How Much Should You Put Down on a Home? 5%, 10% or 20% in Canada

<p>Put 5% down and invest the rest, or save to 20% and skip CMHC? For most first time buyers it&#39;s the biggest money decision they&#39;ve made so far, and the usual advice only prices half of it.In this episode I walk through one Ontario couple buying a $500,000 first home, modelled in my home funding calculator:CMHC costs about $50 a month once you net the premium against the cheaper insured rate. 20% down means finding $75,000 more before closing.Every dollar you put down earns your mortgage rate, 3.69% here, guaranteed and tax free.Every dollar you keep has to clear 5.91% after tax. Inside a TFSA or FHSA it just clears. In a taxable account it misses in all 13 provinces and territories.Across 4,000 simulated markets, the smaller down payment finished ahead 49% of the time.It only works if you actually invest the difference, and that&#39;s the part that breaks.10% down came out best for this couple, and it holds up better when life gets in the way.Then the two things the spreadsheet can&#39;t price: flexibility when the furnace dies, and how a bigger mortgage feels for 30 years. When the math is this close, sleeping well is a fair tiebreaker.Calculator and full guide through my community at but i also have free subsriber list there with lots of great calculators as well: calmmoneycoach.comOntario, 2026 figures. Example couple, not a real client. The result moves by province. Educational, not financial advice.Sources: Bank Act s.418, CMHC Mortgage Loan Insurance Cost, CMHC&#39;s Story, FP Canada and CPA Canada 2026 Projection Assumption Guidelines, Thaler and Benartzi (2004). </p>