Contribution room
Growth projection
The 2026 TFSA annual limit is $7,000. Someone eligible since 2009 has $109,000 in cumulative room. Withdrawals restore room, but only starting the following calendar year - the room shown here assumes that restored room is already available. Growth projections are illustrative only and don't guarantee future returns.
Calculate Your TFSA Contribution Room
The Tools Kit's free TFSA Calculator works out how much Tax-Free Savings Account contribution room you have and how a TFSA could grow with regular monthly contributions. Choose the year you became eligible, enter what you have contributed and withdrawn, and it adds up the real annual limit for every year from then through 2026, rather than a flat estimate. Someone eligible since 2009 who has never contributed has $109,000 of room in 2026.
Everything is calculated in your browser in Canadian dollars. Use it alongside CRA My Account, which shows your official room as of January 1, to plan a lump-sum or catch-up contribution without going over the limit.
How to Use the TFSA Calculator
- 1
Choose the year you became eligible
Pick the later of 2009, when TFSAs launched, or the first year you were 18 or older and a resident of Canada.
- 2
Enter your contributions and withdrawals
Type the total you have ever contributed to all your TFSAs and the total you have ever withdrawn, in Canadian dollars.
- 3
Read your contribution room
The calculator shows your total lifetime room, the room available now, and the 2026 annual limit of $7,000.
- 4
Project your TFSA growth
Enter a monthly contribution, an expected annual return, and a number of years to see the projected balance, total contributed, and investment growth.
TFSA Limits by Year, 2009 to 2026
The TFSA annual limit has changed several times since the account launched. These are the figures the calculator uses; added together they give the $109,000 lifetime maximum for 2026.
| Year | Annual TFSA limit |
|---|---|
| 2009-2012 | $5,000 per year |
| 2013-2014 | $5,500 per year |
| 2015 | $10,000 |
| 2016-2018 | $5,500 per year |
| 2019-2022 | $6,000 per year |
| 2023 | $6,500 |
| 2024-2026 | $7,000 per year |
Because of these changes, multiplying $7,000 by your years of eligibility overstates your room if you became eligible before 2024. Eligibility from 2015 gives $78,000 of lifetime room, and eligibility from 2019 gives $51,500, not the $56,000 a flat $7,000 estimate would suggest.
How TFSA Contribution Room Is Calculated
Available room = lifetime room − total contributed + total withdrawn. For example, if you became eligible in 2015, have contributed $40,000 in total and withdrew $5,000 last year, your room is $78,000 − $40,000 + $5,000 = $43,000.
Two simplifications are worth knowing. First, the CRA only restores withdrawn amounts on January 1 of the following year, but the calculator adds every withdrawal back straight away; if you withdrew money this year, subtract it before you re-contribute. Second, if your contributions exceed your room, the calculator shows $0 rather than the excess. Over-contributions are taxed at 1% per month, so confirm your figure in CRA My Account before a large deposit.
TFSA contributions are not tax-deductible, which is the key difference from an RRSP. To see what a deduction would be worth instead, compare with the RRSP calculator, and use the Canada income tax calculator to find your marginal rate, which drives the TFSA versus RRSP decision.
Projecting TFSA Growth
The growth projection starts from a $0 balance. Each month it adds your contribution and then grows the balance by your annual return divided by 12. With $300 a month at 6% for 10 years, you would contribute $36,000 and the projected balance would be about $49,410, so $13,410 is tax-free investment growth. At $500 a month and 5% for 20 years, the balance reaches about $206,373 from $120,000 of contributions.
The projection does not include money already in your TFSA. To model an existing balance plus new deposits, the compound interest calculator is a better fit, and the inflation calculator shows what a future balance may be worth in today's dollars. Returns are illustrative, not guaranteed.
Common uses
- Checking your TFSA room before a large contribution to avoid the 1% monthly penalty tax
- Working out total lifetime room if you have never opened a TFSA
- Planning a catch-up contribution after years of unused room
- Estimating how a monthly TFSA contribution could grow over 10, 20 or 30 years
- Deciding how to split savings between a TFSA and an RRSP
A TFSA is one part of a wider financial picture. Track how it fits with your other accounts using the net worth calculator, check what payroll deductions leave you to save with the CPP and EI calculator, or browse more planning tools in the calculator tools hub on The Tools Kit.
