Enter a home price and down payment to see your loan-to-value, whether mortgage default insurance is required, the CMHC premium rate, the premium in dollars, and your total mortgage. Pair it with our mortgage payment & affordability calculators.
If your down payment is under 20%, you generally need mortgage default insurance. The CMHC premium is a one-time percentage of your mortgage set by your loan-to-value ratio — from 0.60% (up to 65% LTV) to 4.00% (90.01%–95% LTV) on an owner-occupied home. Insurance isn't available on homes priced $1.5 million or more, so those buyers need at least 20% down.
Mortgage default insurance protects the lender if you stop paying — it does not protect you. Your lender arranges it through CMHC, Sagen or Canada Guaranty, and the cost is a one-time premium expressed as a percentage of your mortgage. The percentage is set entirely by your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio: your mortgage divided by the purchase price. A smaller down payment means a higher LTV and a higher premium rate.
This tool computes LTV = (price − down payment) ÷ price, matches it to the CMHC premium band, multiplies the rate by your mortgage to get the premium in dollars, then adds it to your mortgage to show the total you'd finance. See the full premium-by-LTV table and the minimum down-payment rules.
| Loan-to-value | Premium (% of mortgage) |
|---|---|
| Up to and including 65% | 0.60% |
| 65.01% to 75% | 1.70% |
| 75.01% to 80% | 2.40% |
| 80.01% to 85% | 2.80% |
| 85.01% to 90% | 3.10% |
| 90.01% to 95% | 4.00% |
| 90.01% to 95% (non-traditional down payment) | 4.50% |
Whenever your down payment is under 20% of the price. At 20% or more it's usually optional, though lenders may still require it for self-employed or lower-credit files.
No. Insured mortgages are only for homes priced under $1.5 million, and the property must be owner-occupied (or a small rental of up to four units). Above the cap you need at least 20% down and an uninsured mortgage.
Yes — put down 20% or more. That removes the requirement entirely. The trade-off is a larger up-front cash outlay, which we weigh in 20% down vs less.
They're the three insurers, but they publish the same standard rate bands for homeowner loans, so the premium is effectively the same regardless of which one your lender uses.