How to Withdraw Money From Your RRSP Under the Home Buyers' Plan

How much can you withdraw from an RRSP under the Home Buyers' Plan?

The current Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal limit is $60,000 per participant. You can withdraw from more than one RRSP as long as you are the annuitant of each account, but the total of all HBP withdrawals for your participation period cannot exceed $60,000.

Your RRSP issuer does not withhold tax on eligible HBP withdrawals where your total withdrawals do not exceed the $60,000 limit. If you withdraw more than the HBP limit, the excess is not an eligible HBP withdrawal. The excess must be reported as income for the year you receive it, and the RRSP issuer must withhold tax on that excess amount.

Who qualifies for the Home Buyers' Plan?

To make an eligible withdrawal, you must meet all applicable HBP conditions at the time required by the CRA.

First-time home buyer requirement

Except where a specific exception applies, you must be considered a first-time home buyer. Under the CRA test, you generally qualify if you did not, at any time in the current calendar year before the withdrawal other than the 30 days immediately before the withdrawal, or at any time during the previous four calendar years, live in a qualifying home as your principal residence that you owned or jointly owned, or that your current spouse or common-law partner owned or jointly owned.

This test can affect people who have never personally owned a home but lived in a home owned by their current spouse or common-law partner.

Exceptions to the first-time home buyer requirement

The first-time home buyer condition does not apply in certain circumstances. These include eligible HBP participation for a specified disabled person and qualifying situations where you are living separate and apart from a spouse or common-law partner following a relationship breakdown. Additional conditions apply to those exceptions.

You need a written agreement to buy or build a home

At the time of the HBP withdrawal, you or the specified disabled person must have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home.

A mortgage pre-approval is not considered a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home and does not satisfy this HBP condition.

What counts as a qualifying home?

A qualifying home must be a housing unit located in Canada. CRA examples include:

• single-family homes;
• semi-detached homes;
• townhouses;
• mobile homes;
• condominium units;
• apartments in duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes or apartment buildings;
• a qualifying share in a co-operative housing corporation that gives you both possession and an equity interest in a housing unit.

A co-operative share that only gives you a right to tenancy does not qualify.

Do you have to be a Canadian resident?

Yes. You must be a resident of Canada when you make an HBP withdrawal. If you have not yet acquired the qualifying home when you make your first withdrawal, you must remain a resident of Canada throughout the period beginning with that first withdrawal and ending when you or the specified disabled person acquires the qualifying home.

Do you have to live in the home?

You must intend to occupy the qualifying home as your principal place of residence no later than one year after buying or building it.

If you are using the HBP to buy or build a qualifying home for a specified disabled person, or helping that person buy or build the home, the specified disabled person must intend to occupy it as their principal place of residence within one year.

When must the home be bought or built?

For an eligible HBP withdrawal, the qualifying home or an eligible replacement property generally must be acquired or built before October 1 of the year after the year of your first withdrawal.

If the home is being built, the CRA considers it built when it becomes habitable. For a condominium purchase, the home is considered acquired when the purchaser is entitled to immediate vacant possession.

CRA rules provide limited circumstances in which an additional year may effectively be available, including where another qualifying written agreement is in place before the original October 1 deadline or where qualifying construction payments satisfy the applicable requirements.

Can you withdraw after you have already bought the home?

Normally, the HBP rules do not allow the home to have been acquired more than 30 days before the withdrawal. The CRA provides an exception to this rule in certain qualifying situations involving the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership.

Because the timing of closing and the HBP withdrawal matters, arrange the Form T1036 withdrawal with your RRSP issuer before the applicable 30-day window expires.

How to complete Form T1036

Form T1036 is the CRA form used to request an RRSP withdrawal under the Home Buyers' Plan.

1. Download the current Form T1036 from Canada.ca.
2. Complete Area 1 of the form and certify that you meet the applicable HBP conditions.
3. Give the form to the RRSP issuer that holds the RRSP from which the money will be withdrawn.
4. The RRSP issuer completes Area 2 and processes the withdrawal.

