10 Best Canadian Stocks To Buy In 2026 And Hold Forever

FHSA Investment Strategy 2026: Best FHSA Stocks & ETFs

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Best FHSA Stocks 2023

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Last updated: August 2026. All price data in the stock blocks below is sourced from Yahoo Finance.

The First Home Savings Account is the only registered account in Canada that gives you a tax deduction when money goes in and tax-free treatment when it comes out for a qualifying home purchase. That combination beats both the RRSP (taxed on the way out) and the TFSA (no deduction on the way in), which makes the FHSA the first account most future home buyers should fill.

But the FHSA has a job the TFSA and RRSP do not: it is saving toward a specific purchase on a specific timeline. The best FHSA investments are not simply “the best stocks.” They are the investments that match the number of years between today and your down payment. This guide lays out an FHSA investment strategy by timeline, with current data on every pick, plus the 2026 contribution rules verified directly against Canada Revenue Agency guidance.

Key Highlights

  • Annual FHSA participation room: $8,000 in the year you open the account, with unused room carrying forward (maximum $16,000 of room in a single year). Lifetime limit: $40,000. Source: Canada Revenue Agency, canada.ca, accessed August 28, 2026.
  • Contributions are tax-deductible, and qualifying withdrawals (money plus all growth) are tax-free. No repayment required.
  • Match your investments to your buying timeline: cash-equivalent ETFs and GICs at 1–2 years out, balanced funds and dividend stalwarts at 3–5 years, a growth tilt only at 5+ years.
  • If you never buy a home, you can transfer the full FHSA balance directly to your RRSP with no tax hit and no RRSP room used.

FHSA Rules for 2026 (Verified at Canada.ca)

All rules below come from the Canada Revenue Agency’s FHSA pages at canada.ca, accessed August 28, 2026.

Who can open one. You must be a resident of Canada, at least 18 years old (19 in provinces where that is the age of majority for contracts), 71 or younger as of December 31 of the year you open the account, and a first-time home buyer. For opening purposes, that means you did not live in a qualifying home that you or your spouse/common-law partner owned as your principal residence in the current calendar year or the previous four calendar years.

Contribution room. Your participation room is $8,000 in the year you open your first FHSA. Unused room carries forward, but carry-forward only starts accruing after the account is open, so the most room you can have in any single year is $16,000. The CRA’s own example: open an FHSA in 2025, contribute nothing, and your room for 2026 is $16,000. The lifetime limit is $40,000. Room is shared across contributions and RRSP-to-FHSA transfers combined, and across every FHSA you hold. Growth inside the account does not use up room. Exceeding your room triggers a tax of 1% per month on the highest excess amount for each month it remains.

The 15-year window. Your FHSA must be closed by December 31 of the year in which the earliest of these occurs: the 15th anniversary of opening your first FHSA, the year you turn 71, or the year following your first qualifying withdrawal.

Qualifying (tax-free) withdrawals. To take money out tax-free, all of the following must be true at the time of withdrawal: you are a first-time home buyer for withdrawal purposes (a separate test from the opening test), you have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home in Canada with acquisition or completion before October 1 of the year following the withdrawal, you did not acquire the home more than 30 days before withdrawing, you are a resident of Canada through to acquisition, you intend to occupy the home as your principal residence within one year, and you file Form RC725 with your FHSA issuer. Meet all conditions and you can withdraw everything, in one withdrawal or several, with no repayment ever required. Miss a condition and the withdrawal is taxable income.

If you never buy. You can transfer the full balance directly to your RRSP or RRIF with no immediate tax consequences, and the transfer does not use any RRSP deduction room (Form RC721). This is the FHSA’s safety net: worst case, it behaves like $40,000 of bonus RRSP room. Money left in the account past the participation period without being withdrawn or transferred is taxed as income at fair market value.

Why the FHSA’s Tax Math Is Unmatched

Run $8,000 through each account and the FHSA’s edge is clear:

  • RRSP: deduction going in, but Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawals must be repaid on a schedule, and non-HBP withdrawals are taxed.
  • TFSA: tax-free coming out, but no deduction going in.
  • FHSA: deduction going in AND tax-free coming out for a qualifying purchase. Both benefits, one account.

An $8,000 contribution deducted against income taxed at a 30% marginal rate returns roughly $2,400 at tax time, money you can put back into the FHSA next year or add to your TFSA. And the CRA confirms you can pair a qualifying FHSA withdrawal with a Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal from your RRSP on the same purchase, so the two accounts stack rather than compete.

