Wondering why your mortgage paperwork suddenly shows a few thousand extra dollars? If your down payment is under 20%, that’s almost certainly CMHC insurance — officially called mortgage default insurance. This CMHC insurance calculator works out exactly what it costs, using the same down-payment tiers and loan-to-value math CMHC itself uses, plus the sales tax a few provinces charge on top.
Everything below is federal — the same math no matter which province you’re buying in. We’ll cover how your down payment sets your premium, why three provinces tax it and the rest don’t, and a few federal programs that can shrink the down payment you need in the first place.
Estimates only. The figures below are current as of July 2026 and explain how CMHC insurance is calculated — they’re not a substitute for your actual mortgage documents. Always confirm with your lender or mortgage broker before you commit.
What is CMHC insurance, exactly?
Whenever your down payment is less than 20%, Canadian rules require mortgage default insurance — most often through CMHC, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the federal Crown corporation that backs these loans.
Here’s the part that catches people off guard: this insurance protects your lender, not you. If you ever stopped making payments, it reimburses the bank — it does nothing for your own finances. You pay the premium; the bank is the one covered. It exists because it’s what lets a lender approve you with less than 20% down in the first place.
How much down payment do you actually need?
The minimum isn’t a flat percentage — it depends on the price of the home:
- 5% on the first $500,000 of the price
- 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1,500,000
- 20% if the home costs $1,500,000 or more — at that price, the home can’t be insured at all
For a home between $500,000 and $1.5 million, blend the two rates across the two slices of the price. The $1.5 million insured-mortgage ceiling took effect December 15, 2024, up from $1 million.
How your CMHC premium is calculated
Your premium is priced off your loan-to-value (LTV) — a friendly way of saying “your mortgage as a percentage of the home’s price.” The less you put down, the higher your LTV, and the higher your premium rate:
- 20% down or more (LTV of 80% or less) — no premium at all; you don’t need this insurance
- Around 15% down (LTV up to 85%) — premium of 2.80% of your loan
- Around 10% down (LTV up to 90%) — premium of 3.10% of your loan
- Around 5% down, the legal minimum (LTV up to 95%) — premium of 4.00% of your loan
Above 95% LTV, insurance isn’t offered — which is exactly why 5% is the federal minimum down payment in the first place.
The premium is a percentage of your loan, not the home price — and here’s the good news: it isn’t cash you need on closing day. It gets added directly onto your mortgage and paid off gradually with the rest of your payments.
The provincial twist: sales tax on your premium
Your premium rate — 2.80%, 3.10%, or 4.00% — is exactly the same everywhere in Canada. What changes by province is whether there’s a sales tax on top of it, and only three provinces charge one:
- Ontario — 8%
- Quebec — 9%
- Saskatchewan — 6%
Everywhere else — Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island — there’s no tax on the premium at all. (Manitoba used to charge one too, but scrapped it in 2020.)
This tax applies only to the premium, and unlike the premium itself, it cannot be financed — you pay it in cash, on top of your down payment, on closing day.
Buying in one of the three provinces that charge it? The Ontario, Quebec, or Saskatchewan mortgage page walks through the exact dollar impact for your market.
A real example: $500,000 home, 10% down
Say you’re buying a $500,000 home with 10% down ($50,000), at 4.79% over 25 years.
- Loan before insurance: $500,000 − $50,000 = $450,000
- At 10% down, your CMHC premium rate is 3.10%: $450,000 × 3.10% = $13,950, financed into your mortgage
- Total mortgage: $450,000 + $13,950 = $463,950
- Estimated monthly payment at 4.79% over 25 years: $2,643
Now the same $13,950 premium gets taxed differently depending on where you live:
- In Ontario, the 8% tax comes to $1,116, paid in cash at closing
- In Quebec, the 9% tax comes to $1,256, paid in cash at closing
- In Saskatchewan, the same 6% rate applies — see the Saskatchewan page for a full example
- Everywhere else, this line is $0
Why Canadian mortgage math looks different from a US calculator
One more federal quirk: Canadian law requires fixed-rate mortgages to compound semi-annually — twice a year — instead of monthly, the US norm. It’s a small technicality, but it changes your actual monthly payment, and a calculator built for the US market will get it slightly wrong. This calculator uses the correct Canadian convention throughout.
