What CMHC Insurance Costs You in 2025

If you're buying a home in Canada with less than 20% down, mortgage default insurance isn't optional. It's required by law for any high-ratio mortgage (loan-to-value above 80%), and it can add tens of thousands of dollars to your purchase. The good news: the 2025 premium rates are fully predictable, and a CMHC mortgage calculator for Canada can show your exact cost before you write an offer.

The 2025 premium schedule is unchanged from 2021, so the numbers below are stable and reliable. Premiums are calculated as a percentage of your loan amount, based on your down payment tier:

• 5–9.99% down (LTV 90.01–95%): 4.00% of the loan
• 10–14.99% down (LTV 85.01–90%): 3.10% of the loan
• 15–19.99% down (LTV 80.01–85%): 2.80% of the loan
• 25–34.99% down: 1.70% of the loan
• 35% or more down: 0.60% of the loan

These rates come from CMHC's official premium schedule and are corroborated by independent industry data.

What does that mean in dollars? On a $500,000 home with 5% down, you'd pay a $19,000 premium. If you're in Ontario, add $1,520 in provincial sales tax on top, and that tax must be paid upfront at closing; it can't be rolled into the mortgage. Provincial sales tax on premiums applies in Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan per CMHC's official guidance.

One important 2025 change works in buyers' favour. As of December 15, 2024, the maximum insured purchase price rose from $1 million to $1.5 million, following the Department of Finance Canada's announcement. That means buyers in expensive markets like Toronto and Vancouver can now put as little as 5% down on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion up to $1.5 million, instead of needing a full 20% to avoid insurance entirely.

A few other rules worth knowing before you run your numbers:

Your minimum credit score is 600, your GDS ratio can't exceed 39%, and your TDS ratio can't exceed 44%. First-time buyers and purchasers of new builds can qualify for 30-year amortizations, though a 0.20% surcharge applies. Premiums are a one-time charge, non-refundable, but they can be added to your mortgage balance so you don't pay cash upfront. And energy-efficient homes qualify for a partial premium refund of up to 25%.

Whether your loan is insured by CMHC, Sagen, or Canada Guaranty, the standard premium rates are generally identical, so the table above applies regardless of which of the three insurers backs your mortgage. CMHC remains the largest player, holding $471 billion in insurance-in-force at the end of 2025.

Run your numbers in Realtix's free CMHC mortgage calculator to see your exact insurance premium and total monthly payment in seconds.

Minimum Down Payment Rules and Eligibility

Before you can calculate a CMHC premium, you need to know whether your purchase even qualifies for insured financing. The rules changed in late 2024, and they change what buyers at higher price points can do.

The tiered minimum down payment formula

Canada doesn't use a flat minimum down payment. Instead, it's tiered: 5% on the first $500,000 of the purchase price, plus 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5 million. A $750,000 home, for example, requires 5% of $500,000 ($25,000) plus 10% of $250,000 ($25,000), for a minimum of $50,000 down. Anything priced above $1.5 million isn't eligible for default insurance at all, so a 20% down payment becomes the floor for those purchases.

The $1.5 million ceiling is new. As of December 15, 2024, the maximum insured purchase price rose from $1 million to $1.5 million, which opened up insurance to buyers in markets where $1 million barely buys a condo. According to WOWA's breakdown of mortgage default insurance rules, this change is one of the most consequential eligibility shifts in years.

The 2025 eligibility checklist

Beyond the down payment, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (and its private-sector counterparts Sagen and Canada Guaranty, whose borrower requirements are generally identical) apply a consistent set of underwriting standards:

• Minimum credit score of 600
• Gross debt service ratio no higher than 39%, total debt service no higher than 44%
• Maximum amortization of 25 years, extended to 30 years for eligible first-time buyers and purchases of new builds
• Only one insured mortgage per borrower at a time
• The mortgage must come from an NHA-approved lender

The 30-year amortization comes with a cost

The 30-year option is a genuine affordability lever: stretching the amortization five extra years lowers the monthly payment, which can be the difference between qualifying and not qualifying under the GDS/TDS caps. But it isn't free. CMHC applies a 0.20% surcharge to the premium for any amortization beyond 25 years, per the official premium schedule. On a $475,000 loan, that's roughly $950 added to your premium. Blended amortizations carry a steeper 0.60% surcharge.

Because the surcharge, the tiered down payment, and your credit profile all interact, the fastest way to see your actual numbers is to run the scenario before you shop. Run your numbers in Realtix's free CMHC mortgage calculator to see your exact insurance premium and total monthly payment in seconds.

Worked Examples: $500K and $750K Homes

Numbers make CMHC insurance real in a way rate tables never do. So let's run two purchases you'd actually see in 2025: a $500,000 starter home and a $750,000 semi in a larger market.

Example 1: $500,000 with 5% down. The minimum down payment here is 5% on the first $500K, so $25,000. That leaves a $475,000 loan at a 95% loan-to-value ratio, which lands in the top premium tier at 4.00% of the loan amount. Per WOWA's CMHC calculator data, that works out to a $19,000 premium, plus $1,520 in Ontario HST if you buy there. Remember, provincial sales tax on the premium can't be rolled into the mortgage; it's due in cash at closing.

Now watch what a bigger down payment does on the same purchase:

• 10% down ($50,000): $450,000 loan × 3.10% = $13,950 premium
• 15% down ($75,000): $425,000 loan × 2.80% = $11,900 premium
• 35%+ down: premium drops to 0.60% of the loan, as low as $1,950 on this purchase per mortgage default insurance data

Every extra dollar of down payment saves you twice: smaller loan, lower premium rate.

