How CMHC Mortgage Insurance Premiums Work in Ontario, With a Worked Example

What the premium is

If your down payment is under 20%, the mortgage generally has to be insured. The premium is how the insurer is paid, and you pay it once.

According to CMHC’s premium page, mortgage loan insurance lets approved lenders offer insured financing at pricing comparable to what is generally reserved for borrowers with larger down payments. The application premium is a one-time charge, and it may be added to the insured loan amount. CMHC is one of several mortgage insurers in Canada; others publish their own schedules, so confirm which one applies to your file.

The premium tiers

For a homeowner loan on an owner-occupied property of one to four units, CMHC’s published schedule applies a percentage to the total loan amount, set by loan-to-value, which is the loan divided by the home’s value:

• 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% with a non-traditional down payment: 4.50%

The schedule is as CMHC showed it on 3 October 2026, and it can change, so use it to understand the shape, not to quote a figure. Small rental properties and CMHC’s refinance product have their own tables on the same page.

A worked example

These figures are illustrative. Take a $600,000 home with 10% down, which is $60,000. The loan is $540,000, exactly 90% of the value, which falls in the 85.01% to 90% tier at 3.10%.

• Premium: 3.10% of $540,000 is $16,740.
• If added to the mortgage: the loan becomes $556,740.
• Effect on the payment: at an assumed 4.50% fixed, 25-year amortization, with semi-annual compounding, the added $16,740 raises the payment by roughly $93 a month, from about $2,989 to about $3,081.

The premium is a cost you finance, which means you also pay interest on it for as long as it is in the mortgage.

The edge of a tier

Tier boundaries are where small differences in down payment change the premium noticeably. On the same $600,000 home, 9% down is $54,000. The loan is $546,000, or 91% of the value, which falls in the 4.00% tier. The premium is $21,840.

Putting $6,000 less down in that example moves the premium $5,100 higher, on a loan that is also $6,000 larger. This is arithmetic about how the tiers work, not a recommendation to stretch for a particular figure; your down payment has other uses, including closing costs. Our look at cash needed at closing covers those.

What Ontario adds

CMHC’s page notes that some provinces, currently Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan, apply provincial sales tax to the mortgage loan insurance premium, and that the tax cannot be added to the loan amount. In Ontario that means the tax on the premium is due in cash at closing, on top of the other closing costs. Ask your lawyer for the exact figure on your statement.

Surcharges, refunds and portability

• Longer amortization: CMHC’s page lists a 0.20% surcharge on amortization periods beyond 25 years. Our piece on longer amortizations covers who can use them. Confirm what applies to your file.
• Eco products: CMHC offers a 25% partial premium refund for buying or building an energy-efficient home or making efficient improvements.
• Portability: when you move and port an insured mortgage, a premium credit may reduce the premium on the new loan. CMHC’s example is a 100% credit at 6 months, 50% at 12 months and 25% at 24 months.

Planning around it

Before an offer, know the tier you would land in, whether the premium goes into the mortgage, and how much cash the sales tax adds at closing. The First Home Hub covers down payment rules in Ontario, and the calculators can run the payment with and without the premium.