Boosting your down payment: FHSA, the Home Buyers’ Plan, and the GST/HST rebate
A bigger down payment means a smaller mortgage, and crossing a tier boundary drops your premium rate too. Three federal programs can help.
First Home Savings Account (FHSA) — a registered account for first-time buyers. Contribute up to $8,000 a year, $40,000 lifetime; contributions are tax-deductible like an RRSP, and qualifying withdrawals are tax-free like a TFSA. It opened in April 2023 and stacks with the Home Buyers’ Plan below.
RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) — withdraw up to $60,000 per person ($120,000 for a couple) from your RRSP, tax-free, toward a down payment, repaid over 15 years — an interest-free loan from yourself.
First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate — for agreements signed on or after March 20, 2025, eligible first-time buyers of a newly built home can recover the GST paid to the builder, up to $50,000 — full rebate to $1 million, partial to $1.5 million, under a 5-year lookback rule. Confirm your situation at canada.ca, since this program is still new.
What this calculator doesn’t include
- The 0.20% surcharge for 30-year amortizations. Some first-time buyers and new-build buyers have been able to choose a 30-year amortization since December 2024, and CMHC adds a 0.20% surcharge to the premium rate for it. This calculator doesn’t model that yet — if it applies to you, your real premium runs a little higher than shown here.
- Land transfer tax and other closing costs. Legal fees, title insurance, and land transfer tax (outside a few provinces) are real costs on top of everything here — your province’s mortgage page breaks those down.
- Whether you can actually afford the resulting payment. This calculator prices your insurance — it doesn’t weigh that payment against your income and debts. Our mortgage affordability calculator does exactly that.
- Budgeting the cash you’ll need. Your down payment plus any provincial tax on the premium is cash, not financing — our budget calculator can help you plan for it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does CMHC insurance cost?
It depends on your down payment. CMHC charges 4.00% of your loan at 5% down, 3.10% at 10% down, and 2.80% at 15% down — dropping to 0% once you reach 20% down, since insurance isn’t required past that point.
Do I have to buy CMHC insurance below 20% down?
Yes, once your down payment falls under 20% (a loan-to-value above 80%) — as long as the home is under $1,500,000 and your loan-to-value doesn’t exceed 95%.
Is the CMHC premium the same across Canada?
The premium rate is federal and identical everywhere. What differs is the sales tax on top of it: Ontario 8%, Quebec 9%, Saskatchewan 6%, elsewhere nothing.
Can I finance the CMHC premium, or do I need cash?
The premium can be financed into your mortgage. The provincial sales tax on it is different — it cannot be financed, so you need that amount in cash on closing day.
Does CMHC insurance protect me if I can’t make my payments?
No. It protects your lender, not you — if you default, it reimburses the bank, not your own finances. You pay the premium; the bank is the one covered.
Sources
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — mortgage loan insurance, premium rates, and minimum down payment rules.
- Government of Ontario — Retail Sales Tax on insurance and benefits plans — the 8% provincial tax on insurance premiums.
- Revenu Québec — Tax on insurance premiums — the 9% tax on CMHC premiums.
- Government of Saskatchewan — Provincial Sales Tax — the 6% PST on insurance contracts.
- Canada.ca — First Home Savings Account (FHSA) — contribution limits, tax treatment, and withdrawal rules.
- Canada.ca — Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) — withdrawal limits, eligibility, and repayment rules.
- Canada.ca — First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate — eligibility criteria, home value thresholds, and how to apply.
This page is for general information, not financial advice. Figures are estimates as of July 2026 and change over time — confirm the current numbers with your lender or mortgage broker before you commit.