Why the wrapper does not travel
A TFSA is tax free because Canadian law says so, and Canadian law stops applying to your UK tax position the moment you become UK resident under the Statutory Residence Test. The UK simply does not recognise the wrapper. It looks through to what the account holds, so the interest, dividends and capital gains generated inside it can be UK-taxable like any ordinary investment account, whether or not you withdraw anything. That is the opposite of how the UK treats an RRSP or RRIF, which the Canada-UK treaty generally respects as a pension, with the fund's internal growth untaxed while it stays wrapped and only withdrawals coming into UK tax. Our moving to the UK from Canada guide sets the accounts side by side.
The FIG window: four years of cover if you qualify
If you become UK resident after at least 10 consecutive tax years of non-UK residence, the 4-year FIG regime can give 100% relief on qualifying foreign income and gains for your first four UK-resident years, and the income and gains inside a TFSA can fall within that. The relief is not automatic. You claim it for each source, in each tax year, on your Self Assessment return, and in any year you claim you lose your Personal Allowance and CGT annual exempt amount. Relief applies only to income and gains arising on or after 6 April 2025, and the four-year clock runs from your first resident year whether or not you claim. After the window closes, the TFSA is a fully taxable holding from the UK's point of view.
What to do before you land
The best outcomes are set up before you become UK resident, because once the SRT clock has ticked over many options close. Review the TFSA in that light: decide whether to keep, rebalance or unwind it before UK residence, given that it loses its tax-free status here. On the Canadian side you can keep a TFSA as a non-resident, but new contributions attract a penalty, so it stops being a live savings vehicle in any case. Note the value of every asset on your departure and arrival dates, because you will need those figures for both countries. If you are unsure whether your residence history qualifies for FIG, our FIG regime deadlines by arrival year guide shows how the window runs from the year you arrive.