Home Buyers' Plan Balance When You Leave Canada

What happens to my unpaid Home Buyers' Plan balance when I leave Canada for the US?

If you have bought or built your qualifying home, becoming a non-resident of Canada makes the unpaid Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) balance due. Repay it to your RRSP within 60 days after you become non-resident and before you file that year's return, or it is added to your RRSP income on line 12900 for that year (CRA: HBP repayments). Keeping, renting out or selling the home changes nothing: ceasing to be resident is the trigger (section 146.01(5)).

The departure-year return, the one for the year you become non-resident, reports the part of that year you were resident in Canada. An HBP balance is what remains of eligible withdrawals, including any made in the year you leave, after repayments and earlier income inclusions. It is separate from what your RRSP holds today: an empty RRSP does not erase it (section 146.01(1) and (5)).

A later ordinary start does not protect you. For first withdrawals made during January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2028, ordinary repayments start in the fifth year following the year of the first withdrawal, but that does not postpone the non-resident deadline (CRA: HBP overview; section 146.01(4.1), (4.2) and (5)).

What is my repayment deadline, and which date is my non-resident date?

Your deadline is the earlier of two dates: 60 days after you become non-resident, and the day you file the departure-year return. The payment must come before you file (section 146.01(5)(b)).

The departure-year return is due April 30 of the following year (June 15 if you or your spouse or common-law partner carried on a business), so the 60 days usually ends first. Only if you file before then does your filing date set the deadline (paragraph 150(1)(d)).

Your non-resident date is a tax-residency date, not necessarily the day you fly. The CRA says you usually become a non-resident on the latest of the date you leave Canada, the date your spouse or common-law partner and dependants leave, and the date you become resident of the country you settle in. If you lived in the destination country before living in Canada and you are resettling there, you usually become a non-resident on the date you leave Canada, so the 60 days start then (CRA: leaving Canada). Keeping a Canadian home or family ties can change the date, and a treaty tie-breaker that makes you a US resident can make you a deemed non-resident (section 250(5)); settle it through Canadian tax residency before counting.

How do I repay and report my HBP balance?

Pay the amount into your own RRSP, then designate it as an HBP repayment on Schedule 7 of the departure-year return.

1. Pay into your own RRSP by the deadline above. The payment cannot go to your spouse's or common-law partner's plan, and it cannot be a direct transfer from another registered plan or an amount you already deducted or designated for an earlier year (CRA: repayment rules; section 146.01(3)).
2. On Schedule 7, include the payment in the Part A contribution totals, then designate it in Part B as an HBP repayment on line 24600. This tells the CRA it is a repayment, not an ordinary contribution (CRA: reporting repayments; Schedule 7, 2025 form).
3. Do not claim it on line 20800 (CRA: reporting repayments; CRA: retirement-plan guide). You need no RRSP deduction room to make it (CRA: repayment rules).
4. Keep the receipt and the filed Schedule 7 together.

The CRA expects a return every year until the HBP withdrawals are repaid or included in income, even if no tax is owed (CRA: reporting repayments).

If I do not repay, how is the balance taxed and on which return?

The unpaid balance goes on line 12900 as RRSP income on the departure-year return (CRA: HBP repayments), in the part of the year you were resident in Canada (section 146.01(5)). A timely partial payment reduces the inclusion; the whole unpaid balance is included, not just the usual annual instalment.

Including the balance adds taxable income without any cash coming out of the RRSP, so the tax on it is paid from other money.

Can I add the balance to my income instead of repaying it?

Yes. Including the unpaid balance as RRSP income is the CRA's stated alternative to repaying it. Either way the HBP balance ends; the choices differ in where the money sits and when it is taxed (CRA: HBP repayments).

Does the same rule apply to my Lifelong Learning Plan balance?

The Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) lets you take RRSP money to fund full-time study for you or your spouse or common-law partner. The same departure rule applies, depending on when you took the money.

You withdrew in an earlier year. Repay the balance to your own RRSP within 60 days after you become non-resident and before you file that year's return, or the unpaid amount is included in income for the part of that year you were resident. Designate the repayment in Part B of Schedule 7 on line 24620; it needs no RRSP deduction room and is not deductible (Schedule 7, 2025 form; section 146.02(5); CRA: LLP repayments).

You withdrew in the year you become non-resident. You cancel instead: repay the full withdrawal to your own RRSP by December 31 of the year after the year of the withdrawal, or by your filing date if that is earlier and you are non-resident when you file. Send Form RC97 or a cancellation letter. Unpaid amounts are income for the withdrawal year (CRA: LLP cancellation). The HBP cancellation limits apply too: your own RRSP only, no deduction, no entry in Schedule 7 Part A. Cancelling works only if the withdrawal met the other LLP conditions (section 146.02(1), "excluded withdrawal").

If you have both balances, handle each separately; one payment cannot repay both (CRA: repayment rules).

What if I withdrew under the HBP but have not bought the home?

If you become a non-resident before you buy or build the home, the withdrawal cannot stay in the plan: you cancel by putting the money back into your own RRSP. Repay all of it by the due date and the withdrawal is not taxed. Any part you do not repay is income on line 12900 for the year you withdrew, which can be a year you have already filed (CRA: HBP cancellation).

