Annual contribution limits for 2024 and 2025

For 2024, you can put $7,000 into a TFSA in a single year. For 2025, the limit rises to $7,000 as well (the government indexes this amount every five years, and the next increase comes in 2030). The limit applies to you as an individual — your spouse or partner has their own separate $7,000 room.

These are annual limits, not lifetime caps. If you don't use your full $7,000 in one year, the unused room carries forward to the next year and stays available indefinitely. You can catch up on years you missed, even if those years were decades ago.

The contribution room you have depends on when you turned 18 and whether you've held a TFSA before. If you were born before January 1, 2006, you had room starting January 1, 2024 (the year you turned 18). Every year after that, new room opens on January 1. You can find your exact available room by logging into My Account on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website or by calling 1-800-959-8281.

Key Takeaways

  • You can contribute up to $7,000 per year to a TFSA in 2024 and 2025, and this limit is separate for each person in your household.
  • Unused contribution room carries forward to future years, so you can catch up on years you didn't use your full amount.
  • The CRA tracks your available room automatically — you can check it through My Account or by phone, and you do not need to calculate it yourself.
  • Withdrawals from a TFSA add back to your contribution room on January 1 of the following year, not immediately.
  • Exceeding your available room triggers a 1% tax per month on the overage, so checking your balance before depositing is important.

How contribution room works year to year

Think of contribution room as a bucket that fills on January 1 each year. On that date, the CRA adds your annual limit ($7,000 in 2024 and 2025) to whatever room you didn't use in previous years. If you contributed $5,000 in 2024, you used $5,000 of your room and have $2,000 left over. On January 1, 2025, that $2,000 carries forward, and you also get a fresh $7,000, giving you $9,000 total room for 2025.

Withdrawals work differently. If you withdraw $3,000 from your TFSA in June 2025, that $3,000 does not immediately become available to recontribute. Instead, it adds back to your room on January 1, 2026. This rule prevents people from using the TFSA as a way to move money in and out without limits.

The CRA maintains a running total of your room and updates it after they process your tax return each year. You do not calculate it yourself — the CRA does the math and tells you what you have available.

What happens if you contribute more than your limit

If you put money into a TFSA beyond your available room, the CRA charges you a 1% tax per month on the overage amount. That tax applies for each month the overage sits in the account. If you contributed $1,000 more than your limit and caught the mistake after three months, you would owe $30 in tax (1% × $1,000 × 3 months).

The overage tax is separate from income tax — it is a penalty specifically for exceeding your contribution room. You report it on your tax return, and the CRA will contact you if they catch an overage during their review of your return.

If you realize you have overcontributed, withdraw the excess amount as soon as you can. The tax continues to accrue each month until the overage is gone. You do not need to wait until January 1 to withdraw — you can remove money any time, though the room from that withdrawal will not come back until the following January 1.

Contribution room if you have multiple TFSAs

You can open more than one TFSA at different banks or investment firms, but your contribution room is shared across all of them. If you have a TFSA at Bank A and a TFSA at Bank B, and you contribute $4,000 to Bank A and $3,500 to Bank B in the same year, you have used $7,500 of your $7,000 room — you are $500 over.

Each financial institution reports your contributions to the CRA separately, but the CRA combines them to track your total. The CRA will catch the overage when they process your tax return, and you will owe the 1% monthly tax on the $500 excess.

To avoid this, keep track of your total contributions across all accounts yourself. Write down what you put into each TFSA and add them together before you make a new deposit. Your CRA My Account page shows your total available room, but it does not show a breakdown by institution, so you need your own records to know how much you have already used in the current year.

Contribution room for people who have never had a TFSA

If you are 18 or older and have never opened a TFSA, your available room includes all the years you were may be able to access but did not contribute. If you turned 18 in 2015 and never opened a TFSA, you have room for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 — that is 11 years of $7,000 (or the limit that applied in each year, which was lower in earlier years). Your total available room would be much higher than $7,000.

The limits were lower in the early years of the TFSA program. From 2009 to 2012, the limit was $5,000. From 2013 to 2014, it was $5,500. From 2015 to 2019, it was $6,000. From 2020 onward, it has been $7,000. If you have room from those earlier years, the CRA counts it at the rate that applied then.

You can check your exact available room — including all the years you were may be able to access — by logging into My Account on the CRA website. You will see a single number representing your total room across all years.

Contribution room if you moved to or from Canada

You can only contribute to a TFSA if you are a Canadian resident for tax purposes. If you moved to Canada and became a resident, your contribution room starts on January 1 of the year you became a resident, not before. If you moved away from Canada and lost resident status, you cannot contribute to a TFSA while you are non-resident, and any room you do not use does not carry forward — it is lost.

If you move back to Canada later and regain resident status, your room starts fresh from January 1 of the year you return. The years you were non-resident do not count toward your room.

Report your residency status on your tax return each year. The CRA uses this information to calculate your TFSA room. If there is any question about when you became or stopped being a resident, contact the CRA before opening or contributing to a TFSA.

Tracking your room and avoiding mistakes

The safest way to know your available room is to check your CRA My Account page. Log in with your Social Insurance Number and password, go to the TFSA section, and you will see your total available room. This number is updated after the CRA processes your tax return each year and after they receive contribution reports from your financial institutions.

If you prefer not to use My Account, call the CRA at 1-800-959-8281 and provide your Social Insurance Number. A representative can tell you your available room over the phone. Have your most recent tax return handy so you can answer verification questions.

Before you make any deposit to a TFSA, subtract what you have already contributed in the current year from your available room. Write it down or use a spreadsheet. This simple step prevents overcontribution and the 1% monthly tax that comes with it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I contribute more than $7,000 if I have unused room from previous years?

Yes. If you have $15,000 in total available room because you did not contribute in previous years, you can put in $15,000 in a single year if you want to. The $7,000 annual limit applies only to new room that opens each January 1 — accumulated unused room from past years can all be used in one year.

What if I withdraw money from my TFSA and then recontribute it the same year?

The withdrawal does not free up room until January 1 of the next year. If you withdraw $5,000 in March and try to recontribute it in April of the same year, you will be overcontributing by $5,000. Wait until January 1 to recontribute, or make sure you have separate available room to cover the new deposit.

Do I report my TFSA contributions on my tax return?

No. Your financial institution reports your contributions to the CRA directly, and the CRA updates your room automatically. You do not need to list TFSA contributions on your tax return. You only report the 1% overage tax if you have overcontributed.

Can my spouse or partner use my unused contribution room?

No. Contribution room is individual — it cannot be transferred or shared. Your spouse has their own separate $7,000 room each year. You cannot combine your room or give unused room to your partner.

What if the CRA says I have overcontributed but I do not think I did?

Contact the CRA at 1-800-959-8281 with your Social Insurance Number and details of your contributions. They can review your account and explain where the overage came from. It may be a contribution from a financial institution that was reported late, or a withdrawal that was processed differently than you expected. The CRA can also discuss options for correcting the overage.