CMHC Mortgage Insurance Calculator

How much is mortgage insurance in Canada?

How much is mortgage insurance depends on your down payment size. In Canada, mortgage default insurance — often called CMHC insurance after the largest provider — is mandatory when you buy with less than 20% down on an insured purchase. The premium is a percentage of your mortgage amount, tiered by loan-to-value ratio. It protects the lender, not you, but it enables home ownership with as little as 5% down on eligible properties.

This calculator uses standard tiered rates via cmhcPremium: higher LTV means higher premium percentage. At 5% down, the rate is typically 4.00% of the mortgage; at 10% down, about 3.10%; at 15% down, about 2.40% in our simplified table (aligned with common CMHC/Sagen/Canada Guaranty schedules for high-ratio loans). Enter your purchase price and down payment percentage to see your dollar premium and total financed amount if the premium is added to the mortgage.

How much is mortgage default insurance?

How much is mortgage default insurance on a $600,000 home with 10% down? Down payment is $60,000, base mortgage $540,000, LTV 90%. Premium near 3.10% adds roughly $16,740, bringing total borrowing to about $556,740 before provincial sales tax on the premium in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. PST on insurance is paid upfront in cash and cannot be financed — budget separately.

Sagen and Canada Guaranty charge federally aligned rates on insured loans; shopping between insurers is usually the lender's choice, not yours. The premium is a one-time charge per insurance event, though porting and refinancing rules can affect whether you pay again.

CMHC insurance premium tiers

Premium rates step down as equity increases. Below 20% down, every extra dollar of down payment saves disproportionately on insurance because you cross tier boundaries. Moving from 9% to 10% down can drop the rate from 4.00% to 3.10% — thousands of dollars on a typical Toronto or Vancouver purchase. Saving longer for 20% down eliminates insurance entirely but delays entry into a rising market — a personal trade-off this tool quantifies on the insurance side only.

Insured mortgages face amortization caps (generally 25 years, with extensions for first-time buyers and new builds under recent rules). Maximum purchase prices and property types also qualify — rental properties and refinances have different insurance rules not fully captured here.

Adding premium to your mortgage

Most buyers capitalize the premium: add it to the mortgage balance and pay interest on it over amortization. That spreads the cash cost but increases total interest paid. Paying the premium upfront avoids financing charges but needs liquid savings on closing day alongside down payment and closing costs. The monthly payment estimate above uses Canadian semi-annual compounding on the total including premium.

Stress-test qualification uses the higher insured balance. A larger mortgage from insurance reduces maximum purchase price for the same income. Run affordability calculators with the insured amount, not purchase price minus down payment alone.

When insurance is not required

At 20% down or more on a conventional uninsured mortgage, default insurance is not required. Some lenders still insure behind the scenes or charge a low-ratio premium in niche cases; conventional borrowers usually avoid the large tiered premiums modelled here. The calculator shows a clear message when your down payment reaches 20%.

Use this CMHC insurance estimator early in your home search. Knowing the premium helps you compare 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% down scenarios side by side, plan closing cash including provincial tax, and understand why a slightly larger down payment can be worth the wait.

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