Since January 15, 2025, a homeowner in Canada can refinance an insured mortgage to 90 percent of what the house will be worth after a secondary suite is added, up to a property value of $2,000,000, and stretch the loan over 30 years. CMHC calls the product CMHC Refinance. It covers homes of up to four units, including the ones already there, and the suite must be a long-term rental or family space rather than a short-term rental.
The other program announced alongside it, the Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program with its $80,000 loans at 2 percent over 15 years, was cancelled in the November 2025 federal budget. For a homeowner on a multiplex-zoned lot who is not ready to build four homes yet, the refinance is the federal tool on offer.
Two announcements, one survivor
The federal government’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement, delivered December 10, 2024, made two promises for owners adding suites. The first was the refinance: from January 15, 2025, “lenders and insurers will begin allowing mortgage refinancing of up to 90 per cent of the post-renovation value of their home up to $2 million, amortized over a period of up to 30 years.” The second doubled the planned Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program to $80,000 per loan, “through 15-year loan terms at a low-interest rate of just 2 per cent,” with applications expected to open in 2025-26.
The refinance launched on schedule. The loan program was cancelled: Canadian Mortgage Trends reported on November 4, 2025 that the federal budget confirmed the government “won’t proceed with the Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program announced in Budget 2024,” an initiative originally pledged at $409.6 million over four years, citing overlap with the January 2025 insured-mortgage changes and CMHC’s target of 15 percent savings over three years. CMHC’s own product page for the refinance, read September 17, 2026, makes no mention of the loan program.
So the terms below are the whole federal offer.
The terms, from CMHC’s fact sheet
| Term | CMHC Refinance, homeowner loans |
|---|---|
| Property | Owner-occupied, up to 4 units including the existing unit(s) |
| Loan-to-value | Up to 90% of the as-improved value |
| Lending value | The maximum lending value or as-improved property value must be below $2,000,000 |
| Amortization | Up to 30 years |
| Credit | At least one borrower or guarantor with a credit score of 600 or higher |
| Debt service | Gross debt service up to 39%, total debt service up to 44% |
| Qualifying rate | The greater of the contract rate plus 2 percent, or 5.25 percent |
| The suite | Self-contained, compliant with local bylaws, and never rented for a period shorter than 90 consecutive days |
| Draws | Progress advances; CMHC validates up to 4 consecutive advances at no cost under full service |
| Occupancy | At least one unit occupied by the borrower or a person related to the borrower |
Source: CMHC Refinance fact sheet 20250827-014A (2025) and CMHC product page, read September 17, 2026.
The insurance premium is set by loan-to-value. CMHC’s page lists 0.60 percent up to 65 percent LTV, 1.70 percent from 65.01 to 75, 2.40 percent from 75.01 to 80, 2.80 percent from 80.01 to 85, and 3.10 percent from 85.01 to 90. Amortization beyond 25 years adds a 0.20 percent surcharge, and blending the new money into an existing amortization schedule adds 0.60 percent on the increase.
Two words in the table carry the program. “As-improved” means the appraiser values the house as it will be with the suite built, so the equity you are borrowing against includes value that does not exist yet. And “four units” means a house with a basement suite and a laneway home, three dwellings in total, is still inside the program, with room for one more.
A worked example
The numbers below are an illustration, not a quote. Say a Vancouver house is appraised at $1,600,000 today and at $1,780,000 with a legal basement suite finished. The owner has $700,000 left on the mortgage.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| As-improved value | $1,780,000 |
| 90% of as-improved value | $1,602,000 |
| Existing mortgage | $700,000 |
| Maximum new money before premium | $902,000 |
The suite costs less than that, so the borrower takes what the suite needs, and the loan-to-value on the whole mortgage decides the premium tier. A borrower who ends at 55 percent LTV is in the 0.60 percent tier; one who pushes to 89 percent is in the 3.10 percent tier. The as-improved value must stay under $2,000,000, which rules out any lot whose house is already valued past that line and leaves room wherever a detached benchmark of $1,799,400 still leaves room.
Where this fits on a multiplex lot
An owner of a multiplex-eligible lot is often not building a multiplex this year. The reasons a multiplex is still years away on a given lot are the usual ones: the house is fine, the family lives in it, the numbers do not yet clear, or the owner is not ready to take on a construction project. The refinance funds the smaller move in the meantime.
A basement suite. The cheapest unit an existing house can gain. It rents, it houses a parent or an adult child, and it counts toward the four-unit cap.
A laneway home. A separate building at the back of the lot. The cost of a laneway house in Vancouver is the largest project the refinance is likely to fund, and it is the one that forces the multiplex question, because a laneway home takes the ground the rear units of a multiplex would use. Read the laneway or multiplex decision before spending on the back of the lot.
A suite now, a multiplex later. Nothing in the program stops an owner from adding a suite in 2026 and redeveloping the lot in 2031. The suite’s value goes into the land price when the multiplex proforma is run, and the BC home flipping tax treats adding a housing unit as an exempt building activity for an owner who later sells.
The program’s limits
It will not finance a multiplex. Four units is the ceiling, the borrower must live in one, and the building has to be an existing home gaining a suite rather than a new building replacing it. A fourplex on a cleared lot is construction financing, and an owner who wants to live in one unit of a new building is looking at the owner-occupied multiplex mortgage rules instead.
It will not pay for a suite that gets listed on a short-term rental site. The 90-consecutive-day floor is in the eligibility requirements.
It will not carry an as-improved value of $2,000,000 or more.
And it will not be cheap money in the way the cancelled loan was meant to be. The premium tier at 90 percent loan-to-value is 3.10 percent, plus 0.20 percent for the long amortization, and the interest is the market rate on an insured mortgage. The 2 percent loan was the subsidy. The refinance is ordinary borrowing with a higher limit.
Before you call the bank
Have the suite plan drawn and costed, because the appraisal is of the house with that specific suite. Confirm the suite is legal under the local bylaw, since compliance is a program condition. Check that at least one borrower clears the 600 credit score and that the household clears the 39 and 44 percent debt-service lines at the qualifying rate. Then decide whether the suite is the move, or whether the lot has a bigger answer waiting.
Sources: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, “CMHC Refinance: Helping homeowners create secondary suites with CMHC-insured financing,” fact sheet 20250827-014A, 2025; CMHC, “CMHC Refinance for Building Secondary Suites,” product page; Department of Finance Canada, “2024 Fall Economic Statement: Making it easier for homeowners to build secondary suites,” December 10, 2024; Canadian Mortgage Trends, “Budget 2025 doubles down on housing investment, but adds few new measures,” November 4, 2025. All read September 17, 2026.
David Babakaiff, Co-Founder, VanPlex | PlexRank™ | Profit with Multiplex
