CMHC Mortgage Rules 2025

New insured mortgage rules came into effect on December 15, 2024, which increased the previous $1 million purchase price limit for insured mortgages to $1.5 million. This means that you can now purchase a home of less than $1.5 million with a down payment of less than 20% for insured mortgages. The minimum down payment is 5% on the first $500,000, and 10% of the remaining amount.

A lower required down payment, along with lower mortgage rates that insured mortgages typically enjoy, may help with affordability for those purchasing a home between $1 million and $1.5 million. This helps in particularly expensive housing markets, such as Vancouver and Toronto, where the average home price can be well north of $1 million.

Another new change is that 30-year amortizations are now available for first-time home buyers and buyers purchasing a new build, up from the regular 25-year amortization maximum. Spreading over a longer amortization allows for each mortgage payment to be lower and more affordable.

The last significant CMHC rule changes prior to the late 2024 announcements occurred in 2021.

Current CMHC Rules

Minimum Credit Score

At least one borrower will need to have a minimum credit score of 600. Previously, the minimum credit score for an insured mortgage was 680.

Sources of Down Payment

You can no longer borrow money for your down payment, which means that your down payment can only come from your own money or from a non-repayable gift.

Before July 1, 2020, non-traditional down payment sources, such as personal loans, were allowed for mortgages with a down payment of 5% to 10%, provided that the borrower had a minimum credit score of 650.

Your debt service ratio (GDS and TDS) is a measure that is used to see if you can afford your debt payments and housing costs.

• Gross Debt Service ratio (GDS) maximum is 39%. GDS is your housing costs compared to your income.
• Total Debt Service ratio (TDS) maximum is 44%. TDS is the total of your housing costs and other debt payments compared to your income.

The 2021 CMHC rule changes allowed for more homebuyers to qualify for CMHC mortgage insurance, and that they may qualify for a larger mortgage amount.

For example, let’s say that your annual gross income is $100,000, and you currently have no housing costs, property taxes, or other costs. With the previous GDS ratio of 35%, you will be able to qualify for a mortgage with a monthly mortgage payment of up to $2,917 per month.

With the increased GDS ratio at 39%, you can get a mortgage with a monthly mortgage payment of up to $3,250. This means that the maximum amount that you can borrow will be larger.

Assuming a mortgage amortization of 25 years and a mortgage rate of 3%, a monthly mortgage payment of $2,917 will be made on a mortgage of $616,000. In comparison, a monthly payment of $3,250 will be made on a mortgage of $687,000. The mortgage amount that you qualify for has been increased by $71,000 due to the CMHC mortgage rule reversal for someone with an annual gross income of $100,000.

Between July 1, 2020 and July 5, 2021, the CMHC had stricter insurance rules. Those stricter rules have now been relaxed. These rules included:

• A minimum credit score of 680
• A maximum Gross Debt Service ratio (GDS) of 35%
• A maximum Total Debt Service ratio (TDS) of 42%

There are a few basic requirements for CMHC-insured mortgages. These rules were last changed in late 2024.

• Location: The property must be located in Canada
• Price: The maximum purchase price or property value is $1,500,000 (This used to be $1,000,000 until December 14, 2024)
• Down Payment: The minimum down payment is 5% for homes under $500,000. For homes over $500,000 minimum down payment is (home price - $500,000)/10 + $25,000
• Amortization Period: The maximum amortization is 25 years unless purchaser is a first time home buyer or the home is a new construction. Since December 15, 2024, first time home buyers or purchasers of new construction homes can amortize their mortgages over 30 years

These basic requirements are also followed by private insurers Canada Guaranty and Sagen (Genworth). For residential mortgages, you can only have one homeowner CMHC-insured mortgage at a time, which means that you cannot get a CMHC-insured mortgage for a second home.

Mortgage default insurance is required for down payments of less than 20%. The minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 of the home price and 10% of the remaining amount. CMHC insurance is not available for residential properties with a purchase price over $1.5 million.

For multi-unit properties, the down payment requirements vary.

• If the owner will occupy a property with up to two units, the same down payment requirements apply as for a single-unit home.
• If the owner plans to occupy a property with three or four units, the minimum down payment is 10% of the entire value.
• For small rental loans where the owner will not live in a property with one to four units, a minimum down payment of 20% is required.
• When calculating debt service ratios for CMHC insurance eligibility, you can use up to 50% of your rental income.

CMHC does offer a different mortgage loan insurance for multi-unit properties with 5 or more units. With CMHC’s new multi-unit insurance (MLI) Select, you may be eligible for a down payment of as low as 5% and amortization of up to 50 years for properties with 5 or more units that meet certain criteria.

Sagen (Genworth) and CMHC both only allow traditional sources for your down payment, such as your savings or a gift from a relative. Canada Guaranty allows down payments to be borrowed, such as from a loan, for certain mortgage insurance products.

The maximum amortization for all insured residential mortgages in Canada is 25 years, except for first-time home buyers or newly constructed homes, who, since December 15, 2024, can amortize over 30 years. This 25-year limitation was introduced by the OSFI in 2012. Before 2012, the maximum amortization was 30 years for insured mortgages. This was reduced from 35 years in 2011 and 40 years in 2008.

CMHC MLI Select is CMHC’s new mortgage loan insurance product for multi-unit properties with a point scoring system. Introduced in March 2022, the MLI Select is for multi-unit residential properties that have more than 5 rental units, or a minimum of 50 units or beds for retirement homes.

This new product gives borrowers the ability to receive incentives on their mortgage loan insurance in exchange for meeting certain criteria. This might be a commitment to make units affordable, energy efficient, and/or accessible. Borrowers will receive points for meeting criteria. There are point thresholds for incentives, which can range from a higher maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio to a longer maximum amortization period.

Affordability

The first set of criteria that a borrower can choose to commit towards has to do with affordability for renters. Borrowers will need to commit that at least a certain percentage of units will be at rent levels below 30% of the median renter income in the area for at least 10 years. The more units committed, the more points the borrower will receive. Borrowers can get an additional 30 points if they commit to at least 20 years. The median renter income is the median household income for the area based on the Canadian Income Survey and Survey of Labor and Income Dynamics.

Affordability: Rent Levels Below 30% Of the Median Renter Income

Energy Efficiency

The second set of criteria is energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is based on how the property is either better than the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB) or the National Building Code of Canada (NBC) for new construction, or how it has improved over current levels for existing properties.

Energy Efficiency: Performance of the Property

Accessibility

Accessibility has two levels. The first level awards 20 points, and requires either a minimum of 15% of units to be accessible, at least 15% of units to be universal design, or for the property to receive Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification.

The second level gives 30 points, if either all units are universal design, all units are accessible, the building receives Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification "Gold", or at least 15% of units are accessible and at least 85% of units are universal design.

MLI Select Benefits

Based on the point-scoring system, you may be eligible to receive certain benefits. In addition, all MLI replacement reserve requirements are discretionary. New construction has waived rental achievement holdbacks for all point thresholds. Having at least 100 points also gives limited recourse, rather than full recourse.

MLI Select Benefits