FHSA Investment Strategy: Match the Portfolio to the Purchase Date

A down payment has a deadline, and a deadline changes everything about risk. A 30% drawdown is a buying opportunity for a retirement account with 25 years to recover. It is a postponed home purchase for an FHSA that gets emptied next spring. So the strategy is a glide path: the closer the purchase, the less risk the account should carry.

1–2 Years From Buying: Capital Preservation Only

At this range, the priority is that every dollar is there when the offer gets accepted. Equity exposure at this stage risks the purchase itself. Three instruments fit:

Global X High Interest Savings ETF (CASH.TO) parks money in high-interest deposit accounts and short-term government-backed instruments, and its 52-week trading range shows how little the unit price moves.

  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Price: $50.09
  • 52 Week Range: 49.96 – 50.1
  • Market Cap: N/A
  • PE Ratio (TTM): N/A
  • EPS (TTM): N/A
  • Earnings Date: N/A
  • Forward Dividend & Yield: N/A (2.11%)
  • Ex-Dividend Date: N/A
  • Data as of 2026-08-29.

Monthly distributions totalled $1.03 per unit over the trailing twelve months, a trailing yield of roughly 2.06% (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026) — deposit-account income on a unit price that stays pinned near $50.

  • Bull case: deposit-account income with daily liquidity and near-zero price volatility, ideal for a down payment sitting on a countdown.
  • Risks: the distribution floats with the Bank of Canada policy rate, so income falls when rates fall, and unlike a GIC the units are not deposit-insured.

Purpose High Interest Savings Fund (PSA.TO) is the same tool from a different provider, with a 0.17% MER and a monthly payout; trailing twelve-month distributions came to $1.11 per unit, roughly 2.23% (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026).

  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Price: $50.01
  • 52 Week Range: 50.0 – 50.12
  • Market Cap: N/A
  • PE Ratio (TTM): N/A
  • EPS (TTM): N/A
  • Earnings Date: N/A
  • Forward Dividend & Yield: N/A (2.26%)
  • Ex-Dividend Date: N/A
  • Data as of 2026-08-29.
  • Bull case: identical role to CASH.TO with a long operating record (launched 2013); holding either one keeps short-timeline money productive.
  • Risks: same rate sensitivity, and yields on all HISA ETFs are lower than they were during the peak-rate years, so do not project past income forward.

GICs (guaranteed investment certificates) lock a fixed rate for a fixed term, and eligible deposits carry deposit insurance within coverage limits. Rates change daily by issuer, so compare current rates at your brokerage before committing (we do not quote GIC rates here because they move too fast to print).

  • Bull case: a locked rate removes all market risk from the equation, and a 1-year GIC maturing just before your target purchase date is the cleanest possible match of asset to liability.
  • Risks: your money is locked until maturity (non-redeemable GICs), which is a real problem if the right house shows up early. Keep at least part of the balance liquid in a HISA ETF.

3–5 Years From Buying: Balanced Growth

With three to five years of runway, the account can afford some equity exposure to outrun inflation, held inside a structure that cushions drawdowns.

Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio (VBAL.TO) holds a global 60/40 equity/bond mix in a single ticker at a 0.25% MER, with a one-year return of +15.23% and a beta of 0.64 (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026).

  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Price: $39.42
  • 52 Week Range: 36.05 – 40.3
  • Market Cap: N/A
  • PE Ratio (TTM): 21.41
  • EPS (TTM): N/A
  • Earnings Date: N/A
  • Forward Dividend & Yield: N/A (2.10%)
  • Ex-Dividend Date: N/A
  • Data as of 2026-09-11.
  • Bull case: instant diversification across thousands of global stocks and bonds, automatic rebalancing, and a risk level built for exactly this kind of medium-term goal. One purchase, done.
  • Risks: 60% equity still bites in a bear market, and the bond side loses ground when rates rise, as 2022 proved bonds and stocks can fall together. A 3-year horizon can shrink faster than a portfolio recovers.

Fortis (FTS.TO) is the steady-hands single stock for this bracket. The regulated electric and gas utility carries a beta of just 0.43, among the lowest on the TSX for a company of its size (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026).

