We had an interesting question this week about TFSA limits. The question was how much can a 24-year-old contribute if they’d never had a TFSA before?
The key bit of info about TFSAs with respect to this question is people start to get TFSA room in the year they turn 18. And, we’ve had TFSAs since 2009.
In this case, the 24-year-old turned 18 in 2015, so they began accumulated TFSA contribution room in 2015.
Here’s a table of the calendar year limits for TFSAs.
| Calendar Year | Annual TFSA room | Calendar Year | Annual TFSA room |
| 2009 | $5,000 | 2016 | $5,500 |
| 2010 | $5,000 | 2017 | $5,500 |
| 2011 | $5,000 | 2018 | $5,500 |
| 2012 | $5,000 | 2019 | $6,000 |
| 2013 | $5,500 | 2020 | $6,000 |
| 2014 | $5,500 | 2021 | $6,000 |
| 2015 | $10,000 | 2022 | To be announced |
Back to our question, this 24-year-old client has the contribution room made available from 2015 to 2021. Or $10,000 + 3 x $5,500 + 3 x $6,000 = $44,500.
One other note, we don’t accumulate TFSA room if we are out of the country for a full year. For example, if a student went to school outside of Canada and was away for more than one calendar year, they would not earn the contribution room for that year(s).
I hope you find this information useful, and we look forward to hearing from you.
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