You need a separate Form T1036 for every HBP withdrawal you make.

Can you apply for an HBP withdrawal online?

The CRA provides Form T1036 as a downloadable fillable PDF, but the federal procedure is not a direct online CRA application. After completing Area 1, you give the form to your RRSP issuer. Whether your financial institution accepts the form electronically or offers an online workflow depends on that issuer.

Can you withdraw from more than one RRSP?

Yes. You may make withdrawals from more than one RRSP as long as you are the annuitant of every RRSP used. You must complete a separate Form T1036 for each withdrawal, and the combined HBP total cannot exceed $60,000.

Can you withdraw from a locked-in or group RRSP?

Not necessarily. The CRA notes that some RRSPs, including locked-in RRSPs and some group RRSPs, do not allow HBP withdrawals. Confirm whether your particular plan permits a withdrawal before relying on those funds for a home purchase.

When can multiple HBP withdrawals be made?

You can make more than one HBP withdrawal, but normally all withdrawals must occur in the same calendar year as your first HBP withdrawal or in January of the following calendar year. Withdrawals outside that period are not permitted unless expressly allowed by the Minister.

Does an HBP withdrawal affect your RRSP deduction?

It can. Special rules apply to RRSP contributions made during the 89-day period before an HBP withdrawal. Depending on the value remaining in the RRSP after the withdrawal, part or all of contributions made during that period may not be deductible for any year.

In general, for contributions made during that 89-day period to remain fully deductible, the fair market value remaining in the RRSP after the withdrawal must be at least equal to those contributions, subject to the CRA calculation and exclusions.

Can you use the Home Buyers' Plan and an FHSA for the same home?

Yes. The CRA confirms that you can make an eligible HBP withdrawal from an RRSP and also make a qualifying withdrawal from a First Home Savings Account for the same qualifying home, provided you independently meet all conditions for both programs at the time of each withdrawal.

What if you used the Home Buyers' Plan before?

You may be able to participate in the HBP again. If you previously used the plan, your HBP balance generally must be zero on January 1 of the year in which you make the new withdrawal, and you must satisfy all other HBP eligibility conditions that apply to the new participation.

What happens if an HBP withdrawal is not eligible?

You are responsible for confirming that all HBP conditions are satisfied. The CRA may request additional information about your withdrawal.

If a condition is not met and the withdrawal is considered ineligible, part or all of the amount may have to be included in your taxable income for the year you received it. If your return for that year has already been assessed, the CRA can reassess it to include the ineligible withdrawal.

What happens if you do not buy or build the home?

If you do not buy or build a qualifying home or an eligible replacement property by the applicable deadline and no exception applies, you must cancel your HBP participation under the CRA cancellation rules. Depending on what you repay and when, an amount that is not properly cancelled may have to be included in income.

When do you start repaying an HBP withdrawal made in 2026?

The HBP normally provides up to 15 years to repay eligible withdrawals. Temporary federal relief applies to participants whose first HBP withdrawal is made from 2022 through 2028. For these participants, the 15-year repayment period starts in the fifth year following the year of the first withdrawal.

If your first HBP withdrawal is made in 2026, your first required repayment year is therefore 2031.

Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal checklist

• Confirm that you meet the CRA first-time home buyer test or a valid exception.
• Have a written purchase or construction agreement before withdrawing.
• Confirm the property is a qualifying home in Canada.
• Check that you satisfy the Canadian residency requirements.
• Plan to occupy the home as a principal residence within one year.
• Check the timing of your withdrawal against the home acquisition date.
• Verify that your RRSP allows HBP withdrawals.
• Review the 89-day RRSP contribution rule before withdrawing recently contributed funds.
• Complete a separate Form T1036 for every withdrawal.
• Keep all withdrawals within the $60,000 total HBP limit.
• Make multiple withdrawals only within the permitted withdrawal period.