Quick answer
Your TFSA room is CRA's running total of every year's dollar limit from 2009 or the year you turned 18 (whichever is later), counting only years you were a Canadian resident, plus withdrawals added back the next January, minus every contribution you've ever made. In the calculator's own worked example, $109,000 of limits since 2009, minus $50,000 contributed, plus a $5,000 withdrawal added back, leaves $64,000 of room.
What this calculator computes
A TFSA doesn't just give you one flat amount to contribute each year — unused room carries forward forever, so what you can actually put in today depends on your whole history: every dollar limit since you became eligible, every contribution you've ever made, and every withdrawal that's already been added back. This calculator adds all of that up the way CRA does, using the dollar limit CRA has set for every year since 2009 (when the TFSA was introduced), and tells you your available room right now, in 2026, plus a full year-by-year table showing how it built up.
CRA's formula, in plain text
Applied one year at a time, that formula is recursive — each year's answer depends on last year's. Unrolled across every year since you became eligible, it telescopes into a single running total: add up every year's dollar limit from your first eligible year through 2026, add back every withdrawal you made in any year before this one (this year's withdrawals don't count yet — more on that below), then subtract every contribution you've ever made, in any year. That running total is exactly what this calculator computes and shows as your "available TFSA room today."
The dollar limits, 2009 to 2026
The annual limit started at $5,000 in 2009 and has moved in steps since: $5,500 from 2013, a one-time jump to $10,000 in 2015 (reversed the very next year), back to $5,500 through 2018, $6,000 from 2019, $6,500 in 2023, and $7,000 for 2024 through 2026. Someone who has been 18 or older and a resident of Canada for every one of those years has $109,000 of cumulative room by 2026 — that figure isn't a guess, it's just the eighteen annual limits added together, and the table above shows the running total for whatever start year applies to you.
Withdrawals: giving room back, but not right away
Money you take out of a TFSA isn't gone from your lifetime room forever — but it isn't available again immediately either. CRA adds a withdrawal back to your contribution room only on January 1 of the following calendar year. Take out $5,000 in June 2026 and that $5,000 doesn't count toward your room again until January 1, 2027; try to re-contribute it in, say, October 2026 and you're contributing against whatever room you already had left, not the amount you just withdrew. That's why this calculator separates "withdrawals before this year" (already added back, so they count toward today's room) from "withdrawals this year" (not yet added back; the note beside the result explains what happens next January, and how such a withdrawal can reduce an excess you already have). Moving money between your own TFSAs is different: a direct transfer done by the receiving institution counts as neither a contribution nor a withdrawal, so don't enter it in either field; but if you withdraw the money yourself and contribute it to another TFSA, the contribution counts as a new one.
Worked example — $64,000 of room in 2026
Take the calculator's own defaults: turned 18 in 2008 (so eligible from the TFSA's first year, 2009, once resident that whole time), $50,000 contributed in total across every year to date, and $5,000 withdrawn back in 2025 — a year before this one. The cumulative dollar limit from 2009 through 2026 is $109,000. Subtract the $50,000 already contributed: $59,000. Add back the $5,000 withdrawn in 2025, since that was added back on January 1, 2026: $64,000 of available room today. If this same person also withdrew, say, $2,000 in 2026 itself, that $2,000 would not change the $64,000 figure at all — it only becomes usable room on January 1, 2027.
Over-contributing: the 1% monthly penalty
A TFSA has no forgiveness buffer the way an RRSP does. Go even one dollar over your available room and CRA's excess-amount tax applies: 1% of the highest excess balance in your account, charged for every month it stays there, until you withdraw enough to bring the balance back within your room. A withdrawal you make this year after going over reduces the excess at once, without waiting for January 1; one you made before going over does not. There's no grace period and no small cushion — the safest habit is working out your room from your own records (here, or on CRA's worksheet, Form RC343) before making a contribution that would use up most of what you have left, especially right after a withdrawal you're tempted to immediately replace.
