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CMHC premium calculator / $900k

CMHC insurance on a $900,000 home

CMHC premium on a $900,000 home at every down payment: minimum down $65,000, premium up to $33,400, sales tax in ON, QC and SK, and the monthly cost.

Purchase & financing

$

Insured mortgages are unavailable at $1.5M and up

%

Minimum here: $65,000 (7.2%)

%
yrs

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

$25,110

3.10% of the loan at 90.0% LTV, added to your mortgage

Insured
Purchase price$900,000
Down payment (10%)−$90,000
Loan before premium$810,000
CMHC premium (3.10%)+$25,110
Total mortgage$835,110
Monthly payment$4,852.29
Of which the premium costs$145.90/mo
Sales tax on premium (8%)$2,009

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

$92,009

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 $900,000 home is $65,000 (7.2%). 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.

DownLoanRatePremiumTotal mortgageMonthly
5% ($45,000)below minimum$855,000n/an/an/an/a
10% ($90,000)$810,0003.1%$25,110$835,110$4,852
15% ($135,000)$765,0002.8%$21,420$786,420$4,569
20% ($180,000)$720,000none$0$720,000$4,183

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 $900,000:

Ontario (8%)$2,009
Quebec (9%)$2,260
Saskatchewan (6%)$1,507

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 7.2%, so the next cliff is 15% down: $135,000 takes the premium from 3.1% to 2.8%, saving $3,690 of premium for an extra $45,000 down.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum down payment on a $900,000 home?+

$65,000, which is 7.2% 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 $900,000 home with 10% down?+

$25,110. The loan before insurance is $810,000, 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 $835,110. In Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan the provincial sales tax on the premium ($2,009 in Ontario) is paid in cash at closing.

How do I avoid CMHC insurance on a $900,000 home?+

Put down 20%, which is $180,000. That takes the loan-to-value to 80% and no default insurance is required. Compared with 10% down, the extra $90,000 of down payment removes a $25,110 premium and cuts the monthly payment from $4,852 to $4,183 at 4.99% over 25 years.

What does a 30-year amortization cost on a $900,000 insured mortgage?+

An extra 0.20 percentage points of premium, so 3.3000000000000003% instead of 3.1% with 10% down: a premium of $26,730 rather than $25,110. The monthly payment drops from $4,852 to $4,461. 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.