FHSA vs. RRSP Home Buyers' Plan: which should you use first (or both)?

The FHSA in plain terms

The First Home Savings Account lets first-time buyers contribute up to a set annual limit (with a lifetime cap), get a tax deduction on contributions like an RRSP, and then withdraw the funds, including growth, completely tax-free when used toward a first home. No repayment required, ever. It's genuinely one of the best tools available to first-time buyers right now.

The RRSP Home Buyers' Plan in plain terms

The HBP lets you withdraw up to a set limit from your existing RRSP, tax-free at the time, to put toward a first home. The catch is repayment: you're required to pay that amount back into your RRSP over a set number of years, or it gets added back to your taxable income gradually if you don't.

Why FHSA first, generally

Because the FHSA never needs to be repaid, while the HBP eventually does. If you're choosing where to direct new savings first, the FHSA usually wins for that reason alone. That said, if you already have a healthy RRSP balance built up, the HBP lets you access money that's already sitting there rather than waiting to build new FHSA savings from scratch.

Using both together

Nothing stops you from using both toward the same purchase. A common approach is maxing out FHSA contributions each year while it's still relatively new, and using the HBP to tap existing RRSP savings on top of that, stacking the total funds available for your down payment without either one going to waste.