Fortis is one of The Best Canadian Dividend Stocks To Buy In 2023

  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Price: $76.06
  • 52 Week Range: 67.15 – 83.75
  • Market Cap: C$38.9B
  • PE Ratio (TTM): 22.37
  • EPS (TTM): 3.40
  • Earnings Date: N/A
  • Forward Dividend & Yield: $2.56 (3.37%)
  • Ex-Dividend Date: August 18, 2026
  • Data as of 2026-08-29.
  • Bull case: regulated utility revenue is about as predictable as equity cash flow gets, the dividend adds a compounding cushion while you wait, and the low beta means the stock moves less than half as much as the broader market.
  • Risks: utilities are rate-sensitive, so rising interest rates pressure both the share price and the appeal of the dividend; analyst consensus currently sits at Hold with a $83.25 target (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026). It is still a single stock, with single-stock risk.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) anchors the equity sleeve for savers who want a dividend payer with more growth. Canada’s largest company grew trailing net income 18.8% to $22.19B (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026), and RBC beat estimates again in Q3 2026, as covered in our Big Six banks Q3 2026 scorecard.

Royal Bank is one of the best Canadian Dividend Stocks To Buy In 2023

  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Price: $284.17
  • 52 Week Range: 197.58 – 306.38
  • Market Cap: C$393.4B
  • PE Ratio (TTM): 17.93
  • EPS (TTM): 15.85
  • Earnings Date: N/A
  • Forward Dividend & Yield: $7.04 (2.48%)
  • Ex-Dividend Date: July 26, 2026
  • Data as of 2026-08-29.
  • Bull case: dominant market position across banking, wealth management, and capital markets, a well-covered dividend, and a one-year return above 42% that shows the compounding power on offer (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026).
  • Risks: bank earnings are tied to the credit cycle, and a Canadian housing or credit downturn would hit both the stock and, ironically, the housing market you are saving to enter. After a 42% run, valuation is richer than it was a year ago.

For more names in this vein, see our full list of the best Canadian dividend stocks and the Big Six bank rankings.

5+ Years From Buying: A Growth Tilt Is Allowed

Just opened an FHSA at 25 with a purchase date somewhere past 2031? The 15-year window gives you room to let equities work, then de-risk down the glide path as the date approaches.

iShares Core Equity ETF Portfolio (XEQT.TO) is a 100% global equity portfolio in one ticker at a 0.21% MER, with a one-year return of +24.81% (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026).

  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Price: $45.92
  • 52 Week Range: 37.295662 – 46.48
  • Market Cap: N/A
  • PE Ratio (TTM): 21.65
  • EPS (TTM): N/A
  • Earnings Date: N/A
  • Forward Dividend & Yield: N/A (1.60%)
  • Ex-Dividend Date: N/A
  • Data as of 2026-08-29.
  • Bull case: maximum diversified growth for the dollars with the longest runway, at a fee one-tenth of a traditional mutual fund. One of the largest asset-allocation ETFs in Canada by assets (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026), and the simplest way to own the world.
  • Risks: all-equity means full drawdowns in a bear market. This holding only belongs in an FHSA if you commit to shifting it toward the balanced and cash tiers as your purchase date gets inside five years.

Shopify (SHOP.TO) is the single-stock growth engine of the roster. The commerce platform grew trailing revenue 32.5% to $18.84B (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026), making it one of the strongest large-cap growth stories in the country.

Shopify is one of the most undervalued Canadian stocks

  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Price: $212.42
  • 52 Week Range: 129.01 – 253.1
  • Market Cap: C$275.6B
  • PE Ratio (TTM): 103.62
  • EPS (TTM): 2.05
  • Earnings Date: N/A
  • Forward Dividend & Yield: N/A (N/A)
  • Ex-Dividend Date: N/A
  • Data as of 2026-08-29.
  • Bull case: Shopify keeps compounding revenue above 30% at massive scale, keeps expanding into payments, logistics, and enterprise, and remains the defining Canadian technology franchise of its generation. For a long-dated FHSA, a position here is a claim on years of e-commerce growth.
  • Risks: a premium growth valuation and a beta of 2.59 (Source: StockAnalysis, data as of Aug 28, 2026) mean the stock moves hard in both directions, and its 52-week range shows it. Size the position so that a drawdown delays nothing, and note that the TFSA, where large gains escape tax forever, is our preferred home for the biggest growth swings; see our best TFSA stocks page for that side of the strategy.

A note on the glide path: these tiers are not three separate pages of advice, they are one portfolio that changes shape. A saver five years out might hold 70% XEQT/VBAL and 30% cash-tier; the same saver 18 months from an offer should be closer to 90% cash-tier. Rebalance toward safety on a schedule, not on a feeling.

