2025 TFSA limit stays at $7,000 - your cumulative room is now $102,000 if eligible

The 2025 TFSA contribution limit stays at $7,000 - no increase from 2024. That brings the total cumulative room to $102,000 for Canadians who've been eligible every year since the account launched in 2009.

But here's what most people get wrong about TFSA room: it's not automatic. You only get room for years when you were 18 or older and a Canadian resident for tax purposes. Miss a year of residency, lose that year's room forever.

Your actual room depends on your history

The $102,000 figure assumes you were eligible for contribution room every single year from 2009 through 2025. That means:

• You were 18+ in 2009 (born in 1991 or earlier)
• You were a Canadian resident for tax purposes every year from 2009-2025
• You never moved abroad for work or school during those years

Most Canadians don't hit all three. If you were 16 in 2009, your room starts in 2011. If you worked in the US for two years, you lose those years entirely. The room doesn't catch up later.

Your TFSA room resets each January 1st. Any withdrawals from the previous year get added back to your limit, plus the new annual room. So if you pulled out $5,000 in 2024 and never contributed before, your 2025 room would be $12,000 - the withdrawal plus the new limit.

The annual limits year by year

Here's how we got to $102,000 total:

• 2009-2012: $5,000 each year ($20,000 total)
• 2013-2014: $5,500 each year ($11,000 total)
• 2015: $10,000 (one-year increase)
• 2016-2018: $5,500 each year ($16,500 total)
• 2019-2022: $6,000 each year ($24,000 total)
• 2023-2025: $7,000 each year ($21,000 total)

The government adjusts the limit based on inflation, rounded to the nearest $500. Since inflation has cooled from 2023 levels, $7,000 held steady for 2025.

What if you've over-contributed

The CRA charges 1% per month on excess TFSA contributions. If you put in $8,000 for 2025 when your limit is $7,000, you'll pay $10 per month until you withdraw the excess $1,000.

The penalty applies from the month you over-contributed. So a $1,000 over-contribution in February that gets fixed in June costs $50 total. The CRA doesn't round up to full months.

Unlike RRSP over-contributions, there's no minimum threshold - any excess amount triggers the penalty immediately.

Check your actual room

Your TFSA contribution room appears on your Notice of Assessment (NOA) and in your CRA My Account online. The NOA shows your room as of January 1st of the tax year, so your 2024 NOA shows room as of January 1, 2024.

If you've made contributions or withdrawals during the year, you need to track those separately. TaxSplit.ca can calculate your current room based on your contribution history and province.

The catch with online tracking: the CRA's numbers lag by several months. If you contributed in December, it might not show up until you file your taxes next year.

Your TFSA room carries forward indefinitely. Unlike RRSP contribution room that disappears when you turn 71, unused TFSA room never expires. You could contribute nothing for 10 years, then put in the full accumulated amount later.