What is the Lifetime Limit for TFSA?

What is the Lifetime Limit for a TFSA?

In Canada, a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) lets you grow your money tax-free. You contribute after-tax dollars, and any interest, dividends, or capital gains you earn inside the TFSA aren’t taxed—even when you withdraw them.

A common question is: “What’s the lifetime limit for a TFSA?”

The short answer: there isn’t one fixed lifetime cap, but there is a growing pool of cumulative contribution room that works a lot like a lifetime limit.

Is there a lifetime TFSA limit?

There’s no hard lifetime cap that stays the same forever. Instead, the government sets a new TFSA dollar limit every year, and your total contribution room builds up over time.

If:

• You’ve been 18 or older since 2009,

• You’ve been a resident of Canada that whole time, and

• You’ve never contributed to a TFSA,

then by 2025 your total available contribution room is $102,000.

That $102,000 number is what many people mean when they talk about the “lifetime limit” today—but it will keep increasing as new annual limits are added.

If you turned 18 after 2009 or became a Canadian resident later, your own “lifetime” room will be smaller because it only starts accumulating from the year you became eligible.

TFSA contribution limits over time (quick view)

Here’s how the annual TFSA limits have changed:

• 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

• 2024–2025: $7,000 per year

If you add all of those up for someone who’s been eligible since 2009, you get the $102,000 cumulative room by 2025.

Remember: this is just the maximum space you’re allowed to use. How much room you have left depends on what you’ve already contributed and withdrawn.

How to calculate your own TFSA room

The CRA defines your TFSA contribution room using this formula:

Current year’s TFSA dollar limit:

• Unused room from previous years

• Withdrawals made last year
  − Contributions you’ve made this year
  = Available contribution room

A few key points:

• Unused room carries forward forever. If you didn’t max out in past years, that space isn’t lost—it stacks up and increases your total room.

• Withdrawals come back next year. Money you withdraw is added back to your contribution room on January 1 of the following year, not immediately.

• Over-contributions are penalized. If you go over your available room, the CRA charges a 1% per month tax on the excess until you fix it.

The safest way to check your personal number is to log into CRA My Account and review your TFSA details before making large contributions.

How the “lifetime limit” idea fits in

Because:

• Annual limits keep increasing, and

• Unused room carries forward,

your TFSA space behaves like a lifetime allowance that grows every year.

So for 2025:

• Someone who’s been eligible since 2009 and never contributed:

  • Lifetime TFSA room = $102,000

• Someone who started later or has already contributed:

  • Their room = $102,000 minus what they’ve contributed, adjusted for withdrawals and their personal start year.

There’s no maximum cap on growth inside the TFSA—your investments can grow far beyond $102,000 and still stay tax-free. The limits only apply to how much new money you put in.

KOHO High Interest Savings and your TFSA strategy

A TFSA is great for tax-free growth, but your overall savings strategy often includes money outside your TFSA too—especially once you’re close to using up your contribution room.

That’s where KOHO High Interest Savings can fit in:

• Earn interest on cash outside your TFSA
  KOHO offers a high interest savings experience where your entire balance can earn a competitive rate, with interest calculated daily and paid monthly.

• No minimum balance, easy access
  You can keep your everyday spending and short-term savings in KOHO, while using your TFSA (at your chosen financial institution or brokerage) for longer-term, tax-free investing.

• Use both together
  A common approach is:

  • Prioritize contributing to your TFSA up to your available room, for tax-free growth.

  • Keep extra savings, emergency funds, or upcoming expenses in a high interest KOHO account, where you still earn strong interest but aren’t limited by TFSA contribution rules.