Income Needed to Afford a $750,000 Home in Canada

Between $600,000 and $750,000 the minimum down payment is blended: the first $500,000 of the price is charged 5% and everything above it 10%. So the cash needed rises faster than the price: across these three rows the price grows by a quarter while the minimum down payment grows by 43%.

Three prices in the second band

“Payment lenders test” is the payment at the stress test rate of 6.05%, and it is the one that sets the income. The hub page explains the method. At $750,000 alone, three down payments compare like this:

Building the $750,000 minimum

The second band of the federal rule is the one doing the work here: 10% of the part of the price above $500,000, for homes under $1.5 million. For a $750,000 home the two parts are:

• first band: 5% of $500,000 = $25,000
• second band: 10% of the $250,000 above that = $25,000
• minimum down payment: $50,000, or 6.7% of the price

Even with the blended rule, the minimum stays below 10% of the price, so the loan is still above 90% of value and all three rows pay CMHC’s top premium rate of 4.00%. A buyer who puts down 10% instead moves into the next band down, 3.10%, which on this price cuts the premium from $28,000 to $20,925.

What a car loan does at $700,000

Lenders also cap all debt payments, housing included, at 44% of gross income, and the income needed is set by whichever of the two limits is harder to meet (GDS and TDS explained). With $1,000 a month of other payments, such as a car loan and a line of credit, a $700,000 home with the minimum down payment needs about $166,700 of household income, against $157,300 with no other debts. The calculator above takes your own monthly debt payments.

25 or 30 years at $750,000

Since December 15, 2024, first-time buyers and buyers of new builds can take an insured mortgage over 30 years instead of 25. At this price the longer term brings the income needed down to about $158,000 and the payment at the contract rate to $3,489 a month, from $3,849. The premium rises to 4.20%, and the extra five years of payments add up: if the contract rate stayed the same for the whole amortization, total interest would be about $427,000 over 25 years and $527,000 over 30. Real rates reset at each renewal, so treat that as an illustration of scale, not a forecast.

Where typical prices fall between $550,000 and $775,000

Ontario’s provincial benchmark is the second-highest of the ten provinces. In Metro Vancouver this money buys a condo: the apartment benchmark there is $682,500 (September 2026), 20% above Calgary’s typical home of every type.

From $750,000 toward $1 million

The second band keeps running until the insured price cap of $1,500,000, so each further $50,000 of price adds $5,000 to the minimum. The next rows, $800,000 and $900,000, are on the $1,000,000 page, which also covers where B.C.’s first-time transfer-tax exemption runs out. In British Columbia that exemption, worth up to $8,000, still applies in full to every price on this page, since it reaches homes worth $835,000.

Related pages

• Income needed by home price: calculator and rules
• Income needed for $400,000 to $500,000 homes
• Income needed for $800,000, $900,000 and $1,000,000 homes
• How much house a salary buys: $150,000, $175,000
• Closing costs by province