$501,679
Canada · Affordability
How much house before owner cost is 28% of gross income?
OwnerCost’s own 28% planning ceiling, applied to this market’s ownership costs. Below: how lenders here actually assess affordability, and what this estimate leaves out.
Example with the default inputs. Change any field to recalculate.
About $501,679
At this price, monthly owner cost is 28% of gross income in Canada.
$100,336
$2,683
How lenders in Canada assess affordability
For CMHC-insured mortgages, CMHC's maximums are a gross debt service (GDS) ratio of 39% and a total debt service (TDS) ratio of 44% of gross household income. GDS counts principal, interest, property taxes, heating and half of any condo fees; TDS adds your other debt payments. These are CMHC's insurance criteria, not a rule for every Canadian mortgage.
Source: CMHC — Requirements for mortgage loan insurance (GDS / TDS)
Federally regulated lenders qualify you at the higher of your contract rate plus 2 percentage points or 5.25%, for both insured and uninsured mortgages.
Source: OSFI — Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages (confirmed 29 Jan 2026); Finance Canada — Minimum qualifying rate for insured mortgages (in effect since June 2021)
OwnerCost's 28% of gross income, at your contract rate, is its own planning ceiling. It is not the GDS or TDS test and does not use the qualifying rate.
Checked against these sources on 24 September 2026.
What this estimate includes
- Principal and interest at the rate you enter (compounded semi-annually)
- Property tax (0.6% of the price a year)
- Home insurance
- Condo fees
- A CMHC premium added to the loan when the down payment is under 20%, and a price that stops where an insured mortgage is still possible
What it does not include
- Your other debts — lenders count them; this estimate does not
- Lender stress or serviceability tests — the estimate uses the rate you enter, not a stressed rate
- Lender approval rules, credit history and deposit requirements
- Purchase taxes and fees (see the Stamp page)
How we calculate
Highest price at which principal and interest (including any CMHC premium added to the loan), property tax, insurance and condo fees equal 28% of gross monthly income (OwnerCost's planning ceiling) at the contract rate. With less than 20% down the price also stops where an insured mortgage is still possible: the minimum down payment (5% of the first $500,000, 10% of the rest), a price below $1.5M and the amortization limit. Insured mortgages allow at most a 25-year amortization, or 30 years if at least one borrower is a first-time homebuyer or the home is newly built and never occupied (the premium then rises by 0.20%). OwnerCost converts the rate you enter with semi-annual compounding, the usual Canadian convention (the Interest Act requires the rate to be stated yearly or half-yearly): monthly rate = (1 + r/2)^(2/12) − 1. Payment = P·i / (1 − (1 + i)^−n).
Official sources
- CMHC — premium information
- FCAC — minimum down payment
- CMHC Purchase — maximum amortization 25 years
- CMHC Home Start — 30-year amortization for first-time buyers and new builds
Rules checked against these sources on 24–25 September 2026.