Alberta Mortgage Calculator
Most mortgage calculators online use the wrong math. Canadian mortgages compound semi-annually by law, not monthly like the U.S. formula most calculator scripts are built from, and that difference changes your payment. Ours doesn't skip that step, and it factors in CMHC insurance when your down payment is under 20%, so the number you see is closer to what a lender will actually quote you.
Below the calculator, we walk through why the compounding rule matters, how CMHC premiums are priced, and what the minimum down payment actually is in Alberta at different price points.
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This calculator gives an estimate for general information only — it is automated, not a formal quote, and it is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Confirm exact figures with a mortgage professional, lender, or CMHC directly before relying on them for a financing decision.
Why Canadian mortgage math is different
In Canada, the Interest Act requires that fixed-rate mortgages compound semi-annually, not in step with your payment frequency. Most mortgage calculators, including a lot of the free ones built off American templates, compound monthly instead. It sounds like a technical footnote, but it changes the payment. On our calculator, a $500,000 mortgage at 5.00% over 25 years with monthly payments comes out to $2,908.02. Run the same numbers through the naive monthly-compounding formula and you get $2,922.95 instead. That's not a rounding difference; it's the wrong formula giving a different, higher answer.
That $500,000-at-5% example is just an illustration of how the math works, not a claim about today's rates. Plug in your own numbers above and the calculator does the semi-annual conversion for you, so you're not stuck reconciling two different quotes that should be reporting the same loan.
CMHC premiums explained
If your down payment is under 20% of the purchase price, your mortgage needs to be insured, and that insurance comes with a one-time premium. CMHC calculates it as a percentage of your loan amount (not the purchase price), and the percentage depends on how much you're putting down: 4.00% for down payments between 5% and 9.99%, 3.10% for 10% to 14.99%, and 2.80% for 15% to 19.99%. Put down 20% or more and no insurance is required at all.
That premium isn't a fee you write a separate cheque for. Standard CMHC practice is to add it onto your mortgage principal so it's financed alongside the rest of the loan, rather than paid in cash at closing. There's also an upper limit on eligibility: homes priced at $1,500,000 or above don't qualify for CMHC-insured financing at all, regardless of down payment size. Our calculator applies these bands automatically once you enter a purchase price and down payment.
Minimum down payment rules
The federal minimum down payment scales with price rather than sitting at one flat percentage. For a purchase price of $500,000 or less, the minimum is 5% of the price. Above $500,000, it's 5% on the first $500,000 plus 10% on the amount above that, up to the $1,500,000 insurable limit.
Once you're at or above $1,500,000, there's no CMHC-insured option left, so the 20% figure you'll often hear at that price point isn't a CMHC minimum. It's the conventional, uninsured lending floor that most lenders default to once insurance is off the table. Worth knowing the distinction: one is a regulated minimum, the other is standard lending practice above the insurable cap.
Questions people ask
What buyers want to know
How to calculate CMHC insurance?
Multiply your loan amount (the purchase price minus your down payment) by the premium percentage for your down payment band: 4.00% for 5–9.99% down, 3.10% for 10–14.99% down, and 2.80% for 15–19.99% down. Put 20% or more down and there's no premium to calculate, because insurance isn't required. Our calculator above runs this automatically once you enter a price and down payment.
How much is CMHC insurance in Canada?
For an insured purchase (under 20% down, price below $1,500,000), the premium runs between 2.80% and 4.00% of your loan amount depending on how much you put down. Smaller down payments sit at the higher end of that range; a down payment closer to 20% sits at the lower end. It's a one-time cost, typically added to the mortgage rather than paid separately.
What are the rules for CMHC insurance?
Two conditions have to be met: your down payment is under 20% of the purchase price, and the purchase price is below $1,500,000. Within that, the minimum down payment itself is 5% of the price on the first $500,000 and 10% on any amount above that. Meet both conditions and CMHC insurance applies automatically as part of qualifying for the mortgage; there's no separate application.
Is CMHC insurance a one-time fee?
Yes. It's charged once, at the time your mortgage is set up, rather than as an ongoing cost. Standard practice is to add the premium onto your mortgage principal so you finance it along with the rest of the loan, instead of paying it out of pocket at closing, though your lender can confirm the exact handling for your file.
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