How much TFSA room do I have if I arrived in Canada in 2021?
If you became a tax resident of Canada in 2021 and were 18 or older then, your TFSA room in 2026 is $39,500, less whatever you have put in and not taken out. That is 6 years of the yearly limits, from 2021 to 2026.
You have $39,500 of TFSA room.
You
TFSA
$39,500 room this year
Your room started in 2021, the year you became a tax resident: $39,500 in all through 2026.
Not $109,000: that counts every year since 2009, and years before you were a resident add nothing.
FHSA
An FHSA has no room until you open one, even with nothing in it. Opening one starts $8,000 a year.
RRSP
Your RRSP limit is on your latest Notice of Assessment, under “RRSP deduction limit”. Type it, or what you earned each year since you arrived, to see what’s left.
CRA’s account shows TFSA room as of 1 January and adds last year’s transactions only in the spring, so from January to about April it can show more room than you have.
Contribution Room estimates your contribution room from the rules the Canada Revenue Agency publishes and what you enter. It is not tax, legal or financial advice. Your CRA account and Notice of Assessment are the official record: check them before you contribute, and ask a tax professional about residency or anything unusual. Contribution Room is not affiliated with the CRA.
US citizens and green-card holders: a TFSA is generally not tax-free in the US; ask a cross-border tax professional first.
The years that count: 2021 ($6,000), 2022 ($6,000), 2023 ($6,500), 2024 ($7,000), 2025 ($7,000), 2026 ($7,000). The limit is never cut for part of a year, so the year you arrived counts in full, even if you landed in December.
It is not $109,000. That figure adds every limit since TFSAs began in 2009, and it is the number most calculators show if you only give your age. Years before you were a resident add nothing; putting the difference in costs 1% a month on the excess.
"Resident" here is your residency for tax, usually from the day you arrived to live here, not the day you became a permanent resident. If you came on a work or study permit in 2021 and got PR later, your room still starts in 2021.
Your CRA account shows your room as of 1 January, and adds last year’s contributions only in the spring. Between January and about April it can show more room than you have.
Sources
- CRA — Before you contribute to a TFSA
- CRA — Calculate your TFSA contribution room
- CRA — Newcomers to Canada (immigrants)
- CRA — TFSA and RRSP dollar limits
Checked against the CRA’s pages on 2026-10-18. The CRA’s records are the official ones.