FHSA Guide: What Is an FHSA?

With the recent actions from the Bank of Canada and the trends in the Windsor real estate market, more buyers are finding opportunities to get into the market and buy homes. For some they may be first-time home buyers looking for Windsor homes for sale. This past spring the Canadian government introduced the First Home Savings Account (FHSA) and many financial institutions introduced them officially this summer. Today let’s look at what this account is and how opening one works.

First things first, what exactly is this account? A first home savings account (FHSA) is a registered plan allowing you, as a prospective first-time home buyer, to save for your first home tax-free (within certain limits). So who can open one of these accounts? To open an FHSA, you must be a qualifying individual fulfilling the following conditions at time of opening:

At least 18 years of age
Not more than 71 years of age on December 31 of the year
A resident of Canada
A first-time home buyer

The last bullet point is the key here. It is important to know what qualifies you as a first-time home buyer. According the Canadian Revenue Agency here is the definition,

“For the purpose of opening an FHSA, you will be considered to be a first-time home buyer if you did not, at any time in the current calendar year before the account is opened or at any time in the preceding four calendar years, live in a qualifying home (or what would be a qualifying home if located in Canada) as your principal place of residence that either you owned or jointly owned or your spouse or common-law partner (at the time the account is opened) owned or jointly owned.” (CRA, 2023)

So there you have it, the basics of the First Home Savings Account introduced to help people buy their first home. We’ll look into the opening, operating, and closing procedures in future posts.

Here at Jump Realty our agents will give you honest advice on what course of action is best for you in their professional opinion and will always put taking care of your best interests first! With offices in Windsor, Tecumseh, Kingsville, LaSalle, Harrow, Chatham, and Leamington, no matter where you are, a Jump agent is ready to help. Please contact us for any housing needs and let us give you a better real estate experience!