Know your TFSA contribution limit

By MoneySense Staff on November 29, 2024
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Plus, here are some TFSA investing ideas to consider.

The actual TFSA yearly limit was set at $5,000 back in 2009 when the investment account was first created, but it’s indexed to inflation each year and rounded to the nearest $500 to simplify things for investors. The exception was 2015, when the TFSA limit was hiked up to $10,000 for a single year before being decreased to $5,500.

Someone who has never contributed to a TFSA and was born in 1991 or earlier could have cumulative contribution room of $102,000 as of Jan. 1, 2025.

TFSA contribution limit—2009 to 2025

Year	TFSA Annual Limit	TFSA Cumulative Limit
2009	$5,000	$5,000
2010	$5,000	$10,000
2011	$5,000	$15,000
2012	$5,000	$20,000
2013	$5,500	$25,500
2014	$5,500	$31,000
2015	$10,000	$41,000
2016	$5,500	$46,500
2017	$5,500	$52,000
2018	$5,500	$57,500
2019	$6,000	$63,500
2020	$6,000	$69,500
2021	$6,000	$75,500
2022	$6,000	$81,500
2023	$6,500	$88,000
2024	$7,000	$95,000
2025	$7,000	$102,000

Investing ideas for your TFSA

TFSAs are not just for savings. You can also invest with your TFSA.

Stock picking

Herman VanGenderen has more than $100,000 in his TFSA. He grew his money by focusing on Canadian and foreign stocks, diversification and dividends. Here’s what you can learn from his near-perfect TFSA investing strategy. Or if you are lucky enough to buy during depressed markets like this investor (he has nearly 40% of his investments in BP stock), the subsequent gains can be significant—and tax-free.

Simple, ETF portfolio

Patti has more than $57,000 spread out across 19 holdings. Experts give her a simple, two-ETF solution to make sure she’s well diversified and making bank in the long term. Here’s another example of someone who’s just starting out with TFSAs, looking for a simple, no-fuss approach to start building wealth in the account. Or, if you’re more comfortable with risk, you could go the route of this 31-year-old Toronto police officer, who focuses on aggressive, equity index funds.

Out of the box (and not recommended)

There are some strategies that work for investors—but you shouldn’t necessarily try to recreate. For instance, this man suggests buying stocks and holding on to them forever and ever, while experts worry that he’s not diversifying enough. And this investor transfers Canadian dividend stocks “in-kind” to and from his unregistered account annually, a strategy that seems to work but doesn’t hold up upon closer.

Here are the best TFSA investments for Canada right now.

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