CMHC insurance calculator
The premium you pay for putting less than 20% down.
Mortgage default insurance protects the lender, not you. It is added to your mortgage rather than paid at closing, so you pay interest on it for as long as you hold the loan.
If your down payment is below twenty percent, mortgage default insurance is mandatory. The premium is a percentage of the loan and rises sharply as your down payment shrinks.
The important thing most people miss: it is financed into the mortgage. You do not write a cheque for it — you borrow it, and pay interest on it.
Insurance premium
$19,530
Added to your mortgage rather than paid upfront — so you pay interest on it.
- Loan before premium
- $630,000
- Loan-to-value
- 90.0%
- Premium rate
- 3.10%
- Total borrowed
- $649,530
Estimate only. Not a commitment to lend. Figures verified July 2026 · CMHC — Premium information for homeowner loans.
How this works
The maths, in plain language.
How the premium is set
The rate depends on your loan-to-value ratio: the loan divided by the purchase price. The bands step up, so moving from just over 80% to 85% costs meaningfully more, and the top band at 95% loan-to-value carries the highest rate.
Because the bands are steps rather than a smooth curve, a small increase in your down payment can occasionally drop you into a cheaper band and save more than the extra deposit.
Where insurance is not available at all
Default insurance is not available on properties at or above $1.5 million, which means twenty percent down is required regardless of your income. It is also unavailable on refinances, and on properties you will not occupy.
A borrowed down payment attracts a higher premium rate than one from savings or a genuine gift.
Common questions
About this calculator.
Does this insurance protect me?
No. It protects the lender if you default. What it does for you is make lending at a low down payment possible at all, and generally at a better rate than an uninsured mortgage.
Can I avoid paying it?
Only by putting twenty percent or more down. Whether waiting to save that is worthwhile depends on how long it would take and what happens to prices meanwhile — worth working through rather than assuming.
Is the premium taxed?
Provincial sales tax applies to the premium in Ontario, and unlike the premium itself that portion is payable at closing rather than financed. Your lawyer will include it in your closing costs.
Want these numbers checked by a person?
A calculator does not know your credit, your income structure or which lenders would actually take your file. Twenty minutes on the phone will tell you what this cannot.