- TFSA room starts accumulating from age 18 (or 2009, whichever is later), whether or not you've ever opened an account.
- Withdrawals add back to your room — but only starting the following calendar year, not immediately.
- Growth inside a TFSA is never taxed, unlike an RRSP where withdrawals are fully taxable.
- Hunch tracks contributions detected in your connected accounts so your room estimate stays current.
How the TFSA room calculator works
Enter your birth year and your total contributions and withdrawals to date. The calculator sums the annual TFSA dollar limits for every eligible year since you turned 18 (or since 2009, whichever is later) to find your lifetime room, then subtracts net contributions to show what's left.
The math: cumulative annual limits minus net contributions
Lifetime TFSA room = the sum of the annual TFSA dollar limit for every calendar year from the later of (a) the year you turned 18 or (b) 2009, up through the current year. Remaining room = lifetime room − total contributed + total withdrawn (withdrawals restore room starting the following January 1, which this calculator approximates by including them in the running total).
Worked example
Someone born in 1995 turned 18 in 2013, so their room accumulates from 2013 onward — summing each year's annual limit gives a lifetime maximum. With $20,000 contributed and no withdrawals, remaining room is the lifetime total minus $20,000.
Key terms
- TFSA
- Tax-Free Savings Account — a Canadian account where contributions aren't deductible, but all growth and withdrawals are completely tax-free.
- Contribution room
- The cumulative amount you're allowed to have contributed to a TFSA, based on the annual limits for every eligible year since 2009 or age 18.
- Annual TFSA limit
- The dollar amount added to everyone's room each calendar year, set by the federal government and typically adjusted for inflation periodically.
- Over-contribution
- Contributing more than your available room, which triggers a CRA penalty tax of 1% per month on the excess amount until withdrawn.
