Down payment + CMHC premium calculator
The federal minimum down payment for your price, the CMHC premium on the mortgage, the surcharge for a 30-year amortization, and the provincial tax on the premium in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Your purchase
Your CMHC math
Premium added to principal and amortized; tax on the premium in ON/QC/SK is paid at closing.
Rules checked: September 2026. Sources: CMHC premium schedule · Finance Canada: 30-year amortization and $1.5M cap
Federal minimum down payment
- Up to $500,000: 5%
- $500,000 to under $1,500,000: 5% on the first $500k, then 10% on the portion above
- $1,500,000 and over: 20% minimum (default insurance is not available)
The insured price cap rose from $1 million to $1.5 million on December 15, 2024, per Finance Canada.
CMHC premium tiers
Default insurance is mandatory when the down payment is under 20% of the price. The premium is a percentage of the whole mortgage, set by your loan-to-value ratio, and is added to the principal — you finance it rather than pay it up front. CMHC's current homeowner schedule (source):
- 80.01%–85% LTV (15% to under 20% down): 2.80%
- 85.01%–90% LTV (10% to under 15% down): 3.10%
- 90.01%–95% LTV (5% to under 10% down): 4.00% — 4.50% if the down payment comes from a non-traditional source
CMHC's schedule also lists lower bands (0.60% up to 65% LTV, 1.70% to 75%, 2.40% to 80%). Those apply when a lender insures a lower-ratio loan; a buyer putting 20% or more down does not pay them. There is no band above 95% — 5% down is the legal floor. Sagen and Canada Guaranty publish their own schedules for the standard product.
The 30-year amortization surcharge
An amortization longer than 25 years adds 0.20% to the premium rate. On a $660,000 insured mortgage at 91.7% LTV, that takes the premium from 4.00% ($26,400) to 4.20% ($27,720) — $1,320 more financed into the loan.
Tax on the premium in ON, QC and SK
Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan tax the insurance premium itself. The tax is paid in cash at closing and cannot be added to the mortgage. Current rates: Ontario 8% (Retail Sales Tax on insurance premiums), Quebec 9% (tax on insurance premiums — Revenu Québec has announced an increase to 9.975% for premiums paid after December 31, 2026) and Saskatchewan 6%.
30-year amortization: who qualifies
Since December 15, 2024, an insured mortgage can be amortized over 30 years instead of 25 if you are a first-time buyer (new or resale home) or you are buying a newly built home (first-time buyer or not). The earlier rule, from August 1, 2024, limited it to first-time buyers of new builds. The longer amortization lowers the payment but raises lifetime interest, and it triggers the 0.20% premium surcharge above.
The 90% LTV cliff — and how to avoid it
The largest single jump in the schedule is at 90% LTV: 3.10% with 10% down, 4.00% just below it. On a $700,000 home, borrowing 89% ($623,000) costs a $19,313 premium; borrowing 91% ($637,000) costs $25,480 — about $6,200 more financed into the mortgage for $14,000 less down.
If you are just short of a band edge (10%, 15% or 20% down), topping up the down payment by a few thousand dollars can save several thousand in premium. The down payment savings goal calculator shows how a few months of extra saving moves the math.
Who can't use CMHC insurance
- Home price of $1.5 million or more — uninsurable, must put 20% down minimum
- Rental property mortgages with 4+ units — different program
- Vacant land — CMHC doesn't insure land-only purchases
- Some BFS (self-employed) borrowers with stated-income — go to Sagen or Canada Guaranty instead
- Refinance + take cash out — refis above 80% LTV aren't insurable
How CMHC interacts with the stress test
The CMHC premium is added to your mortgage principal, increasing the monthly payment. You're then stress-tested on that larger payment — so a CMHC-insured deal qualifies for slightly less house than a 20%-down conventional deal at the same purchase price. See stress test calc for the math.
Sources of down payment that lenders accept
- Personal savings with 90-day history
- RRSP via Home Buyers' Plan — up to $60,000 each ($120k per couple), tax-free if repaid over 15 years
- FHSA — up to $40,000 with both deduction and tax-free withdrawal
- Gift from immediate family — needs a gift letter; not repayable
- Sale of another asset — bill of sale and bank deposit traceable
- Borrowed down payment (flex down) — possible but rare; lender requires the loan payment to be in TDS
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Questions about this calculator
- What is the minimum down payment in Canada?
- Five percent on the first portion of the purchase price, a higher percentage on the portion above the first threshold, and twenty percent once the price passes the insurance ceiling — above which mortgage default insurance is not available at all. The thresholds are federal and have been raised more than once, so check the current figures.
- What is mortgage default insurance and who does it protect?
- It protects the lender, not you, against your default. It is mandatory on any mortgage with less than twenty percent down. The premium is a percentage of the mortgage that scales with your loan-to-value ratio, and it is normally added to the mortgage rather than paid in cash.
- Is it better to put down 19% or 20%?
- Twenty percent avoids the insurance premium entirely, which is usually thousands of dollars. But insured mortgages often carry lower interest rates, because the lender's risk is covered — so at nineteen percent you pay a premium and get a better rate. Model both; the answer depends on your amortization.
- Can my down payment be a gift?
- Yes, from an immediate family member, with a signed gift letter confirming it is not repayable. Lenders will want to see the funds in your account and will trace anything that arrived recently. Borrowed down payment is a different product with different rules.