TFSA terms explained
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| TFSA | Tax-Free Savings Account: a registered Canadian account where investment income and withdrawals are not taxed |
| Annual limit | The new contribution room the federal government adds each year; $7,000 for 2024, 2025 and 2026 |
| Cumulative (lifetime) room | The sum of every annual limit since you became eligible, before subtracting contributions |
| Unused room | Room you did not use in earlier years; it carries forward indefinitely |
| Withdrawal re-contribution | Amounts you withdraw are added back to your room on January 1 of the following year |
| Over-contribution | Money contributed beyond your available room; the CRA taxes the excess at 1% per month |
| CRA My Account | The Canada Revenue Agency portal that shows your official TFSA room as of January 1 |
Frequently Asked Questions
The 2026 TFSA annual limit is $7,000, the same as in 2024 and 2025. It is added to any unused room you have carried forward from earlier years.
If you were 18 or older and a Canadian resident in 2009 and have never contributed, your cumulative room in 2026 is $109,000. If you became eligible later, choose your first eligible year in the calculator; for example, eligibility from 2019 gives $51,500 of room.
Add up the annual limit for every year from the year you became eligible through 2026, subtract everything you have contributed, and add back everything you have withdrawn in earlier years. Eligible since 2015 with $40,000 contributed and $5,000 withdrawn: $78,000 - $40,000 + $5,000 = $43,000.
Because the annual limit has changed many times: $5,000 from 2009 to 2012, $5,500 in 2013-2014 and 2016-2018, $10,000 in 2015, $6,000 from 2019 to 2022 and $6,500 in 2023. A flat $7,000 estimate overstates room for anyone eligible before 2024. The calculator sums the actual limit for each year instead.
Withdrawn amounts are added back to your contribution room on January 1 of the following calendar year, not immediately. The calculator adds all withdrawals back to your available room for simplicity, so if you withdrew money this year, subtract it from the result before re-contributing.
The CRA charges a tax of 1% per month on the highest excess amount in each month for as long as it stays in the account. The calculator shows available room as $0 when your contributions exceed your room, so check CRA My Account if you think you are over the limit.
Any Canadian resident aged 18 or older with a valid Social Insurance Number can open a TFSA. Room starts accumulating from the year you turn 18 (or 2009 if that came first), even if you do not open an account right away.
It depends on how much you add, your return, and how long you invest. With $300 a month at a 6% annual return for 10 years, the calculator projects about $49,410: $36,000 of contributions and $13,410 of investment growth. Real returns vary and are not guaranteed.
Each month the calculator adds your monthly contribution to the balance, then grows the balance by the annual return divided by 12. It starts from a $0 balance and runs for the number of years you enter, so it shows growth on new contributions only, not on money already in your TFSA.
A TFSA gives no deduction now but tax-free withdrawals later, while an RRSP gives a deduction now and taxable withdrawals later. A TFSA often suits people who expect a similar or higher tax rate in retirement or want flexible access to their money; an RRSP often suits higher earners today. Many Canadians use both.
No. The TFSA Calculator runs entirely in your browser; your contribution amounts are not uploaded or stored, and there is no signup.
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 2026
How do you calculate your TFSA contribution room?
TFSA contribution room is the sum of every annual limit from the year you turned 18 or 2009, whichever is later, minus everything you have contributed, plus everything you have withdrawn. Withdrawn amounts only return as room the following calendar year. The growth projection compounds monthly contributions at your chosen annual return over the years entered.
Do TFSA withdrawals give you the room back?
Yes, but not immediately. Money withdrawn from a TFSA is added back to your contribution room on 1 January of the following year, not the same year. Re-contributing the withdrawal in the same calendar year, when no other room is available, counts as an over-contribution and is taxed at 1% per month.
Runs in your browser. Your files and text never leave your device - nothing is uploaded.