Who qualifies for an FHSA?
You are a qualifying individual, able to open an FHSA, if you meet all of the following requirements at the time the account is opened: you are 18 years of age or older, you are a resident of Canada, and you are a first-time home buyer for the purpose of opening an FHSA. There is no income test and no minimum contribution. The test that trips people up is the first-time buyer test, because it looks at where you have lived, not just at what you have owned, and it can count your spouse's home against you.
The first-time buyer test for opening
For the purpose of opening an FHSA, you are a first-time home buyer if you did not, at any time in the current calendar year before the account is opened, or at any time in the preceding four calendar years, live in a qualifying home (or what would be a qualifying home if located in Canada) as your principal place of residence that either you owned or jointly owned, or your spouse or common-law partner at the time the account is opened owned or jointly owned. Two consequences follow. First, owning a property you never lived in, such as a rental property, does not by itself disqualify you: the test is about living in an owned home. Second, living in a home your spouse owns, even if your name is not on the title, does disqualify you while that four-year window is open.
The four-year clock, worked out
The test counts calendar years. If you last lived in a home you owned in 2023, the years 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027 are all within the window (the current year plus four preceding years), so you can open an FHSA from 1 January 2028. If you owned a home a decade ago and have rented ever since, you are a first-time buyer again. This is also why the FHSA is not only for people who have never owned anything: it is for people who have not lived in an owned home for more than four calendar years.
Age and residency
You must be 18 or older when you open the account. In provinces and territories where the legal age to sign a contract is 19, you must be 19, because opening an FHSA is a contract. Residency means resident of Canada for tax purposes, not citizenship: permanent residents and other Canadian residents can qualify. You must also be a resident of Canada from the time of your first qualifying withdrawal until you acquire the home, which is a separate condition covered on the qualifying withdrawal page.
The spouse trap
The opening test counts your spouse's or common-law partner's home, but the withdrawal test does not. A person who moves into a partner-owned condominium can lose the ability to open an FHSA, yet the same person, if they already hold an FHSA, can still make a qualifying withdrawal. If you are planning to move in with a partner who owns a home, open your FHSA before the move if you can, and check the timing with the CRA rules rather than assuming the two tests match.
What does not matter
Your income does not matter for eligibility, although it matters for the value of the deduction: a deduction is worth more at a higher marginal tax rate. Your province does not matter for the federal rules, although the age of majority differs. And you do not need to have a home picked out, a mortgage pre-approval, or a savings balance: you can open an FHSA with a small amount, or even with nothing, and start the room clock.
Sources: Canada Revenue Agency, Register a qualifying arrangement as an FHSA (qualifying individual and first-time home buyer definitions); Canada Revenue Agency, Withdrawals and transfers out of your FHSAs (withdrawal test distinguished from the opening test).