1. You avoid cancelling only by buying or building the home (or a replacement property) while you are still resident, before October 1 of the year after the year of your first withdrawal (CRA: participating).
2. Otherwise pay the full amount into your own RRSP by December 31 of the year after the year of your first withdrawal. If you are non-resident when you file the return for the withdrawal year, the due date is that filing date if it is earlier.
3. Send Form RC471, or a signed letter giving the reason, with your payment receipts. The CRA must receive it within 60 days after the payment due date; the Act itself asks for the form by the payment date, or a later time the Minister accepts. A late form is a separate question from a late payment: ask the CRA, because the payment date does not move (section 146.01(1), "excluded withdrawal").
4. The payment goes to your own RRSP only, not a spouse's plan, a pooled registered pension plan or a specified pension plan. It is not deductible and is not entered in Schedule 7 Part A.

The CRA's page also gives December 31 of the second calendar year after the first withdrawal to someone with a one-year extension to buy or build who still did not. The Act gives that date only to someone still resident when filing, so confirm it with the CRA before relying on it after you leave (section 146.01(1), "excluded withdrawal").

A qualifying home must be in Canada, so a planned US purchase does not replace it (CRA: participation conditions).

How does this fit with cashing out my RRSP before or after I leave?

Cashing out an RRSP does not repay an HBP balance, and an empty RRSP does not erase one. A separate withdrawal is taxed on its own (CRA: RRSP withdrawals). Three links matter:

• A repayment counts only if it goes into your own RRSP, and that plan must still be an RRSP at the end of that year or the next (section 146.01(3)). An RRSP the provider closes after a full withdrawal cannot receive it, so the order of the two steps matters.
• A cash-out before your non-resident date and an unpaid HBP balance both land on the departure-year return. A cash-out after that date generally faces Canadian non-resident withholding instead, while the unpaid balance still lands on the departure-year return.
• The 60 days window runs from your non-resident date, so you can still pay after you move.

For the before-or-after decision and TFSA planning, see Moving from Canada to the US; for withholding after departure, see Non-resident pension and RRSP income.

How does the IRS treat HBP withdrawals, repayments and Canadian income inclusions?

We found no IRS guidance specific to the Home Buyers' Plan, and Revenue Procedure 2014-55 does not mention it. It says distributions from a Canadian retirement plan are included in income under section 72, the Internal Revenue Code's annuity rules, subject to the treaty (IRS: section 6). The treaty's deferral covers income accrued in the plan but not distributed (Article XVIII(7)).

Neither says whether cash taken out under the HBP is such a distribution, how a repayment is treated, or what a balance added to Canadian income means for the US. Canadian registered accounts on a US return explains why HBP and LLP withdrawals can still be taxable on a US return.

For state tax, see State tax on RRSPs and TFSAs.

I already left and the deadline passed: can I fix it?

If the window closed before you paid, the unpaid balance is departure-year income. The Act reduces the inclusion only by payments made within 60 days after you became non-resident and before you filed, so a later payment does not reduce it (section 146.01(5)(b); section 146.02(5)(b)). No CRA page on this topic describes relief for a late payment.

If you paid in time but left the payment off Schedule 7, gather the dated receipt and ask the CRA about correcting the designation; the CRA pages do not say whether that can be done after filing. If the departure-year return was filed without the inclusion or the designation, see Unreported income and voluntary disclosure. If no departure-year return was filed, see Catching up on unfiled returns. If you never reported your departure, see Left Canada without telling the CRA.

Where do I find my balance, and what records should I keep?

Find the HBP balance in your CRA account or on the HBP statement sent with your notice of assessment, reassessment or Form T1028. It is not the same as next year's minimum repayment (CRA: HBP repayments; HBP statement). Gather these before setting the repayment amount:

• HBP and LLP statements, filed Schedule 7 copies and payment receipts showing dates.
• Original withdrawal slips and request forms, and evidence of your departure date.
• The home agreement, closing or construction records and occupancy evidence, if the cancellation question applies.
• Cancellation forms, confirmations and CRA letters, if any.

The CRA's HBP reporting page tells electronic filers to keep supporting documents for six years (CRA: reporting repayments). Keep the withdrawal and repayment history for as long as the balance or the US treatment remains open.

Example

These illustrative amounts are in Canadian dollars. Assume you bought your home before leaving, the unpaid HBP balance is C$20,000, and Canadian non-residence begins on November 1. The departure-year return will be filed after December 31, so the payment window closes on December 31.

If the RRSP also holds C$60,000, that value does not change the C$20,000 balance. Cashing it out before November 1 puts it on the departure-year return with the unpaid C$20,000, for C$80,000 of income. Cashing it out after November 1 leaves only the C$20,000 on that return and puts the cash-out under non-resident rules. The tables show income only, not tax, withholding or US treatment, and assume no HBP eligibility defect.

Different for you?

• You kept your Canadian home or family there: establish the non-resident date through Canadian tax residency.
• You lived in Quebec: the Quebec return has its own line for HBP and LLP amounts not repaid (Revenu Québec: line 154), and the CRA sends Quebec leavers to Revenu Québec (CRA: leaving Canada). Confirm the Quebec amount and deadline before you leave.
• You and your spouse or common-law partner both took part: each of you has your own balance, deadline and Schedule 7, and a payment into your partner's RRSP does not repay yours. Your non-resident date may depend on when your partner and dependants leave (CRA: leaving Canada).
• You are comparing an RRSP cash-out with keeping savings: use Moving from Canada to the US.
• You need departure-tax calculations or forms: see Leaving Canada.
• You received RRSP money after departure: check Non-resident pension and RRSP income.
• You were already a US taxpayer when you withdrew, repaid after US residence began, or carry a large balance: use cross-border tax review with withdrawal records, contribution history, Schedule 7 and both countries' returns; the published retirement-plan guidance does not settle every HBP question.
• You missed the departure return: start with Left Canada without telling the CRA.