Income Needed to Afford a $1,000,000 Home in Canada

A $1,000,000 home can be bought with less than 20% down. That has been true only since the insured-mortgage price cap rose from $1 million to $1,500,000 on December 15, 2024 (Finance Canada); before that, insurance stopped below $1 million and a buyer at this price needed 20% of it in cash. Today the $800,000, $900,000 and $1,000,000 prices all sit inside the insured range, where the premium is large in dollars.

Income needed at $800,000, $900,000 and $1,000,000

At $1,000,000 by down payment:

The income column rests on the payment at the 6.05% stress test rate, $6,184 a month at $1,000,000, although the payment at the 4.05% contract rate would be $5,086. Tax, heat and rate assumptions are on the hub page.

The premium near the top of the insured range

The down payment here follows the second band: 10% of the part of the price above $500,000, for homes under $1.5 million. However high the price goes below the cap, that formula never reaches 10% of the price. Just under $1,500,000 it approaches $125,000, which is 8.33% of the price. So every insured purchase made with the minimum down payment has a loan above 90% of value and pays CMHC’s top rate, 4.00% on a 25-year amortization.

At these prices that rate adds up to tens of thousands of dollars: $37,000 on the $925,000 loan at $1,000,000, equal to 49% of the $75,000 the buyer puts down. In some provinces the premium is also subject to provincial sales tax, paid in cash at closing; the premium tax page lists where. Raising the down payment to 20% ($200,000) removes the premium altogether.

Where B.C.'s first-time exemption stops

British Columbia’s first-time buyers’ exemption from property transfer tax applies in full to homes worth up to $835,000 and in part up to $860,000. That line runs through this page: the $800,000 row is inside the full exemption, worth up to $8,000 to a buyer who qualifies, while the $900,000 and $1,000,000 rows get no exemption at all. The B.C. property transfer tax calculator shows the tax at each price, and the B.C. first-time buyer guide the conditions.

Typical prices from $775,000 to $1.1 million

British Columbia has the highest provincial benchmark, and Metro Vancouver’s typical home costs 16% above the TRREB area’s. A whole-market benchmark around $1 million in Vancouver or Toronto blends condos and houses; Metro Vancouver’s detached benchmark is at or above the insured cap and appears on the $2 million page, while Toronto’s detached benchmarks are in the next section.

Between $1 million and the cap

Above $1,000,000 the second band keeps adding 10 cents of down payment per dollar of price until the insured cap. At the cap itself the rule switches: 20% of the price for homes of $1.5 million or more. The minimum then jumps from about $125,000 just below the cap to $300,000 at it, an extra $175,000 in cash for a price difference of a dollar.

The income needed moves the other way. A home at $1,490,000 with the minimum down payment needs about $323,800 of income, while one at the cap with 20% down needs about $290,200, because the bigger down payment shrinks the loan and removes the premium. The $1.5 million row on the $2 million page has the full figures at the cap.

Some markets’ detached homes fall in this stretch, where insurance is still available with less than 20% down:

Related pages

• Income needed by home price: calculator and rules
• Income needed for $600,000 to $750,000 homes
• Income needed for $1.5 million and $2 million homes
• How much house a salary buys: $175,000, $200,000, $250,000
• CMHC insurance calculator