Home Buyers Plan (HBP) Repayment Rules in Canada (2026)

This page covers the mechanics of repaying a Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal: exactly when your repayment clock starts, how much you owe each year, what a missed payment actually costs you, and how repayment works in edge cases like selling your home, separating, or using the HBP again. For HBP eligibility, the withdrawal process, and Form T1036, see the complete Home Buyers’ Plan guide. To run the numbers on your own withdrawal, use the HBP repayment calculator.

You can withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP under the HBP, and you must repay it to your RRSP over 15 years. Other RRSP withdrawal topics are listed in the RRSP and RRIF guide directory.

HBP repayment at a glance

• The repayment period is 15 years.
• Repayments start the second year after the year of your first withdrawal.
• For first withdrawals from 2022 to 2028, they start the fifth year after instead.
• You repay by contributing to an RRSP and designating it as an HBP repayment; repayments don't use deduction room and aren't deductible.
• A required repayment you don't make is included in your income for that year.

When your repayment clock actually starts

This is the part of the HBP that trips people up, because two different rules apply depending on when you made your first withdrawal.

Under the permanent rule, repayments start in the 2nd year after the year of your first withdrawal. Ottawa has temporarily deferred that start to the 5th year after the withdrawal year: Budget 2024 introduced the relief for first withdrawals made between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2025, and it has since been extended to first withdrawals made through December 31, 2028. So anyone whose first HBP withdrawal falls anywhere in the 2022-2028 window gets the longer runway before the first payment is due.

Example: You make your first HBP withdrawal in 2026. Because that falls within the 2022-2028 window, your first repayment year is 2031, not 2028. Your repayment contribution for that year is due by the RRSP contribution deadline in early 2032 (the same first-60-days-of-the-year rule that applies to regular RRSP contributions).

Example: You withdrew in 2022, right at the start of the relief window. Your first repayment year is 2027, not 2024.

Withdrawals made after December 31, 2028 are not currently covered by this relief. Unless the government extends it again, a first withdrawal made after that year would fall back under the permanent rule, with repayment starting 2 years after the withdrawal year rather than 5. Confirm the current rule before relying on a specific start year if your own withdrawal is still a few years out.

How much you owe each year

Your minimum annual repayment is always your remaining HBP balance divided by the number of years left in your repayment period, not a fixed 1/15 of the original withdrawal forever. In your first repayment year, those are the same number (balance = full withdrawal, years left = 15), so a $60,000 withdrawal has a $4,000 minimum in year one. But the amount recalculates every year based on what is actually still outstanding, which is why paying extra or missing a payment both change next year’s minimum (see below).

Your CRA Notice of Assessment states your exact required minimum for the coming year, so you do not need to calculate it yourself. For a full breakdown by withdrawal size, monthly equivalents, and accelerated-payoff scenarios, use the HBP repayment calculator.

Designating your repayment on Schedule 7

HBP repayments are made the same way as any RRSP contribution, but they only count toward your HBP balance if you actively designate them as a repayment:

1. Contribute to your RRSP during the repayment tax year, or in the first 60 days of the following year (the same window as a regular RRSP contribution).
2. Complete Schedule 7 with your tax return and report the designated repayment amount on line 24600.
3. Do not claim a deduction for the repayment portion. You already claimed the deduction when you originally contributed that money to your RRSP.
4. Only contributions made to your own RRSP, PRPP or SPP count. A contribution your spouse makes into a spousal RRSP on your behalf, or a transfer-in from another registered plan, cannot be designated as an HBP repayment.

If you contribute more than your required minimum in a given year, Schedule 7 lets you designate the extra as repayment too, which reduces your balance (and future minimums) faster.

What happens if you miss a repayment

If you do not designate enough of your RRSP contributions as an HBP repayment in a given year, the shortfall between what was required and what you actually designated is added to your taxable income for that year, on line 12900 of your return.

Worked example: You withdrew $60,000. Your minimum repayment in your first repayment year is $4,000. You only designate $1,500.

• Shortfall: $4,000 minus $1,500 = $2,500
• That $2,500 is added to your taxable income for the year
• At an illustrative 30% combined marginal tax rate, that costs roughly $750 in extra tax that year

Here is the part that is easy to miss: your $2,500 shortfall still counts against your HBP balance, exactly as if you had repaid it. Your balance drops by the full $4,000 required amount ($1,500 actually repaid plus $2,500 resolved through the tax inclusion), leaving $56,000 owing with 14 years left, the same as if you had repaid the full $4,000. Missing a payment does not add anything to your remaining obligation or extend your 15-year schedule. It just converts that portion of your withdrawal from tax-free to taxable, and you lose the years of tax-sheltered growth that money would otherwise have had inside your RRSP.

Paying more than the minimum

Any amount you designate above your required minimum reduces your outstanding balance, which lowers every future year’s required minimum (since it is recalculated as balance divided by years remaining).

Example: $60,000 withdrawal, $4,000 minimum due in year one. You pay $10,000 instead. Your balance drops to $50,000 with 14 years left, so your year-two minimum falls to $50,000 / 14, about $3,571, rather than staying at $4,000.

