CMHC premium calculator / $1.2M
CMHC insurance on a $1,200,000 home
CMHC premium on a $1,200,000 home at every down payment: minimum down $95,000, premium up to $44,200, sales tax in ON, QC and SK, and the monthly cost.
Purchase & financing
Insured mortgages are unavailable at $1.5M and up
Minimum here: $95,000 (7.9%)
30 yrs insured adds 0.20 points; first-time buyers and new builds only
ON, QC and SK charge sales tax on the premium
CMHC insurance premium
$33,480
3.10% of the loan at 90.0% LTV, added to your mortgage
The premium is added to your mortgage, but this tax is due in cash at closing.
LTV
90.0%
Premium rate
3.10%
Cash at closing
$122,678
Cash at closing here is the down payment plus premium tax only; add legal fees, inspection, and land transfer tax.
The premium at every down payment
Minimum down payment on a $1,200,000 home is $95,000 (7.9%). Above $500,000 the minimum is 5% on the first $500,000 plus 10% on the rest, so a flat 5% down is not allowed here. Monthly payments assume 4.99% over 25 years with the Canadian semi-annual compounding formula.
| Down | Loan | Rate | Premium | Total mortgage | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% ($60,000)below minimum | $1,140,000 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 10% ($120,000) | $1,080,000 | 3.1% | $33,480 | $1,113,480 | $6,470 |
| 15% ($180,000) | $1,020,000 | 2.8% | $28,560 | $1,048,560 | $6,093 |
| 20% ($240,000) | $960,000 | none | $0 | $960,000 | $5,578 |
Sales tax on the premium, due in cash
Three provinces tax the premium and none of them let you add the tax to the mortgage. With 10% down on $1,200,000:
Every other province and territory: nothing. Manitoba removed its tax on default insurance premiums in 2020.
The 10% cliff on this price
Premiums step at exactly 90% and 85% loan-to-value. At this price the minimum down payment already sits at 7.9%, so the next cliff is 15% down: $180,000 takes the premium from 3.1% to 2.8%, saving $4,920 of premium for an extra $60,000 down.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum down payment on a $1,200,000 home?+
$95,000, which is 7.9% of the price. The rule is 5% on the first $500,000 plus 10% on the portion above it, so a flat 5% down is not allowed at this price. Insured mortgages are available up to $1.5 million since December 15, 2024.
How much is CMHC insurance on a $1,200,000 home with 10% down?+
$33,480. The loan before insurance is $1,080,000, the loan-to-value is 90.0%, and the premium at that tier is 3.1% of the loan. It is added to the mortgage, so the total mortgage becomes $1,113,480. In Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan the provincial sales tax on the premium ($2,678 in Ontario) is paid in cash at closing.
How do I avoid CMHC insurance on a $1,200,000 home?+
Put down 20%, which is $240,000. That takes the loan-to-value to 80% and no default insurance is required. Compared with 10% down, the extra $120,000 of down payment removes a $33,480 premium and cuts the monthly payment from $6,470 to $5,578 at 4.99% over 25 years.
What does a 30-year amortization cost on a $1,200,000 insured mortgage?+
An extra 0.20 percentage points of premium, so 3.3000000000000003% instead of 3.1% with 10% down: a premium of $35,640 rather than $33,480. The monthly payment drops from $6,470 to $5,947. Insured 30-year amortizations are limited to first-time buyers and buyers of new construction.
Other prices and tiers
Buying a duplex to fourplex to live in? The house hacking calculator applies these premiums inside a full monthly cost. Closing costs are the other cash item: see the land transfer tax calculator.