CMHC Mortgage Insurance Calculator
Calculate your CMHC mortgage default insurance premium, monthly payments, and B-20 stress test qualifying rate. Essential for Canadian home buyers with less than 20% down.
Purchase price of the home
Below $1.5M: 5% on the first $500K plus 10% on the remainder. At $1.5M or more: 20%.
Your contracted mortgage rate
For insured purchases, 30 years requires a qualifying first-time buyer or newly built home. The estimate adds 0.20 percentage points to the premium rate. Conventional 30-year terms depend on your lender.
Down Payment
CMHC Insurance
Mortgage & Payments
Illustrative Qualifying Payment
Illustrates the higher of your contract rate + 2% or 5.25%. Eligibility and applicable lender rules require confirmation. Provincial tax on insurance premiums is not included.
Standard owner-occupied 1–2-unit purchase with a traditional down payment · CAD · rules checked 2026-09-26. Other property types, non-traditional down payments and premium credits are outside scope. Not a loan approval. Fixed-rate payments assume semi-annual compounding.
CMHC Home Start: first-time buyer and newly built home definitionsFinance Canada: insured purchase rulesCMHC: premium schedule and amortization surchargeHow It Works
1. Enter Details
Input the home price, your down payment amount, mortgage rate, and amortization period.
2. See Insurance Cost
Estimate the standard premium from your LTV and selected amortization, within the stated scope.
3. Check Stress Test
See an illustrative qualifying payment. Your lender must confirm the applicable qualification rules.
CMHC Premium Rates
Standard Premium Rates (25-Year Amortization)
The CMHC premium is added to your mortgage principal and paid off over the life of the loan. This calculator assumes the premium is financed; confirm available payment options and upfront premium taxes with your lender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Understanding CMHC Mortgage Insurance in Canada
CMHC mortgage default insurance is a unique feature of the Canadian housing market. Unlike private mortgage insurance (PMI) in the United States, which can often be removed once equity reaches 20%, CMHC insurance premiums are added to the mortgage principal and amortized over the full life of the loan. Understanding how this insurance works is essential for any Canadian home buyer, real estate professional, or anyone preparing for a Canadian real estate licensing exam.
How CMHC Insurance Premiums Are Calculated
The CMHC insurance premium is based on the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of your mortgage. A higher LTV (meaning a smaller down payment) results in a higher premium rate. The premium is calculated as a percentage of the mortgage amount (not the home price) and is added to your mortgage. For example, on a $500,000 home with 5% down ($25,000), the mortgage is $475,000 and the CMHC premium at 4.00% is $19,000, bringing your total mortgage to $494,000. This additional amount increases your monthly payments slightly but allows you to buy a home much sooner than saving for 20% down.
The B-20 Stress Test Explained
For this standard purchase illustration, the qualifying payment uses the higher of your actual contract rate plus 2 percentage points or the benchmark rate of 5.25%. If your contract rate is 5.5%, your qualifying rate would be 7.5% (since 5.5% + 2% = 7.5%, which exceeds 5.25%). The stress test significantly reduces your maximum borrowing power and is designed to ensure borrowers can withstand interest rate increases. Confirm current rules with your lender; renewals, switches and other transactions may be treated differently.
First-Time Home Buyer Programs
The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive is closed to new applications; its final submission deadline was March 21, 2024. Do not include that discontinued shared-equity program in a new purchase budget. Other programs have their own eligibility and tax rules, separate from mortgage insurance.Check CMHC’s closure notice.
CMHC vs Sagen vs Canada Guaranty
While CMHC is the most well-known provider, Sagen (formerly Genworth) and Canada Guaranty also offer mortgage default insurance in Canada. All three are backed by the Government of Canada and offer similar premium rates. Your lender typically chooses which insurer to use, and the cost to you is generally the same regardless of provider. The key differences are in their underwriting criteria and programs for self-employed borrowers or non-traditional income situations.
Calculate Your Total Closing Costs
CMHC insurance is just one closing cost. Calculate your land transfer tax too.
Land Transfer Tax Calculator