Cost of Buying | Financing
How Much Down Payment You Need
The rules are national and they are stepped, with one threshold that changes the requirement far more than the price change that triggers it.
The short answer
The minimum is 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion above it, until the price reaches $1.5 million. At or above $1.5 million mortgage default insurance is unavailable and 20% becomes the floor, which is a very large jump for a small price change.
| Rate | 25 years | 30 years |
|---|---|---|
| 4.00% | $5,553 | $5,020 |
| 4.50% | $5,842 | $5,322 |
| 5.00% | $6,139 | $5,634 |
| 5.50% | $6,443 | $5,953 |
| 6.00% | $6,754 | $6,279 |
Mortgage only. Strata fee, property tax, and insurance are extra; the monthly cost page adds them up. The Bank of Canada posted five-year rate was 6.09% on 2026-09-02, which is higher than the discounted rate most buyers are offered, which is why this is a grid rather than one number.
How the minimum is calculated
Five percent of the first five hundred thousand dollars, plus ten percent of everything above that, up to a purchase price of one and a half million.
At or above one and a half million, mortgage default insurance is not available at all, so twenty percent is the practical floor. That is the sharpest threshold in Canadian home buying.
The cliff at $1.5 million
A home just below the cap and a home at the cap are effectively the same property, and the cash required differs by a very large amount because the whole basis of the calculation changes.
If you are shopping near that line without twenty percent saved, know exactly where it sits before you make an offer, and be careful about negotiating upward across it.
What else the cash has to cover
The down payment is not the only cash at closing. Property transfer tax, legal fees, and adjustments all come out of the same savings, and GST may too depending on the contract.
Budget those separately rather than discovering them in the final week.
Read next
Common questions
What is the minimum down payment in Canada?
5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion above that, up to a purchase price of $1.5 million. At or above $1.5 million, mortgage default insurance is unavailable and 20% becomes the minimum.
Why does the requirement jump at $1.5 million?
Because mortgage default insurance, which is what allows less than 20% down, is not available at or above that purchase price. It is not a gradual change: the entire basis of the calculation switches at the threshold.
Does the down payment cover everything I need at closing?
No. Property transfer tax, legal fees, and adjustments come out of the same savings, and GST may as well depending on the contract. Budget those separately.
Where these figures come from
- CMHC, mortgage loan insurance for consumers
Insurance is unavailable at a purchase price of $1.5M or more, where 20% down is required.
Checked
- CMHC, mortgage loan insurance premiums
2.80% at 80.01 to 85% LTV, 3.10% to 90%, 4.00% to 95%.
Checked
- Government of BC, property transfer tax rates
1% to $200,000, 2% to $2M, 3% above $2M, plus a further 2% on residential value above $3M.
Checked
Work the numbers on a real home
Every figure here comes from government sources and from listings you can open. Search the market and check the costs against a specific price rather than a hypothetical one.