Down payment scenarios
5% down $3,427 · 25% down $2,970
The all-in monthly cost, not the mortgage payment. A smaller down payment costs less cash today and more every month for decades.
5% down
- Down payment
- $22,713
- Base mortgage
- $431,551
- Loan-to-valuerule
- 95.0%
- Total mortgagerule
- $449,676
- CMHC premium raterule
- 4.20%
- CMHC premiumrule
- $18,125
- Contract raterule
- 3.94%
- Principal and interest
- $2,123
- Property taxestimate
- $500
- Maintenance reserveestimate
- $379
- Home insuranceestimate
- $125
- Utilitiesestimate
- $300
- True all-in monthly
- $3,427
- Versus your comfort ceiling
- − $727
10% downYour choice
- Down payment
- $45,426
- Base mortgage
- $408,838
- Loan-to-valuerule
- 90.0%
- Total mortgagerule
- $422,329
- CMHC premium raterule
- 3.30%
- CMHC premiumrule
- $13,492
- Contract raterule
- 3.94%
- Principal and interest
- $1,994
- Property taxestimate
- $500
- Maintenance reserveestimate
- $379
- Home insuranceestimate
- $125
- Utilitiesestimate
- $300
- True all-in monthly
- $3,298
- Versus your comfort ceiling
- − $598
20% down
- Down payment
- $90,853
- Base mortgage
- $363,411
- Loan-to-valuerule
- 80.0%
- Total mortgagerule
- $363,411
- CMHC premium raterule
- No CMHC premium at all
- CMHC premiumrule
- —
- Contract raterule
- 4.24%
- Principal and interest
- $1,778
- Property taxestimate
- $500
- Maintenance reserveestimate
- $379
- Home insuranceestimate
- $125
- Utilitiesestimate
- $300
- True all-in monthly
- $3,082
- Versus your comfort ceiling
- − $382
25% down
- Down payment
- $113,566
- Base mortgage
- $340,698
- Loan-to-valuerule
- 75.0%
- Total mortgagerule
- $340,698
- CMHC premium raterule
- No CMHC premium at all
- CMHC premiumrule
- —
- Contract raterule
- 4.24%
- Principal and interest
- $1,667
- Property taxestimate
- $500
- Maintenance reserveestimate
- $379
- Home insuranceestimate
- $125
- Utilitiesestimate
- $300
- True all-in monthly
- $2,970 · best of the four
- Versus your comfort ceiling
- − $270
The legal minimum is 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion above it. At this price that is $22,713, so any lower column is raised to meet it.
The premium is a percentage of the loan, set by the loan-to-value band at origination, plus 20 basis points for a 30-year amortization. It is added to the mortgage, so you pay interest on it for the full term.
Insured mortgages price below uninsured ones, because the lender’s risk is covered. Putting 20% down removes the premium but moves you to the higher rate.
Positive means the monthly cost fits inside the ceiling you set. This is the number to anchor on, not the lender’s approval.
A cheaper scenario you cannot fund is not an option.
A cheaper scenario you cannot fund is not an option. Closing costs are recomputed per column, because provinces that tax the insurance premium charge more cash precisely where the down payment is smallest.
5% down
10% downYour choice
20% down
25% down
Some provinces charge sales tax on the insurance premium. The premium can be financed; the tax on it cannot, so it is cash on closing day and it varies by column.
A lender would decline
Qualification runs at the stress rate, never the contract rate. A column can be affordable and still be declined.
5% down
10% downYour choice
20% down
25% down
The income and debts fields here are your own. A co-buyer’s income, other income, and car, student and credit-card payments are entered on the affordability page — the two totals at the top of the table above already include them, so anything you type here adds to them.
Interest plus insurance premium — the full cost of borrowing.
Interest plus the insurance premium, over the whole mortgage. This is where the cheapest monthly usually stops being the cheapest overall. It assumes today’s contract rate holds for the entire amortization, which no Canadian mortgage guarantees — the term renews long before the loan is repaid, and the figures move with it.
5% down
- Total interest paidrule
- $314,622
- CMHC premium
- $18,125
- Interest plus premium
- $332,748
- Extra cash versus 5% down
- $0
- Lifetime saving versus 5% down
- $0
- Return on that extra cash
- —
10% downYour choice
- Total interest paidrule
- $295,489
- CMHC premium
- $13,492
- Interest plus premium
- $308,981
- Extra cash versus 5% down
- $22,713
- Lifetime saving versus 5% down
- $23,767
- Return on that extra cash
- 1.05×
20% down
- Total interest paidrule
- $276,591
- CMHC premium
- —
- Interest plus premium
- $276,591
- Extra cash versus 5% down
- $68,140
- Lifetime saving versus 5% down
- $56,156
- Return on that extra cash
- 0.82×
25% down
- Total interest paidrule
- $259,304
- CMHC premium
- —
- Interest plus premium
- $259,304 · best of the four
- Extra cash versus 5% down
- $90,853
- Lifetime saving versus 5% down
- $73,443
- Return on that extra cash
- 0.81×
Lifetime saving divided by the extra cash you had to put down. Above 1.0 means every extra dollar returned more than a dollar. It is guaranteed and tax-free, unlike an investment return — but it is undiscounted nominal interest measured against today's dollars, so 1.0 is a weaker bar than it looks.
How to read this
Reaching 20% is the strong move
It eliminates the insurance premium entirely. Whether the extra cash returns more than a dollar for each dollar deployed depends on your price and rate — the ratio is in the table above, and above 1.0 it is a guaranteed, tax-free return that is very hard to beat on a risk-adjusted basis.
Above 20% is a much weaker case
Each additional dollar earns exactly the mortgage rate, guaranteed. Worth it if you value certainty and a lower payment; not if you are maximising expected wealth.
The mortgage rate is the after-tax hurdle
Mortgage interest is not tax-deductible in Canada, so there is no tax shield to discount it. Compare it against after-tax investment returns, not gross ones.
Fill tax-advantaged room first
FHSA, then RRSP, then TFSA. Those beat the mortgage rate before any prepayment does, and the FHSA is deductible going in and tax-free coming out.
Every scenario, on every axis at once
One row per down payment, with every figure the recommendation weighs. The columns that move together are the point: a bigger down payment buys a smaller premium and a smaller payment, and costs more cash on the day.
| Scenario | Down payment | Insurance premium | Mortgage | Monthly, all in | Cash at closing | GDS | TDS | Cost of borrowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% down | $22,713 | $18,125 | $449,676 | $3,427 | $38,873 | 52.9% | 52.9% | $332,748 |
| 10% down | $45,426 | $13,492 | $422,329 | $3,298 | $61,586 | 50.3% | 50.3% | $308,981 |
| 20% down | $90,853 | $0 | $363,411 | $3,082 | $107,013 | 45.9% | 45.9% | $276,591 |
| 25% down | $113,566 | $0 | $340,698 | $2,970 | $129,726 | 43.7% | 43.7% | $259,304 |
Adjust your numbers
Every figure that carries a sourcing record names where it came from: a dated published source, an estimate we disclose, or nothing at all where nothing is published.
Rules last verified 2026-08-24