Skip to content
Doorstone
Guides

Every rule, source and assumption

Nothing here is hidden. These are the rules the numbers come from, verified in August 2026.

  • Canada-wideMinimum down payment: 5% of the first $500k of price + 10% of the portion above (mortgage insurance is capped at a $1.5M price). The minimum must come from your own funds (savings, RRSP via the Home Buyers Plan, or a family gift): OSFI rules forbid counting lender cashback or incentives as down payment.
  • Canada-wideMortgage insurance premium on the loan: 4.0% below 10% down, 3.1% at 10-14.99%, 2.8% at 15-19.99%, plus a 0.20% surcharge when the amortization is over 25 years. The premium is added to the mortgage; only its 8% Ontario tax is cash at closing.
  • Ontario-specificOntario land transfer tax, charged in bands: 0.5% to $55k, 1% to $250k, 1.5% to $400k, 2% above; minus the $4,000 first-time-buyer refund (assuming the buyers qualify). Only Toronto adds a municipal land transfer tax on top.
  • Canada-wideStress test: the greater of your rate + 2% and 5.25%. A cashback rate premium therefore also raises the stress rate and tightens the tests.
  • Canada-wideGDS = stressed payment + property tax + heat + 50% of condo fees, over gross monthly income. TDS adds 3% of the credit-card balance (a lender rule; the promo rate is irrelevant) plus other monthly debt payments. Limits 39% / 44% on insured mortgages. The repairs fund is not in the tests.
  • Canada-wideFixed-rate payments use Canadian semi-annual compounding: monthly rate = (1 + annual/2)^(1/6) - 1, biweekly = (1 + annual/2)^(1/13) - 1.
  • Canada-widePayment frequency is a repayment choice, invisible to qualification: the tests always use the monthly-equivalent stressed payment. Regular biweekly (monthly × 12/26) keeps the same annual total and amortization; accelerated biweekly (half the monthly payment × 26 = 13 monthly payments a year) is about 8.3% of voluntary prepayment inside normal privileges.
  • GTA-specificProperty tax is an input because a flat 0.8%/yr guess fails verification: GTA rates are around 0.68% of assessed value, and assessments are frozen at 2016 levels, so real bills on a ~$650k condo townhouse are roughly 0.35-0.45% of the purchase price. Default: 0.50%.
  • GTA-specificPer-type running costs are researched 2026 figures for the Greater Toronto Area (Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Hamilton): utilities from local hydro, gas and regional water rates; insurance from local market averages; the repairs fund from dollars-per-square-foot and component-lifecycle budgeting, not the 1%-of-value rule (which overstates homes where land is most of the value). Hidden costs to watch: rental hot-water tanks (~$40/mo, negotiate a seller buy-out), HVAC rental contracts, and private-side water lines being the owner responsibility in some regions.
  • Canada-wideCash boosters: lender cashback can never count toward the minimum down payment; closing costs are the accepted use. Percentage cashbacks are advanced at funding through the lawyer (money you have on buying day); flat bank promos pay 6-8 weeks later; realtor refunds default to a post-closing cheque unless the brokerage commits in writing to credit them at closing. A realtor refund belongs in the agent agreement, never the purchase offer, and is tax-free on a home you live in.
  • GTA-specificProjections: equity scenarios are planning bands, not predictions, built from current per-segment momentum, 2026-29 forecasts (TD, CMHC, RBC, TRREB), the GTA condo-completions cliff, and 25-30 years of local appreciation history. Selling costs modelled at 5.5% all-in (5% commission + HST + legal). Condo fee growth per type at roughly inflation +1 to +2 points. The equity lines use your actual mortgage balance, so paying faster visibly lifts them.
  • Canada-wideEverything you enter is saved only in your own browser and never sent anywhere. "Reset everything" clears it.
  • Canada-wideCredit score moves the rate, not the rules. Above 680 the A lenders price within roughly 0.05 to 0.40 points of each other by score band; below 680 most buyers move to alternative lenders at roughly 1.4 to 2.2 points more, plus a lender fee. This tool applies +0.00 for 760 and up, +0.20 for 680-759 and +1.50 below 680 on top of a 4.04% baseline, each the middle of the ranges published by Canadian brokerages in 2026. Overwrite the rate with whatever you were quoted. Mortgage default insurance needs at least one borrower at 600 or better (CMHC floor since July 2021) and is unavailable above a $1.5M purchase price (December 2024 rules).

Keep reading