Oct 8, 2026
Buying a home has always meant making trade-offs. You take the longer commute, settle for a cramped kitchen, or grab a fixer-upper instead of the turnkey place you actually wanted.
But some Canadians are willing to make a much bigger trade. According to a new national survey, nearly one-in-five people say they would delay retirement or other long-term savings to afford a home.
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That’s a costly lever to pull — and often an unnecessary one. You don’t have to sacrifice your retirement to save for a down payment. Canada’s registered accounts are designed to do both, provided you stack them in the right order.
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What did the REMAX survey find?
The finding comes from the REMAX Canada 2026 Fall Housing Market Outlook, which includes a Leger survey of 1,532 Canadian adults.
Pausing retirement savings wasn’t exactly the most popular trade-off. Respondents were more likely to cut discretionary spending, such as travel and dining out (41%), stretch their mortgage amortization (24%) or accept financial help from family (20%). Another 17% would pick up a side hustle or second job.
Market conditions are shifting, too. REMAX brokers and agents expect 32.0% of markets analyzed to sit firmly in buyers’ territory this fall, up from 15.2% a year ago. In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), average residential prices are down 5.1% year over year.
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Why does pausing your RRSP cost more than it looks?
Pausing retirement contributions gives you more cash now, but you’ll pay for it later. Skipping contributions in your 30s or 40s means losing years of compound growth, which is nearly impossible to make up.
There are short-term costs, too: pause your RRSP contributions and your tax bill goes up because you lose the deduction. Even worse, if you get a company match on a group plan, walking away means turning down part of your paycheque.
For example, a buyer who pauses $500 a month in RRSP contributions for three years gives up $18,000 in savings before counting the growth those dollars would have earned.
Can you save for a home without raiding retirement?
For first-time buyers, often yes. Two federal programs are designed to help Canadians, and you can use both for the same home, according to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
First Home Savings Account (FHSA)
The FHSA lets you contribute $8,000 a year, up to a lifetime limit of $40,000. Contributions cut your tax bill, and taking money out for a first home is tax-free. You get to build your down payment while leaving your retirement savings alone.
Any room you don’t use carries forward to the next year, up to $8,000, so the most you can contribute in a single year is $16,000. Your room starts accruing the year you open an account, so it pays to open one early, even if it sits empty for now.
Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)
Through the HBP, first-time buyers can withdraw up to $60,000 from an RRSP without taking a tax hit. You’re given a 15-year window to pay that money back into your account. For first withdrawals made between Jan. 1, 2026, and Dec. 31, 2028, repayments don’t start until the fifth year after the year of withdrawal
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Here’s the catch: that money isn’t growing for your retirement while it’s out of your RRSP. And if you miss a required annual repayment, the CRA adds the shortfall to your taxable income for that year.
What if you’re close to retirement?
While the survey places retirement and long-term savings in the same bucket, the math changes for older buyers, where the trade-off isn’t lost contributions, it’s working longer.
Staying a few extra years in the workforce allows you to contribute more to savings and push back when you start drawing on them. It can also boost government benefits. Your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement pension rises 0.7% for each month you delay past 65, up to 42% at age 70, according to the Government of Canada. Start before 65, and it shrinks 0.6% a month.
Keep in mind that you could be carrying a mortgage well into your 60s or 70s on a fixed income. Before you decide to work longer just to buy a place, compare your final mortgage payment date with your planned retirement date.
What to do now
If you’re weighing whether to put retirement savings on hold to buy a home, work through these steps first:
- If you’re a first-time buyer, set up an FHSA now to start accumulating your contribution room, even if you aren’t ready to fund the account today
- Direct new savings to the FHSA before you pause RRSP contributions
- At a minimum, contribute enough to capture your full employer match on a group RRSP so you don’t leave money on the table
- If you plan to use the HBP, build the future annual repayment into your housing budget today
- Cut back on everyday spending or expand your home search to different neighbourhoods
- In buyer-friendly markets, use the extra time to negotiate rather than stretching your budget
Buying a house and saving for retirement don’t have to be mutually exclusive for first-time buyers. What matters is the order you tackle them in. As Don Kottick, president of REMAX Canada, put it, “There’s a difference between compromising and settling.”
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