How To Open an FHSA and Buy These Investments

Every major Canadian brokerage now offers the FHSA. We use Questrade® for FHSA investing because it offers commission-free ETF purchases, which matters when you are dollar-cost averaging $8,000 a year into funds like CASH.TO or VBAL. You can open an FHSA at Questrade here. Read our full Questrade review for fee details, or see our best trading apps in Canada comparison. Beginners who want a simpler, more guided experience can also look at Wealthsimple, our pick for first-time investors (Wealthsimple review).

1. Open an FHSA account with your chosen brokerage 2. Fund it (up to your participation room; check your CRA My Account for your exact number) 3. Buy the tier of investments that matches your buying timeline 4. Claim the deduction on your tax return (or carry the deduction forward to a higher-income year, which the rules allow)

Types of First Home Savings Accounts

The FHSA is a federal program with one set of CRA rules nationwide, but issuers offer it in a few different legal forms. The label matters less than what the account lets you hold:

Depositary FHSA. Offered by banks and credit unions; holds cash, term deposits, and GICs. The simplest form, and enough if your timeline is short and you only want the cash tier.

Trusteed FHSA. A trust arrangement that can hold the full range of qualified investments — cash, GICs, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-listed stocks and ETFs.

Insured FHSA. An annuity contract with a licensed provider. Less common; used mainly inside insurance-based planning.

Self-directed FHSA. The form this guide assumes: a brokerage account where you choose and manage your own qualified investments. Every pick on this page — from CASH.TO to Shopify — requires a self-directed FHSA at a brokerage such as Questrade® or Wealthsimple.

FHSA vs TFSA vs RRSP: Which Account for Which Job

  • FHSA: the down payment account. Deduction in, tax-free out for a first home, conservative-to-balanced investments on a glide path toward the purchase date. If you are eligible and expect to buy, fill this first.
  • TFSA: the growth account. No deduction, but every dollar of gain is sheltered forever, which makes it the right home for your highest-upside positions. Our best TFSA stocks page covers that playbook.
  • RRSP: the retirement compounder. Decades-long horizon, dividends and index exposure, and the only account where US dividend stocks escape withholding tax. See our best RRSP stocks guide.

For the broader market, start with our pillar list of the best Canadian stocks to buy and hold and the best Canadian ETFs.

FAQ: FHSA Investment Strategy

What is the best FHSA investment strategy? Match risk to your buying timeline. One to two years out, hold cash-equivalent ETFs (CASH.TO, PSA.TO) and GICs so the down payment cannot shrink. Three to five years out, blend a balanced fund like VBAL with dividend stalwarts like Fortis and Royal Bank. Five-plus years out, a growth tilt through XEQT or a sized position in Shopify is reasonable, provided you de-risk as the purchase date approaches.

Can you buy stocks in an FHSA? Yes. An FHSA can hold stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, GICs, and cash, the same qualified investments as a TFSA or RRSP. Whether you should hold individual stocks depends on how far away your purchase is; the shorter the timeline, the less single-stock risk belongs in the account.

What happens to my FHSA if I never buy a home? Nothing bad. You can transfer the entire balance, growth included, directly to your RRSP or RRIF with no tax hit and without using any RRSP contribution room (CRA, canada.ca, accessed August 28, 2026). The account must be wound up by December 31 of the year of the earliest of: the 15th anniversary of opening, the year you turn 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal.

Is the FHSA better than the TFSA for a down payment? For an eligible first-time buyer, yes. Both deliver tax-free growth, but only the FHSA also gives you a tax deduction on contributions. The TFSA remains the better account for money that is not earmarked for a home, and for maximum-growth positions, since FHSA room is capped at $40,000 lifetime.

Can I use the FHSA and the Home Buyers’ Plan together? Yes. The CRA confirms you can make a qualifying FHSA withdrawal and an RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal for the same home purchase, provided you meet each program’s conditions (canada.ca, accessed August 28, 2026). The FHSA withdrawal is never repaid; the HBP withdrawal must be repaid on schedule.

What is the FHSA contribution limit for 2026? Participation room is $8,000 in the year you open your first FHSA, and unused room carries forward once the account is open, to a maximum of $16,000 of room in any single year. The lifetime limit is $40,000 (CRA, canada.ca, accessed August 28, 2026). Your exact room appears on your notice of assessment and in CRA My Account.

Disclaimer: The content on bestcanadianstocks.ca is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. FHSA rules verified against Canada Revenue Agency pages at canada.ca on August 28, 2026; market data via StockAnalysis the same day. Questrade® is a registered trademark and/or service mark of Questrade, Inc.

Stock data from Yahoo Finance, as of 2026-08-30.