You can repay faster, and there is no annual cap on how much you can designate, up to your remaining HBP balance. Whether it makes sense to prioritize extra HBP repayment over other goals, like paying down higher-interest debt, contributing to a TFSA, making a fresh deductible RRSP contribution, or prepaying a mortgage, depends on your own numbers: HBP repayments earn no tax deduction and no guaranteed return, so a comparison usually comes down to the interest rate on any debt you’re carrying and the tax deduction you would otherwise be giving up. Some people find it helpful to work through that comparison with a tax or financial professional rather than defaulting to whichever payment is easiest to automate.

There are also situations where paying only the minimum, or even accepting a missed-payment tax hit in a specific year, could make more sense than accelerating repayment, for example in a year where your income (and marginal tax rate) is unusually low, or where cash is needed elsewhere. Since the shortfall is simply taxed at your rate for that year, a low-income year makes that tax cost smaller than it would be later.

Special situations

Selling your home

Selling the home you bought with your HBP withdrawal does not change your repayment obligation. You still owe the remaining balance on the same 15-year schedule, and there is no requirement to repay the balance faster (or at all differently) just because you no longer own the property. This applies whether you sell and buy again, move to a rental, or relocate within Canada. Becoming a non-resident is different: it brings its own repayment rules.

Marriage and separation

Each spouse or common-law partner has their own HBP eligibility and repayment obligation. If a couple both used the HBP (up to $60,000 each) to buy a home together, each person keeps repaying their own balance on their own schedule. A separation does not change or combine those obligations. Each partner continues repaying their own HBP balance regardless of what happens to the property.

Spousal RRSP repayments

If your original HBP withdrawal came from a spousal RRSP, the repayment obligation belongs to whoever made the withdrawal (the RRSP annuitant), not the spouse who originally contributed the funds. Repayments must also come from contributions made to your own RRSP as the annuitant. A contribution your spouse makes into that spousal RRSP on your behalf cannot be designated as your HBP repayment.

Death with an outstanding balance

If someone dies with an HBP balance still owing, their legal representative generally has to include the remaining balance (minus any repayment already designated for the year of death) in the deceased’s income on their final return. There is an exception: if the deceased had a surviving spouse or common-law partner who is a Canadian resident, that person can jointly elect with the legal representative, using Form RC98, to take over the remaining balance and repay it to their own RRSP instead. Making that election avoids the income inclusion on the deceased’s final return.

Using the HBP again

You can use the HBP more than once, but only once two conditions are both met: your HBP balance has to be zero on January 1 of the year of the new withdrawal, and you have to meet the first-time buyer test again (in the preceding 4 calendar years, and in the current year before the withdrawal other than the 30 days just before it, you did not live as your principal residence in a home that you or your current spouse or common-law partner owned). A withdrawal that doesn’t meet the conditions can be treated as ineligible, and it is then included in your income for the year you received it.

Quebec residents

Quebec residents who must repay an amount to an RRSP, or who choose to repay early, also complete Revenu Québec form TP-935.3-V, Repayment of RRSP Funds Withdrawn Under the Home Buyers’ Plan or the Lifelong Learning Plan.

Common repayment mistakes

A few mistakes come up repeatedly with HBP repayment, and most are avoidable by checking your CRA My Account or Notice of Assessment before filing each year:

• Contributing to your RRSP but forgetting to designate it as a repayment on Schedule 7. Without the designation, the CRA has no record that you repaid anything, and the amount you owed is added to your income even though the money is sitting in your RRSP.
• Claiming a tax deduction for the repayment portion. Repayments are never deductible. If you contribute more than you designate as a repayment, only the part you don’t designate can be deducted, within your deduction limit.
• Losing track of your balance. Your Notice of Assessment states your remaining balance and next year’s minimum every year; it could be worth checking it against your own records rather than assuming the schedule you calculated years ago is still accurate.
• Confusing the HBP with the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP). They are separate programs with different limits and repayment periods (see the comparison below), and repayments for one cannot be designated toward the other.

Checking your HBP balance

Your CRA My Account gives direct access to your HBP balance. Each year CRA also sends an HBP statement of account with your Notice of Assessment, showing your balance and the minimum repayment required for the following year, which is the simplest way to confirm what you actually owe without recalculating it yourself.

HBP vs LLP repayment

The Home Buyers’ Plan is sometimes confused with the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP), the RRSP withdrawal program for education (full-time students, or part-time students who meet a disability condition). They share a similar structure but different numbers:

Key takeaways

• Repayments begin 5 years after the withdrawal year for any first withdrawal made between 2022 and 2028; the older, permanent 2-year rule applies outside that window unless it is extended again
• Your minimum required repayment is your remaining balance divided by the years left, not a fixed amount for all 15 years
• A missed repayment is taxed as income, but it still reduces your balance by the same amount, so it does not add to your total obligation
• Repaying more than the minimum reduces your balance and lowers future minimums
• Selling your home, separating, or moving within Canada does not change your repayment schedule; death, turning 71 and becoming a non-resident are the special situations
• Check your CRA My Account or Notice of Assessment each year to confirm your exact balance and required repayment

Related reading

• RRSP withdrawal rules, including the Lifelong Learning Plan
• Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP): Complete Guide
• HBP Repayment Calculator
• Can You Use FHSA and RRSP Home Buyers Plan at the Same Time?

→ Back to: Complete RRSP Guide