CMHC premium calculator / $500k
CMHC insurance on a $500,000 home
CMHC premium on a $500,000 home at every down payment: minimum down $25,000, premium up to $19,000, sales tax in ON, QC and SK, and the monthly cost.
Purchase & financing
Insured mortgages are unavailable at $1.5M and up
Minimum here: $25,000 (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
$19,000
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
$26,520
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 $500,000 home is $25,000 (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% ($25,000) | $475,000 | 4% | $19,000 | $494,000 | $2,870 |
| 10% ($50,000) | $450,000 | 3.1% | $13,950 | $463,950 | $2,696 |
| 15% ($75,000) | $425,000 | 2.8% | $11,900 | $436,900 | $2,539 |
| 20% ($100,000) | $400,000 | none | $0 | $400,000 | $2,324 |
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 $500,000:
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 ($47,500) the premium is 4% of the loan, or $18,100. With 10% down ($50,000) it is 3.1%, or $13,950. Finding an extra $2,500 of down payment saves $4,150 of premium and $39 a month.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum down payment on a $500,000 home?+
$25,000, which is 5%. Up to $500,000 the federal minimum is 5% of the price, so an insured mortgage of $475,000 is the largest loan available.
How much is CMHC insurance on a $500,000 home with 5% down?+
$19,000. The loan before insurance is $475,000, 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 $494,000. In Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan the provincial sales tax on the premium ($1,520 in Ontario) is paid in cash at closing.
How do I avoid CMHC insurance on a $500,000 home?+
Put down 20%, which is $100,000. That takes the loan-to-value to 80% and no default insurance is required. Compared with 5% down, the extra $75,000 of down payment removes a $19,000 premium and cuts the monthly payment from $2,870 to $2,324 at 4.99% over 25 years.
What does a 30-year amortization cost on a $500,000 insured mortgage?+
An extra 0.20 percentage points of premium, so 4.2% instead of 4% with 5% down: a premium of $19,950 rather than $19,000. The monthly payment drops from $2,870 to $2,639. 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.