Ontario’s Form FHU 4 is the application you file with your financial institution to unlock money from a Locked-in Retirement Account, Life Income Fund, or Locked-in Retirement Income Fund when your expected income for the next twelve months is low. For 2026, you qualify if your expected total income from all sources before taxes is $49,733 or less, and the maximum single withdrawal is $37,300.1Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. 2026 User Guide for Financial Hardship Unlocking Form FHU 4 – Low Expected Income The form goes to the bank, credit union, or investment firm that holds the account, not to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. If everything is in order, the institution must pay you within 30 days.
Who Qualifies
FHU 4 covers one hardship category only: low expected income. Your expected total income from all sources before taxes for the twelve months after you sign the application must be $49,733 or less. That figure is two-thirds of the 2026 Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings of $74,600.1Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. 2026 User Guide for Financial Hardship Unlocking Form FHU 4 – Low Expected Income “All sources” means employment income, pensions, government benefits, investment income, rental income, and anything else you expect to receive. Exceed $49,733 and the institution must refuse the application.
You get one FHU 4 application per locked-in account per calendar year. If you hold locked-in accounts at different institutions, each account has its own annual application; you cannot stack two applications against the same account in the same year.2Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Form FHU 4 Application for Low Expected Income (2026) The minimum you can request is $500.
Calculating Your Maximum Withdrawal
Part 2 of the form does the math, but the formula is straightforward. Box 3a is 50% of the 2026 YMPE, which is $37,300 and comes pre-filled. Box 3b is 75% of your expected total income for the next twelve months. Subtract Box 3b from Box 3a and Box 3c is your maximum withdrawal.1Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. 2026 User Guide for Financial Hardship Unlocking Form FHU 4 – Low Expected Income
Say you expect $20,000 in income over the next year. Seventy-five percent of that is $15,000. Your maximum withdrawal is $37,300 minus $15,000, or $22,300. If you expect zero income, you can request the full $37,300. As expected income climbs toward $49,733, the maximum shrinks toward zero. In Box 4 you request an actual dollar amount, at least $500 and no more than the Box 3c figure.
Filling Out the Form
The 2026 FHU 4 is a fillable PDF available from the FSRA website or from your financial institution.3Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Financial Hardship Unlocking – Form FHU 4 You need Adobe Reader to complete and save it. The form has four parts.
Part 1: Personal and Account Information
Enter your full legal name, date of birth, mailing address, and contact details. Then add the name of the financial institution holding the locked-in account and the policy or account number, which appears on your statements. If you have a spouse, enter their name, date of birth, address, and contact number in this section as well.2Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Form FHU 4 Application for Low Expected Income (2026)
Part 2: Expected Income and Withdrawal Amount
First, answer whether you have already applied to withdraw from this same account for low expected income during 2026. If you have, stop. You cannot apply twice against the same account in the same year.
In Box 2, enter your expected total income before taxes for the twelve months following the date you will sign the form. Include everything: wages, pensions, EI, CPP, OAS, investment income, rent, side work. Then complete Boxes 3a, 3b, and 3c using the calculation above, and enter the amount you are actually requesting in Box 4.
Part 3: Certification
You certify that the information is accurate, choose the statement that describes your spousal status, then sign and date the form. The four options cover: having a spouse who consents, being separated because of a relationship breakdown, having no spouse, or holding an account funded only from a former spouse’s pension plan. No witness or notary is required.1Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. 2026 User Guide for Financial Hardship Unlocking Form FHU 4 – Low Expected Income
Part 4: Spousal Consent
If you have a spouse and you are not living separate and apart because of a relationship breakdown, your spouse must complete and sign Part 4. The consent is built into the FHU 4 itself; there is no separate spousal waiver form. Your spouse’s signature cannot be dated more than 60 days before the financial institution receives the completed application.2Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Form FHU 4 Application for Low Expected Income (2026) If your spouse will not sign and you are not separated, the withdrawal cannot go ahead.
Submitting the Form
Send the completed FHU 4 directly to the financial institution that holds the locked-in account. FSRA does not process individual applications.4Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Withdrawing from Locked-in Accounts because of Financial Hardship Most institutions accept the form at a branch, by mail, or through a secure online portal. Call ahead to confirm what yours prefers.
You have 60 days from the date you sign Part 3 to get the application into the institution’s hands. Miss that window and the form is expired; you have to complete a new one.1Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. 2026 User Guide for Financial Hardship Unlocking Form FHU 4 – Low Expected Income The same 60-day rule applies to your spouse’s signature in Part 4. Date everything as close to your submission date as you can. Applications also have to be on the current year’s form. If you apply in 2026, use the 2026 version; a prior-year form gets rejected.
After You Submit
The financial institution reviews the application against the low-income unlocking rules. If it complies, the institution must approve it and pay you within 30 days of receiving the complete package.1Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. 2026 User Guide for Financial Hardship Unlocking Form FHU 4 – Low Expected Income The institution may charge an administrative fee for processing. Amounts vary, so ask before you submit.
Applications typically get sent back for one of a handful of reasons: the form was signed more than 60 days before submission, expected income exceeded $49,733, spousal consent was missing, the requested amount was under $500 or above the Box 3c maximum, or the applicant used the wrong year’s form. Each of these is easy to catch on a final read-through.
Tax Withheld From the Payment
A withdrawal under FHU 4 is taxable income in the year you receive it. Your institution withholds tax at source using the standard Ontario rates:5Canada Revenue Agency. Tax Rates on Withdrawals
- Up to $5,000: 10% withheld
- $5,001 to $15,000: 20% withheld
- Over $15,000: 30% withheld
Withholding is not the final tax bill. The withdrawal is added to your total income for the year, and your actual tax owing depends on your marginal rate when you file. If withholding was more than you owed, you get a refund; if less, you owe the difference. Plan for the gap between the amount you request and the amount that lands in your account. A $20,000 request has $6,000 withheld upfront, so you receive $14,000.
A large withdrawal may also reduce income-tested benefits like the Guaranteed Income Supplement in the following payment year.6Government of Canada. Guaranteed Income Supplement
When FHU 4 Is Not the Right Form
FHU 4 is only for low expected income. Ontario has three other hardship categories, each with its own form: FHU 1 for unreimbursed medical expenses, FHU 2 for rent arrears or mortgage default on your principal residence, and FHU 3 for first and last months’ rent on a new principal residence.4Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Withdrawing from Locked-in Accounts because of Financial Hardship You can apply under more than one category in the same year, including across different accounts.
There is also a non-hardship route. If you recently transferred money into an Ontario Life Income Fund governed by the Schedule 1.1 rules, you can elect to withdraw or transfer up to 50% of the transferred amount using Form 5.2. The election is one-time and has to be made within 60 days of the transfer, and it does not require you to show financial need.7Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Pension Unlocking: Non-Hardship If you are inside that window, the 50% option may unlock more money with less paperwork than FHU 4.
If Your Application Is Denied
Ask the institution for a written explanation. The most common reasons — an expired form, a calculation error, missing spousal consent — can often be fixed with a fresh application. A rejected application that was never approved does not use up your annual limit, because no withdrawal was made.
If you believe a valid application was wrongly refused, work through the institution’s internal complaint process first and request a final position letter. Once you have that letter, or proof that you asked for one and the institution did not respond, you can complain to FSRA through its online portal.8Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Submit a Complaint to FSRA FSRA reviews whether the institution followed the regulations and can take enforcement action if it finds a violation. It cannot order the institution to pay you or settle a contract dispute; that is not part of its role. Keep dated notes of every conversation, including who you spoke with.