If you are a first-time buyer, there is one account you should open sooner rather than later: your First Home Savings Account. Under the CRA’s rules, your FHSA room does not build up while you wait — it only starts in the year you open your first account. That means every year you delay is a year of room you never get back.

Once it is open, you can build up to $8,000 in new room each year, to a $40,000 lifetime limit, and any unused room carries forward to future years. Contributions can be tax-deductible, and a qualifying withdrawal toward your first home comes out tax-free — a tax break on both ends.

Even if you cannot fill it yet, open one before December 31st to start the clock. Not sure if you qualify or how an FHSA fits your down payment plan? Call Travis Bannert, 780-720-8240, and start with a Pre-Approval & Refinance Check.

Where should first-time buyers in Edmonton get their mortgage? See Where should first-time buyers in Edmonton get their mortgage?.