The Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) is a program that allows you to withdraw up to $60,000 from your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) to buy or build a qualifying home for yourself or for a related person with a disability.
Even if you are a non-resident now, you might plan to return to Canada. To use the HBP upon your return, you must qualify as a "first-time buyer." This means that in the four-year period before your withdrawal, you did not occupy a home that you or your current spouse/common-law partner owned. Your time spent abroad as a non-resident counts toward this four-year window. Summary of Risks home buyers plan non resident
Because you cannot claim RRSP deductions as a non-resident, any "repayment" you make won't offset the income inclusion. Effectively, if you do not (or cannot) make the repayment, the required annual amount is simply added to your Canadian income. You would then file a Section 115 return (if applicable) or deal with the tax implications of that income. 4. The "First-Time Home Buyer" Definition The Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) is a program
The primary risk for non-residents is the . Canada's tax system is designed to ensure that the HBP—which is a tax-deferred loan from your future self—is used to support the Canadian housing market. When you sever ties with the country, the CRA typically wants that tax-deferred money either back in the RRSP or taxed as immediate income. Your time spent abroad as a non-resident counts
To participate in the HBP, you must meet specific residency requirements at two critical stages:
If you successfully purchased a home under the HBP while a resident but subsequently moved abroad, your repayment schedule continues. However, there is a major catch:
Failure to repay the balance within this timeframe results in the outstanding amount being added to your income for the year you left Canada, which could trigger a significant tax bill. 3. Ongoing Repayment Rules for Non-Residents
