As of April 1st, First Time Home Buyers in Canada will have a new tool to help them save for the down payment for a home purchase. The First Home Savings plan or FHSA (First Home Savings Account) as it will be known, is a registered savings plan that will be administered by qualified, participating financial institutions, such as the majority of banks, trust companies and credit unions. As your St. Thomas Mortgage Broker, we can help guide you with which banks can assist you with this program.
The FHSA will function in a similar fashion to a TFSA, in that any investment income earned within the plan is not taxable.
In-order to qualify to participate in the program, you need to be 18 years old, be a Canadian Resident, and be considered to be a first time home buyer.
The First Time Home Buyer qualification isn’t necessarily cut and dry, so it is worth looking into the details. Even if you or a spouse owned a property in the past, you may still qualify depending on the situation.
Once you have opened a FHSA account, you have 15 years to use it. If you don’t use it within 15 years, the income earned in the plan would be considered taxable income.
More details on the FHSA can be found on the Government of Canada website.
When talking to your St. Thomas Mortgage Broker, make sure to discuss your past home ownership history, as we will include it in our pre-qualification discussion which can help you realize the dream of homeownership sooner. We also offer a unique home ownership program that can help in this regard. Contact us today for more information and to see if this can help you!