Quebec real estate glossary · French to English
CELIAPP = FHSA, First Home Savings Account. CELIAPP is the French name for the FHSA, the First Home Savings Account. Same account, same rules, two names.
En bref, en français : CELIAPP se dit FHSA en anglais, pour First Home Savings Account. C'est exactement le même compte : si votre banque vous parle d'un FHSA, elle vous parle de votre CELIAPP.
There is no separate English product. Quebec French uses CELIAPP, short for compte d'épargne libre d'impôt pour l'achat d'une première propriété. The Canada Revenue Agency calls the exact same registered account the First Home Savings Account, or FHSA.
This trips up a lot of buyers in Quebec, because your bank statement, your tax slips and your advisor may not all use the same word. A Desjardins adviser in Longueuil will say CELIAPP. An RBC adviser two blocks away may say FHSA. It is one account.
What the CRA actually says
According to the Canada Revenue Agency, the FHSA is a registered plan that lets a qualifying first-time buyer save for a home. Your participation room in the first year you open the account is $8,000, and contributions are generally deductible from your income.
Where the two names collide
- Opening the account: search your bank's English site for "FHSA", not "CELIAPP". Many English banking portals do not recognize the French acronym at all.
- Tax season: your slips may be issued in either language depending on where the institution is based.
- Talking to a lender outside Quebec: "CELIAPP" will usually draw a blank. "FHSA" will not.
Say it in a sentence
The word on its own is rarely the problem. These are the sentences you will actually hear, and what they become in English.
| Vous entendrez | In English |
|---|---|
| J'ai ouvert un CELIAPP l'an dernier. | I opened an FHSA last year. |
| Mes droits de cotisation sont de 8 000 $ cette année. | My contribution room is $8,000 this year. |
| Est-ce que je peux combiner le CELIAPP et le RAP ? | Can I combine the FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan? |
The mistake we see most often
The costly version of this mistake is opening two accounts. A buyer asks their branch for a CELIAPP, opens one, then later asks an English-speaking adviser about an FHSA and opens a second. Contribution room is per person, not per account, and over-contributing is penalised. Before you open anything, check whether the account you already have is the same product under the other name.
Where this fits in a Quebec transaction
Buying or selling in Quebec means signing documents that exist in both languages, written under civil law rather than common law. A word-for-word translation is sometimes right and sometimes actively misleading. The full list is in our Quebec real estate glossary, French to English.
Related terms
- our full CELIAPP guide (French)
- our full FHSA guide (English)
- the RAP in English
- RAP or CELIAPP, or both
Questions we get asked
Is the CELIAPP different from the FHSA?
No. CELIAPP is simply the French name for the First Home Savings Account (FHSA). It is the same federal registered account, with the same rules, whichever name your institution uses.
How do I say CELIAPP in English?
You say FHSA, or First Home Savings Account. Do not translate it word for word: no English institution uses a translation of the French phrase.
Can I combine it with the RAP?
The RAP is called the Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) in English. The two are separate programs and many buyers use both. See our page on the RAP in English.
Published by the Loaa & Manseur team, number one team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025. We work in French and in English. Tell us about your project.