What this doesn't model
Not modelled: re-entering Canadian residency after leaving (this calculator only takes a single "first resident year," so it can't track leaving and later coming back), the TFSA of a deceased holder passing to a successor holder or beneficiary, and the exact monthly dollar amount of the over-contribution penalty, which depends on your account's actual balance history month by month rather than a single lifetime total. This tool is arithmetic on the numbers you provide, not a substitute for your own financial records and your CRA account — it can only be as accurate as what you type in.
FAQ
How is my TFSA contribution room calculated?
CRA defines it as the total of four things added together each year: the TFSA dollar limit for the current calendar year, plus any unused room carried forward from previous years, plus any withdrawals you made in the previous year, minus any contributions you've already made this year. Unrolled across every year since you became eligible, that telescopes into one running total: add up every year's dollar limit from your first eligible year through 2026, add back every withdrawal you made in a year before this one, then subtract every contribution you've ever made. This calculator does exactly that.
When do TFSA withdrawals get added back to my room?
Not right away. CRA is explicit: the amount you withdraw is only added back as available contribution room on January 1 of the next calendar year. A withdrawal made in March 2026 doesn't free up any room until January 1, 2027 — re-contributing it sooner, in the same year, counts as a brand-new contribution against whatever room you already had, and can trigger the over-contribution penalty below if you don't have enough left. Moving money between your own TFSAs is different: if the receiving institution does a direct transfer, it counts as neither a contribution nor a withdrawal and doesn't change your room, but withdrawing the money yourself and contributing it to another TFSA counts as a new contribution.
What happens if I contribute more than my available room?
CRA charges a tax of 1% per month, calculated on the highest excess amount sitting in your account during that month, for every month the excess remains. Unlike an RRSP, a TFSA has no small buffer that forgives the first couple of thousand dollars: every dollar over your limit is taxable from day one. The fix is to withdraw the excess as soon as you notice it; the tax stops accruing once the balance drops back within your room, though the month it happened in still counts. A withdrawal you make after going over reduces the excess at once, without waiting for January 1 (Income Tax Act, s. 207.01(1)); one you made before going over does not.
My province's legal age is 19 — does my TFSA room really start at 18?
Yes. CRA's rule is that contribution room starts accumulating in the year you turn 18 and are a resident of Canada, even in the provinces and territories where the age of majority is 19 and you can't actually open a TFSA yet. The room simply carries forward and waits for you — someone who turns 18 in a 19-is-legal province in, say, 2024 still has 2024's dollar limit sitting in their room the day they open their first TFSA at 19.
Can I trust this calculator instead of checking CRA My Account?
Treat it as a well-informed estimate, not the final word. Your CRA account shows CRA's record, but it is updated only once a year, in the spring, with the previous year's transactions (after your financial institutions report them), so a contribution or withdrawal you made recently won't be there yet, and CRA's own advice is to work out your room from your own financial records. This calculator only knows what you type in; if you've misremembered a number, or another institution's TFSA never made it into your count, its answer will be off by exactly that much. Compare it with your statements from every institution, and with your CRA account, before making a contribution that would use up most or all of your remaining room.
Does moving away from Canada affect my TFSA room?
Yes. Your TFSA contribution room does not accumulate for any year you're a non-resident of Canada for the entire year, although you're allowed to keep an existing TFSA open. Canada does not tax what the account earns, but the country you live in may. A contribution you make while you're a non-resident is taxed at 1% a month until you withdraw it or become a resident of Canada again (Income Tax Act, s. 207.03), and a withdrawal you make while away is added back to your room only when you become a resident again. This calculator only takes one "first year you were a Canadian resident" input, so it can't model leaving and later returning; if that's your situation, treat its year-by-year table as an approximation and lean more heavily on your own records and your CRA account.
This page is general information based on published CRA rules and 2026 dollar limits, not tax or financial advice. Your own room can differ from what's shown here — check it against your own records and your CRA account, or talk to a licensed accountant, before relying on this for a real contribution decision.