Example 2: $750,000 (illustrative calculation). This one's derived from the official rate schedule, so treat it as illustrative. The minimum down payment formula kicks in above $500K: 5% on the first $500,000 plus 10% on the remaining $250,000. That's $25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000 minimum down, leaving a $700,000 loan at roughly 93.3% LTV. Still in the 4.00% tier, so the premium is $28,000. In Ontario, add 8% HST of $2,240, paid upfront.

Bump the down payment to $75,000 (10%) and the loan falls to $675,000 at 90% LTV, right at the edge of the 3.10% tier. That premium is $20,925, a saving of over $7,000 from just $25,000 more down. At 15% down ($112,500), the $637,500 loan carries an 85% LTV and a 2.80% premium of $17,850.

One wrinkle worth knowing: the premium is calculated on the loan amount, not the purchase price, and it's a one-time charge that can be added to the mortgage. It's also non-refundable, even if your equity climbs past 20% later, per CMHC's official premium page.

You can run these scenarios yourself in Realtix's free CMHC mortgage calculator to see your exact premium and monthly payment in seconds, including the provincial tax treatment where you're buying.

Provincial Tax and the Three Insurers Compared

That CMHC premium you just calculated? In three provinces, the sticker price is wrong. Provincial sales tax gets added on top, and you can't roll it into the mortgage.

According to CMHC's official premium page, PST applies to mortgage default insurance in Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. One secondary source also lists Manitoba, so confirm with your lender if you're buying there. Either way, the tax must come out of your cash at closing.

Here's what that looks like in practice. Put 5% down on a $500,000 home in Ontario and your premium is $19,000, plus $1,520 in Ontario HST paid upfront. The premium itself can be added to the loan; the tax cannot. Buyers who budget only for the down payment routinely come up short at closing.

The provincial sales tax trap catches people because the math feels done. You ran the numbers, you know your premium tier, and then your lawyer's statement of adjustments shows a five-figure tax line you didn't expect. If you're buying in Ontario, Quebec, or Saskatchewan, budget for PST on top of your down payment, land transfer tax, and legal fees.

Now, the insurer question. CMHC isn't your only option: Sagen and Canada Guaranty also provide mortgage default insurance, and for standard homebuyer loans the choice barely matters. WOWA's comparison of the three insurers shows standard premium rates are generally identical across all of them, so a 5% down purchase costs 4.00% of the loan regardless of whose name is on the policy.

Where they diverge is alternative products:

• Sagen charges up to 5.85% for self-employed borrowers and 4.35% for vacation homes
• Canada Guaranty's Low Doc Advantage program also runs up to 5.85%
• Borrowed down payments carry a 4.50% premium, versus 4.00% for a standard 5% down loan

Market share tells the competitive story. CMHC holds 59.0% of insurance-in-force across all segments, versus 24.1% for Sagen and 16.9% for Canada Guaranty. In transactional homeowner business the gap narrows to 39.6% versus 35.5% and 25%. CMHC's share dipped sharply after it tightened underwriting in June 2020, raising its credit score minimum from 600 to 680, and the private insurers picked up the difference. Canadian Mortgage Trends reported at the time that Sagen briefly overtook CMHC as the country's largest default insurer.

What this means for you: for a conventional purchase with a 600+ credit score, compare lenders on rate and terms, not on the insurer behind the loan. But if you're self-employed, buying a cottage, or using a borrowed down payment, the insurer matters a lot, because that's where premiums climb well past the standard schedule. Run your numbers in Realtix's free CMHC mortgage calculator to see your exact insurance premium and total monthly payment in seconds.

Run Your Numbers in Minutes

You don't need a mortgage broker's spreadsheet to figure out your premium. You need four numbers and about ninety seconds. Here's exactly what to enter and what to watch for once the results come back.

Start with the purchase price, then your down payment. Those two inputs determine your loan-to-value ratio, which sets your premium tier: 4.00% of the loan at 5–9.99% down, 3.10% at 10–14.99%, and 2.80% at 15–19.99%, per the published 2025 premium schedule. On a $500,000 home with 5% down, that works out to a $19,000 premium. Bump the down payment to 10% and the premium drops to 3.10% of a smaller loan, which is why every extra dollar toward the down payment earns a double return: a lower rate applied to a smaller base.

Next, set your province. This one trips people up. Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan charge provincial sales tax on the premium, and unlike the premium itself, the tax can't be added to the mortgage. That $500,000 example in Ontario carries $1,520 in HST due at closing, in cash, on top of everything else. A calculator that ignores provincial tax will understate your closing costs by four figures.

Then set your amortization. Twenty-five years is the standard maximum, extended to 30 for eligible first-time buyers and new builds, but stretching past 25 years adds a 0.20% surcharge to the premium. Enter it honestly, because the calculator can't catch it for you.

A few things worth checking once your numbers are on screen:

• Premium added to the loan: the premium is a one-time charge that can be rolled into your mortgage, so it spreads across your payments rather than hitting your bank account at closing.
• Portability credits: if you sell and buy again, CMHC offers premium credits of 100% within 6 months, 50% within 12 months, and 25% within 24 months of your original closing.
• Energy-efficient refund: qualifying homes earn a 25% partial premium refund, per CMHC's official premium information.
• Non-refundable: if your home value rises and your LTV drops below 80%, you don't get the premium back.

One more thing to keep in mind: the rates are generally identical across CMHC, Sagen, and Canada Guaranty, so the calculator output holds regardless of which insurer your lender uses. And since high-ratio insured mortgages often carry lower interest rates than uninsured ones, the premium isn't pure cost; the rate savings can claw some of it back.

Realtix's free CMHC mortgage calculator handles all of this in one pass: federal premium tiers, provincial tax nuances, and your total monthly payment, Canada-wide. Run your numbers in Realtix's free CMHC mortgage calculator to see your exact insurance premium and total monthly payment in seconds.