$500,000 Mortgage in Canada: Payments, Down Payment Rules and $400,000 or $600,000 Loans (2026)

The monthly payment on a $500,000 mortgage is $2,765 at 4.49% with a 25-year amortization, before any insurance premium. This is the size where the down payment rules start to bite: a home bought with a $500,000 mortgage always costs more than $500,000, so part of its price falls in the band that needs a 10% down payment. The sections below work through that, then $400,000, which stays under the line with a minimum down payment, and $600,000.

Payments on $500,000 by rate

For what lenders are offering now, fixed or variable, see the rates page.

25 or 30 years

Spreading $500,000 over 30 years lowers the payment by $246 a month and adds $77,165 of interest at 4.49%: $406,541 in total against $329,376 over 25 years. Insured mortgages are limited to 25 years, except that first-time buyers and buyers of new builds can take 30 years since December 15, 2024 (Finance Canada), and CMHC’s premium for them is 0.20 points higher. With 20% or more down, the lender sets the maximum.

Prepaying works on either schedule. On the 25-year loan, $10,000 extra each anniversary saves $120,590 and a $250 monthly increase saves $52,025.

The minimum down payment on a $500,000 mortgage

For a home under $1.5 million, the minimum down payment is:

• 5% of the first $500,000 of the price.
• 10% of the part of the price above $500,000, for homes under $1.5 million.

Borrowing exactly $500,000 with that minimum means a home of about $527,778 and a $27,778 down payment. A flat 5% isn’t enough: on any price over $500,000 it comes in below what the two bands add up to. The loan needs default insurance; at CMHC’s rate for that loan-to-value it is 4.00% of the loan, $20,000.

The 30-year insured payments include the higher premium and apply only to first-time buyers and new builds.

What a lender tests on $500,000

With 20% down on a $625,000 home, the lender checks the payment at 6.49%: $3,346 a month rather than the $2,765 actually owed. Add the property tax and heating assumed in this site’s figures and the housing cost tested is $4,017 a month, which takes an income of about $123,600. At 10% down the loan carries a premium but is tested at 6.05%, and the income needed is about $120,800. The method is on the income-to-afford page.

Home prices a $500,000 mortgage lines up with

Seven markets in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia, with the mortgage a home at each local price would take. The figure in brackets compares that mortgage with $500,000; the minimum-down mortgage is before the insurance premium.

Halifax’s figure is the Nova Scotia board’s average for Halifax-Dartmouth, and Montreal’s is a median for single-family homes: neither is a benchmark, so each moves with the homes that happened to sell. The city pages break prices down by home type.

A $400,000 mortgage

$400,000 at 4.49% costs $2,212 a month over 25 years or $2,015 over 30, with total interest of $263,501 and $325,233 if the rate held. A 0.25-point lower rate would save $16,567 over 25 years, and $10,000 extra each anniversary $109,921.

Insured or not: the down payment decides

The same $400,000 loan can come from two quite different purchases:

• 20% down: a home of $500,000, no mortgage insurance.
• Minimum down payment: a home of about $421,053 with $21,053 down. That price is under $500,000, so 5% is enough, unlike the $500,000 loan above. Mortgage insurance is then required; CMHC charges 4.00% of the loan ($16,000), added to the mortgage.

Qualifying for $400,000 with 20% down takes about $99,800 a year.

A $600,000 mortgage

At 4.49%, $600,000 is $3,318 a month over 25 years, or $3,022 over 30. Over the full amortization the interest adds up to $395,251 (25 years) or $487,849 (30 years). With 20% down it’s a $750,000 home and an income of about $147,400; with the minimum down payment the home is about $638,889.

How much the rate matters at $600,000

On a loan this size a fraction of a point changes the total a lot. Compared with 4.49% over 25 years, a rate 0.25 points lower saves $24,851 and a rate half a point lower saves $49,390. Prepayment adds up too: $15,000 a year saves $164,882 and ends the mortgage 9.8 years early. The renewal calculator compares two offers for your own balance.

Related pages

• Payments on every amount from $100,000 to $1,000,000
• $300,000 mortgage payment, with $100,000 and $200,000
• $700,000 mortgage payment, with $800,000 to $1,000,000
• Mortgage down payment calculator
• 30-year amortization rules