How much cash do you need to buy a house in Canada?
On a $600,000 home you need $56,258 in cash on closing day in Toronto — not the $35,000 minimum down payment. The other $21,258, 38% of the total, is land transfer tax, the sales tax on your mortgage insurance, registration and legal fees. The same purchase needs $38,765 in Calgary (Alberta).
Every guide to this question answers it in percentages — “budget 1.5% to 4% for closing costs.” That is not an answer you can put in a savings account. Below is the actual dollar figure, computed from the statutes, for the same $600,000 home in eight parts of Canada.
The cash you need on a $600,000 home
Repeat buyer, minimum down payment, mortgage insurance where required, and $2,500 of legal fees folded into the last cost column. Sorted by the total, most expensive first.
| Where you buy | Down payment | Transfer tax | Tax on premium | Registration + legal | Cash needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $35,000 | $16,950 | $1,808 | $2,500 | $56,258 |
| Ontario, elsewhere | $35,000 | $8,475 | $1,808 | $2,500 | $47,783 |
| Vancouver | $35,000 | $10,000 | none | $2,500 | $47,500 |
| Winnipeg (Manitoba) | $35,000 | $9,650 | none | $2,774 | $47,424 |
| Montréal | $35,000 | $7,349 | $2,034 | $2,500 | $46,883 |
| New Brunswick | $35,000 | $6,000 | none | $2,585 | $43,585 |
| Saskatchewan | $35,000 | none | $1,356 | $5,425 | $41,781 |
| Calgary (Alberta) | $35,000 | none | none | $3,765 | $38,765 |
The same house, $17,493 apart. Toronto needs $56,258 and Calgary (Alberta) needs $38,765 — for an identical purchase price and an identical mortgage. The down payment is the same everywhere. What differs is entirely tax.
Why the down payment is not the answer
The minimum down payment on a $600,000 home is $35,000. Anyone who saves exactly that arrives at their lawyer’s office $21,258 short in Toronto. Four things sit between the two numbers, and only one of them can be financed.
- The minimum down payment is tiered, not a flat 5%. It is 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the portion between $500,000 and $1,500,000. On $600,000 that is $35,000, not the $30,000 a flat 5% implies. Above $1,500,000 no mortgage can be insured at all, so 20% becomes the floor.
- The mortgage insurance premium is added to your loan. The sales tax on it is not. Ontario charges 8% on the premium, Quebec 9%, Saskatchewan 6% — and that tax is due in cash on closing day. On this purchase in Toronto it is $1,808. It is the line almost no calculator in Canada shows, and it is pure cash out of pocket.
- Land transfer tax is charged on the full price, not the equity you hold. You are taxed on $600,000 even though you are contributing $35,000. In Toronto you pay it twice — once to Ontario and once to the City — which is why the Toronto row is the highest in the table.
- Registration and legal fees are small but not zero. We use $2,500 for legal, which is the one figure on this page that does not come from a statute. It is a mid-range estimate for a straightforward residential purchase including disbursements and title insurance. Get a real quote; we would rather name the assumption than bury it.
How it scales with the purchase price
Not linearly. The down payment tier steps at $500,000, and mortgage insurance ends above $1,500,000. These are Toronto figures for a repeat buyer.
| Purchase price | Minimum down | Everything else | Total cash needed | Not the down payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $400,000 | $20,000 | $12,666 | $32,666 | 39% |
| $500,000 | $25,000 | $16,970 | $41,970 | 40% |
| $600,000 example | $35,000 | $21,258 | $56,258 | 38% |
| $750,000 | $50,000 | $27,690 | $77,690 | 36% |
| $1,000,000 | $75,000 | $38,410 | $113,410 | 34% |
| $1,500,000 | $125,000 | $59,850 | $184,850 | 32% |
If you are a first-time buyer
Rebates cut the transfer tax, sometimes to nothing. They are claimed at closing, so they reduce the cash you have to bring rather than arriving later as a cheque.
| Where you buy | Repeat buyer | First-time buyer | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $56,258 | $47,783 | $8,475 |
| Ontario, elsewhere | $47,783 | $43,783 | $4,000 |
| Vancouver | $47,500 | $39,500 | $8,000 |
| Winnipeg (Manitoba) | $47,424 | $47,424 | no rebate |
| Montréal | $46,883 | $46,883 | no rebate |
| New Brunswick | $43,585 | $43,585 | no rebate |
| Saskatchewan | $41,781 | $41,781 | no rebate |
| Calgary (Alberta) | $38,765 | $38,765 | no rebate |
The rebates are capped in dollars rather than as a percentage, so they are worth proportionally less as the price rises. They are also pro-rated to your share of title — buying with someone who does not qualify reduces the rebate to your share of it.
Working the other way round?
If you know what you have saved rather than what you want to buy, the same engine runs backwards and tells you the most expensive home you could actually close on.
What can I actually close on? →The route that skips the down payment entirely
Everything above assumes you are originating a new mortgage, which is why the down payment sets the ceiling. Taking over a mortgage that already exists works differently: the loan is already funded, so there is no down payment to find — you cover the seller’s equity and the transaction costs instead. Land transfer tax is still payable, but there is no mortgage insurance premium and no sales tax on one, because no new insured mortgage is being written.
It is a narrow route and it depends on the seller’s lender approving you on income and credit. But for a buyer whose constraint is cash rather than income, it is the only route where the constraint changes shape. See whether you would qualify →
Common questions
How much cash do you need to buy a house in Canada?
On a $600,000 home you need $56,258 in cash on closing day in Toronto, and $38,765 in Calgary (Alberta). The minimum down payment is only $35,000 of that. The rest is land transfer tax, the sales tax on your mortgage insurance premium, land registration and legal fees — 38% of your cash is not the down payment.
Is the down payment all the cash I need?
No, and this is the single most common miscalculation. On a $600,000 purchase in Toronto the down payment is $35,000 but the cash required is $56,258. The gap is $21,258. Closing costs are due by certified cheque on the closing date and cannot be added to the mortgage.
What is the minimum down payment on a $600,000 house in Canada?
$35,000. The minimum is tiered, not flat: 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the portion above it. A flat 5% would suggest $30,000, which is $5,000 short. Above $1,500,000 no mortgage is insurable, so 20% down becomes mandatory.
Can I add closing costs to my mortgage?
Generally no. The CMHC premium itself is added to the loan, but the provincial sales tax on that premium — 8% in Ontario, 9% in Quebec, 6% in Saskatchewan — must be paid in cash. Land transfer tax, registration and legal fees are also cash. That is why the total is higher than the down payment figure lenders quote.
Why does the same house cost more cash to buy in Toronto than in Calgary?
Land transfer tax. On a $600,000 home a Toronto buyer pays both the Ontario tax and the Toronto municipal tax, while Alberta charges no transfer tax at all — only a small registration fee. The cash needed differs by $17,493 for the identical property.
Land transfer tax rates verified against provincial statutes and municipal bylaws; mortgage insurance premiums from CMHC’s published schedule; the tiered minimum down payment from the federal rules in force in 2026. Every figure on this page is computed by the same engine that runs our calculators, so the page and the tools cannot disagree. The underlying data is public domain on GitHub if you want to check it. Information, not advice.