Three insurers, same rates, different flexibility. We know which one fits your file.
Mortgage default insurance protects the lender, not you, if you stop paying. You pay the premium; the lender gets the coverage. In exchange you get access to a much lower rate and a much smaller down payment, which is why insured borrowers frequently pay less overall than uninsured ones.
Because pricing is identical, the choice of insurer is purely about underwriting flexibility. That is exactly where an experienced broker changes the outcome on a marginal file.
The premium is a percentage of the mortgage amount, based on your loan-to-value, and it is almost always added to the mortgage rather than paid in cash.
Surcharges apply for amortizations over 25 years (0.20%), self-employed stated income, and certain rental or non-traditional down payment scenarios. In Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, provincial sales tax on the premium must be paid in cash at closing — it cannot be rolled into the mortgage. On $24,000 of premium in Ontario that is roughly $1,920 due on closing day. Calculate yours in the CMHC calculator.
This is where most of the confusion lives, and it directly determines your rate.
The counter-intuitive result: putting 20% down on a 30-year amortization can leave you with a higher rate than putting 15% down on a 25-year amortization and paying the premium. Always price both structures before assuming a bigger down payment is better.
Two rule changes reshaped the insured market and both still apply in 2026:
Both matter most in Toronto and Vancouver, where the old $1M cap pushed ordinary buyers into the uninsured tier.
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No. Sagen and Canada Guaranty offer identical, regulated premiums with different underwriting flexibility. Your lender selects the insurer, so choosing the right lender is how you effectively choose the insurer that suits your file.
Four per cent of the mortgage with five per cent down, three point one per cent with ten per cent down, and two point eight per cent with fifteen per cent down. A thirty-year amortization adds a further zero point two per cent surcharge.
Yes, with twenty per cent or more down. Be aware that avoiding the premium sometimes costs more overall, because uninsured mortgages carry a higher rate than insured ones and the difference can exceed the premium over a five-year term.
The premium itself is normally added to your mortgage balance and amortized. In Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the provincial sales tax on that premium must be paid in cash at closing and cannot be financed.
Insured means under twenty per cent down with a premium paid and the lowest rate. Insurable means twenty per cent or more down under one point five million with a twenty-five year amortization and near-best pricing at no premium. Uninsured covers refinances, homes over one point five million and thirty-year amortizations, and carries the highest rate.
Not directly. However the premium is portable, so if you move within the term and port your mortgage you only pay a premium on the increase in the loan amount. There is also a refund of up to twenty-five per cent for qualifying energy-efficient homes, which you must apply for.
One point five million dollars. Minimum down payment is five per cent on the first five hundred thousand and ten per cent on the portion above that, which works out to roughly one hundred and fifteen thousand on a one point four million dollar home.
Yes. Sagen's Business for Self program and Canada Guaranty's Low Doc Advantage both allow reasonable stated income for a borrower with two years in business, up to ninety per cent loan-to-value, at A-lender rates with a premium surcharge.
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