How your RRSP can help you buy a home

If you are a first-time home buyer or you already own a home but need a more accessible residence for yourself or a dependent relative, the Registered Retirement Savings Plan Home Buyers’ Plan (RRSP HBP) can help you come up with the down payment.

It works like this: You can borrow up to $25,000 from your RRSP to buy or build your first principal residence. Couples (legally married or common-law) can withdraw up to $25,000 each for a total of $50,000 towards the same home purchase. To qualify as first-time buyers, you must be able to show that neither you nor your spouse has owned a home that you occupied as your principal residence in the past five years.

If you’re borrowing from your RRSP to buy or build for yourself or a dependent relative with a disability, the first-time buyer condition doesn’t apply. (See the Canada Revenue Agency’s rules: HBP Condition — Person with a disability.)