HBP (Home Buyers' Plan)
The Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) allows first-time home buyers to withdraw up to $60,000 from their RRSP tax-free to purchase or build a qualifying home. If buying with a spouse or partner who also qualifies, you can each withdraw $60,000, providing up to $120,000 toward your down payment.
To qualify, you must be a first-time home buyer (neither you nor your spouse owned a home in the previous 4 calendar years), and the RRSP funds must have been on deposit for at least 90 days. You must also intend to occupy the home as your principal place of residence within one year.
Repayment begins in the second year after the withdrawal and must be completed over 15 years. Each year, 1/15th of the total withdrawal is the minimum repayment. If you miss a repayment, that amount is added to your taxable income for the year. You can always repay faster without penalty.
Exception: withdrawals made between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2025 get an extended grace period — repayment starts in the fifth year after withdrawal instead of the second (a temporary COVID-era relief measure). Withdrawals from 2026 onward revert to the standard 2-year grace period before the 15-year repayment clock starts.
How it works
The 90-day holding rule exists specifically to stop people from contributing to an RRSP purely to get the tax deduction and then immediately withdrawing the same funds under the HBP — the CRA requires the money to have genuinely sat in the RRSP for at least 90 days before it qualifies. You withdraw the funds using CRA Form T1036, and because the $60,000 limit applies per person, a qualifying couple can combine two withdrawals for up to $120,000 toward the same home purchase.
Repayment is a flat 1/15th of the total withdrawal each year over 15 years, starting the second year after you withdraw (unless you used a withdrawal made during the temporary 2022–2025 extended grace period, which pushed the start to the fifth year instead). If you don't repay the scheduled minimum in a given year, that shortfall isn't penalized directly — it's simply added to your taxable income for that year instead, so a missed HBP repayment behaves like a small, involuntary RRSP withdrawal.
Because the HBP and the FHSA are separate programs with independent limits, a first-time buyer can use both toward the same home purchase — up to $60,000 from an RRSP under the HBP plus up to $40,000 lifetime from an FHSA — substantially expanding the tax-sheltered pool available for a down payment.
Example: Minimum annual HBP repayment
If you withdraw the full $60,000 under the HBP, your minimum annual repayment is $60,000 divided by 15, or $4,000 per year, starting in the second year after your withdrawal.
You can repay faster than the schedule with no penalty, but if you only repay $2,000 in a given year instead of the required $4,000, the missing $2,000 gets added to your taxable income for that year.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the HBP and FHSA together for the same home purchase?
Yes — they're independent programs, so a first-time buyer can combine up to $60,000 from an RRSP under the HBP with up to $40,000 lifetime from an FHSA toward the same purchase.
What happens if I miss a year's HBP repayment?
The missed minimum repayment amount is simply added to your taxable income for that year, rather than triggering a separate penalty or interest charge.
Do I have to repay the HBP into the same RRSP account I withdrew from?
No — repayments can go into any RRSP you hold, as long as you designate the contribution as an HBP repayment on your tax return for that year.
Related Terms
RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan)
An RRSP is a government-registered account where contributions are tax-deductible and investments grow tax-free until withdrawal.
FHSA (First Home Savings Account)
The FHSA is a registered savings account introduced in 2023 that combines the best features of an RRSP and TFSA for first-time home buyers.