CMHC premium calculator / $400k
CMHC insurance on a $400,000 home
CMHC premium on a $400,000 home at every down payment: minimum down $20,000, premium up to $15,200, sales tax in ON, QC and SK, and the monthly cost.
Purchase & financing
Insured mortgages are unavailable at $1.5M and up
Minimum here: $20,000 (5.0%)
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
$15,200
4.00% of the loan at 95.0% LTV, added to your mortgage
The premium is added to your mortgage, but this tax is due in cash at closing.
LTV
95.0%
Premium rate
4.00%
Cash at closing
$21,216
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 $400,000 home is $20,000 (5.0%). At this price the 5% minimum applies to the whole amount. Monthly payments assume 4.99% over 25 years with the Canadian semi-annual compounding formula.
| Down | Loan | Rate | Premium | Total mortgage | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% ($20,000) | $380,000 | 4% | $15,200 | $395,200 | $2,296 |
| 10% ($40,000) | $360,000 | 3.1% | $11,160 | $371,160 | $2,157 |
| 15% ($60,000) | $340,000 | 2.8% | $9,520 | $349,520 | $2,031 |
| 20% ($80,000) | $320,000 | none | $0 | $320,000 | $1,859 |
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 5% down on $400,000:
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% loan-to-value. With 9.5% down ($38,000) the premium is 4% of the loan, or $14,480. With 10% down ($40,000) it is 3.1%, or $11,160. Finding an extra $2,000 of down payment saves $3,320 of premium and $31 a month.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum down payment on a $400,000 home?+
$20,000, which is 5%. Up to $500,000 the federal minimum is 5% of the price, so an insured mortgage of $380,000 is the largest loan available.
How much is CMHC insurance on a $400,000 home with 5% down?+
$15,200. The loan before insurance is $380,000, the loan-to-value is 95.0%, and the premium at that tier is 4% of the loan. It is added to the mortgage, so the total mortgage becomes $395,200. In Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan the provincial sales tax on the premium ($1,216 in Ontario) is paid in cash at closing.
How do I avoid CMHC insurance on a $400,000 home?+
Put down 20%, which is $80,000. That takes the loan-to-value to 80% and no default insurance is required. Compared with 5% down, the extra $60,000 of down payment removes a $15,200 premium and cuts the monthly payment from $2,296 to $1,859 at 4.99% over 25 years.
What does a 30-year amortization cost on a $400,000 insured mortgage?+
An extra 0.20 percentage points of premium, so 4.2% instead of 4% with 5% down: a premium of $15,960 rather than $15,200. The monthly payment drops from $2,296 to $2,111. 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.