How Much TFSA Contribution Room Do You Have in 2026?

How much room do you have?

Your TFSA contribution room is a running total made up of every annual limit since you turned 18 (or since 2009, whichever came later), plus any withdrawals you made in previous years, minus any contributions you have made.

The only authoritative source for your exact room is the CRA. Your bank, your brokerage, and any third-party calculator can only estimate based on what you tell them. The CRA knows your actual history because every financial institution in Canada reports your TFSA contributions to the CRA annually. Log in to CRA My Account to see your precise available room for this calendar year.

That said, the table below gives you a clear starting point based on when you turned 18, assuming you have never contributed a dollar.

Every annual limit since 2009

Maximum room by birth year

If you have never contributed to a TFSA and were a Canadian resident when you turned 18, here is your total available room as of January 1, 2026, assuming you received room in every year since your 18th birthday:

These figures assume no prior contributions and no withdrawals. Your actual available room is almost certainly different. The CRA My Account figure is the only number that matters.

How to check your room precisely

Your exact TFSA room is available in CRA My Account. Here is how to find it in four steps.

What reduces your contribution room

Every dollar you contribute to any TFSA account reduces your available room. This includes contributions across all accounts at all institutions. If you hold TFSAs at Wealthsimple, RBC, and TD, your contributions to all three are tracked collectively by the CRA and count against your one shared room limit.

Cash contributions and in-kind asset transfers both count. If you transfer $10,000 worth of XEQT units from a non-registered account into your TFSA, that counts as a $10,000 contribution and reduces your room accordingly. The transaction is also a taxable disposition of the assets in the non-registered account, triggering any capital gains owed. For guidance on which account to fill first, see the TFSA vs RRSP comparison.

The withdrawal room return rule

When you withdraw from a TFSA, that amount is added back to your contribution room on January 1 of the following year. This is one of the most misunderstood rules in Canadian personal finance.

Example: You have $0 in available room on December 15. You withdraw $20,000 from your TFSA on December 20. On January 1, your room increases by $20,000 plus whatever the new annual limit is. You can re-contribute up to $27,000 starting January 1 (the $20,000 withdrawal plus the $7,000 new annual room).

The trap: you cannot put that money back in the same calendar year of the withdrawal unless you already have room. Many Canadians withdraw and re-contribute in the same year thinking the room returns immediately, and end up over-contributing by mistake.

Over-contribution penalties

Contributing more than your available room triggers a penalty tax of 1% per month on the excess amount, every month until it is removed. On a $5,000 over-contribution, that is $50 per month, $600 per year. It does not stop automatically. You must fix the over-contribution yourself and file form RC243 with the CRA.

The CRA does send penalty notices but typically with a significant delay. Investors who over-contribute in January may not hear about it until the following spring, by which point months of penalty have accumulated. The safest approach is to verify your room before every contribution, especially if you have multiple TFSA accounts.

The in-kind transfer trap

Moving assets in-kind (transferring actual investments rather than cash) from a non-registered account to a TFSA is allowed, but it is treated as a disposition at fair market value for tax purposes. If your XEQT units have increased in value since you bought them, you owe capital gains tax on that increase in the year of transfer.

If the investments have decreased in value, the transfer crystallizes a capital loss. However, CRA's superficial loss rules may deny this loss if you hold identical investments in other accounts. The in-kind transfer trap catches many investors off guard. Cash transfers to the TFSA followed by a fresh XEQT purchase inside the account are simpler and avoid these complications in most cases.

What to do with your room

If you have available TFSA room, the highest-return use of it is to contribute and invest in a diversified, low-cost equity ETF like XEQT. Cash sitting in a TFSA in a savings account is tax-sheltered, but it grows slowly. For a step-by-step guide to opening a Wealthsimple TFSA and buying XEQT, see How to Buy XEQT on Wealthsimple. XEQT inside your TFSA provides global equity exposure, automatic rebalancing, and the full benefit of long-run equity returns in an account where every dollar of growth is yours to keep.

If you have a significant amount of unused room and are not sure where to start, the approach most aligned with simplicity and long-run outcomes is this: contribute your available room to a Wealthsimple TFSA in a lump sum if you have it, or in regular automated contributions if you are building from scratch. Buy XEQT. Reinvest distributions. Repeat every year when new room opens on January 1.