01-20); CRA: Cancel your participation in the HBP (modified 2026-01-20); CRA: Definitions for the HBP (modified 2026-01-20).
• Method: Minimum repayments were calculated by script as the HBP balance divided by the years left, then checked by reproducing both worked examples on the CRA repayment page. Repayment years in the table follow the CRA rules for each withdrawal year.

Important: This guide is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Your HBP statement of account from the CRA shows your own balance and minimum. Gizly is not affiliated with the Government of Canada. See our affiliate disclosure.