What is the Lifelong Learning Plan and how does repayment work compared to the Home Buyers' Plan?

The Lifelong Learning Plan is an RRSP-based withdrawal mechanism similar in structure to the Home Buyers' Plan, but built for a different purpose: financing full-time training or education for yourself or your spouse or common-law partner, rather than buying a home. Like the HBP, it lets you withdraw funds from your RRSP without immediate tax, on the understanding that you'll repay the amount back into your RRSP over time.

Where it differs is in the details of that repayment schedule, which is separate from, and doesn't follow the same timeline as, the Home Buyers' Plan - the two programs are structured independently, with their own rules for when repayment starts and how much is due. If you've used the Home Buyers' Plan before, it's worth not assuming the Lifelong Learning Plan's repayment schedule mirrors it, since applying HBP assumptions to an LLP withdrawal is a genuine way to miscalculate what you owe and when. Because both plans involve withdrawing from the same RRSP and can potentially run at overlapping times in your life, keeping the two repayment schedules clearly separate, rather than tracking them as one combined obligation, is the practical takeaway.