TFSA Calculator
Calculate your total Canadian TFSA contribution room since 2009, check for over-contributions, and project tax-free growth from monthly contributions.
Written by Rahman · Last reviewed
Quick answer
A TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account) lets Canadian residents 18 and over invest with no tax on interest, dividends, capital gains or withdrawals. Contribution room has built up every year since 2009; the 2026 annual limit is C$7,000, and someone eligible since 2009 has accumulated C$109,000 in total room by 2026. A withdrawal restores room, but only starting January 1 of the following year, not immediately.
The projection above does not cap your monthly contribution at the 7,000 annual limit for 2026 — check the planned amount against your available room first.
Results are estimates for general guidance and are not financial, tax or legal advice. Except where a calculator names a currency, figures carry no currency of their own: put in pounds and you get pounds back, put in rupees and you get rupees. Figures depend on the assumptions you enter and on rates that change over time. Check current rates and speak to a qualified adviser before acting on them.
About the TFSA Calculator
A TFSA is a Canadian tax-advantaged account, not an investment itself: it can hold cash, stocks, bonds or funds, and everything inside grows completely free of tax. There is no extra tax on the way in beyond what you already paid as income, and none on the way out either: unlike an RRSP, a TFSA withdrawal is never taxed, whatever it is spent on.
Contribution room has accumulated every year since the account was introduced in 2009, whether or not you have ever opened a TFSA. This calculator adds up the annual limit for every year you have been eligible, subtracts what you have contributed, and adds back any withdrawal made in a prior year, then projects how a monthly contribution grows tax-free from there.
Room = (sum of the annual limit for every year from eligibility to now) − lifetime contributions + prior-year withdrawals. Future value uses the same monthly-compounding annuity formula as this site's other investment calculators: FV = balance × (1 + r)^n + contribution × [((1 + r)^n − 1) / r] × (1 + r).
r is the monthly return rate, n is the number of months. The room formula never clamps at zero: a negative result is a genuine over-contribution, not an error.
Someone who turned 18 in 2015 has been eligible for the 2015 (C$10,000) through 2026 (C$7,000) limits: C$78,000 in total lifetime room. Having contributed C$20,000 so far and never withdrawn, they have C$58,000 of room left. Contributing C$500/month from a C$20,000 starting balance at 6% for 20 years grows to about C$298,000, of which roughly C$158,000 is tax-free investment growth.
A withdrawal does not free up room until next year
The single most expensive TFSA mistake is treating it like a normal savings account: withdraw C$5,000 today, redeposit C$5,000 next week, and assume the room simply reopened. It did not. CRA adds a withdrawal back to your contribution room on January 1 of the year after you took it out, not the day of the withdrawal, and not within the same calendar year.
Redepositing in the same year you withdrew, before your room has actually been restored, is a genuine over-contribution even though your account balance never exceeded what you originally put in. CRA taxes any excess amount at 1% for every month it stays in the account.
- Withdraw in December and you can redeposit as soon as January 1 without waiting a full year.
- Withdraw in January and the same amount is unavailable again until the following January 1, effectively locked out for almost twelve months.
- Different financial institutions do not share your TFSA activity with each other in real time, so trusting one provider's own "room" display when you hold accounts at more than one is how people over-contribute by accident.
TFSA or RRSP: the two tax the same dollar at different times
A TFSA is funded with money you have already paid tax on, and nothing is taxed again: not the growth, not the withdrawal. An RRSP works the other way: the contribution itself reduces your taxable income this year, but the entire withdrawal (contributions and growth both) is taxed as ordinary income when you take it out, typically in retirement.
Neither is universally better. An RRSP is worth more when your tax rate in retirement will be lower than it is today, because the deduction is banked at today's higher rate. A TFSA is worth more when you expect a similar or higher rate later, or simply want money you can withdraw at any time with no tax consequence.
TFSA lifetime room by the year you turned 18 (through 2026, zero contributions)
| Eligible since | Total room by 2026 |
|---|---|
| 2009 (or earlier) | C$109,000 |
| 2015 | C$78,000 |
| 2020 | C$45,500 |
| 2024 | C$21,000 |
Room accumulates only from the year you turned 18 (or became a Canadian tax resident) onward; nobody gets credit for years before they were eligible, and nobody gets credit for years before the TFSA existed in 2009.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the TFSA contribution limit for 2026?
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C$7,000, the same as 2025. It applies on top of whatever unused room you have carried forward from every year since you became eligible.
Does unused TFSA room carry forward?
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Yes, indefinitely. Unlike the annual limit itself, unused room never expires and keeps accumulating even in years you contribute nothing.
How much tax do I pay on TFSA over-contributions?
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CRA charges 1% per month on the excess amount in your account for as long as it remains there; it is not a one-time penalty.
TFSA or RRSP: which should I use first?
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If you expect a lower tax rate in retirement than today, an RRSP's upfront deduction is usually worth more. If you expect a similar or higher rate, or want penalty-free access to the money at any time, a TFSA usually wins. Many Canadians use both; see the RRSP Calculator to compare.
Can I lose money in a TFSA?
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Yes. A TFSA is a tax wrapper, not a guarantee. If it holds stocks or funds rather than cash, its value moves with the investments inside it, the same as any taxable account.
Sources
- Canada.ca — MP, DB, RRSP, DPSP, ALDA, TFSA limits, YMPE and the YAMPE — Official 2026 figure and the full historical TFSA annual dollar limits, 2009-2026.
- Canada.ca — What to do if you contribute more than your TFSA room allows — The 1%-per-month tax charged on an excess TFSA amount for as long as it remains in the account.