How Much Income to Buy a Home in Ottawa in 2026

How Much Income to Buy a Home in Ottawa in 2026

Short answer: For Ottawa's average home at $678,400, a buyer with 20% down and a 4.58% mortgage rate needs roughly $113,600 in gross household income to pass the mortgage-payment part of the lender test alone - and roughly $132,100 to $138,200 once a typical property tax and heat load is added. Ottawa's median household income in our data is $99,500. One median paycheque falls about $14,100 short before tax and heat, the second-narrowest shortfall in this series after Calgary's $6,700, and well ahead of Montreal at about $16,900, Halifax at about $22,000, Toronto at about $56,800, and Vancouver at about $98,200. Two median paycheques clear the average home at every down payment level, and a $539,800 townhouse at 20% down needs only about $90,400 - roughly $9,100 below one median income. Ottawa is still expensive. It is the only city in this series where the middle price band, the townhouse, is reachable on a single median income, and where the market itself is balanced enough to let a buyer shop without bidding against a crowd.

Everything below uses BubbleWatch's own market data for Ottawa, the federal down payment rules, OSFI's stress test, and CMHC's published debt-service limits. Every number is shown with its inputs so you can rerun the math on a different price.

The Ottawa inputs

These are the figures this site tracks for Ottawa, refreshed weekly from our market data file (see the Ottawa city page for the live version):

Input	Ottawa value
Average home price	$678,400
Median household income	$99,500
Price-to-income multiple	6.8x
Average rent	$2,280 per month
Rental vacancy rate	2.0%
Year-over-year price change	-1.2%
Mortgage rate used in our city math	4.58%

Three of those numbers deserve emphasis. First, the 6.8x multiple is the second-lowest in this series, behind only Calgary's 6.3x, and it is low because of the income side, not the price side. Ottawa's $99,500 median household income is the third-highest of any city we have covered, behind Calgary's $108,000 and Toronto's $104,000, and ahead of Vancouver's $93,500, Montreal's $82,000, and Halifax's $78,000. Ottawa's average price is only about $6,600 below Calgary's, yet its income gap is more than twice as wide, because the paycheques are smaller. Second, Ottawa is one of three cities in the series where prices are falling year over year, down 1.2%, against Toronto at -8.2% and Vancouver at -3.8%. A year ago, the same $99,500 income against an implied average price near $686,600 was about a 6.9x multiple, holding income flat, so the multiple has eased by about a tenth of a point. The gap is narrowing, and it is narrowing from the price side, which is the direction a buyer wants. Third, rent is the second-least-stretched in the series. At $2,280 a month, average rent takes about 27.5% of gross income for a household earning the $99,500 median, behind only Calgary at 24.2%, and ahead of Montreal at 28.1%, Toronto at 33.0%, and Vancouver at 38.2%, which our September 2026 affordability meter also found across most of the country's expensive markets. A 2.0% vacancy rate still leaves little room to shop around, but Ottawa renters are squeezed less than renters in any other big Ontario city we track.

The market underneath those averages is balanced, not hot and not collapsing. The Ottawa Real Estate Board counted 1,048 sales in October 2026, down 10.7% from a year earlier but up 3.8% from September, while new listings fell 18.6% from September to 2,382 and active listings stood at 4,582. The average sale price was $678,512 in October, down 4.5% from a year earlier, and the composite benchmark price was $616,900, down 1.3% year over year and 1.1% from September. Months of inventory eased to 4.4 from 4.8, and the sales-to-new-listings ratio rose to 44.0% from 34.5% in September. Homes sold for an average of 97.5% of their listing price, and the median time on market was 25.5 days. That is a market where a buyer can compare listings and negotiate, not one where a buyer has to decide in an afternoon. Our Ottawa forecast puts the balance in context, and our Ottawa versus Montreal comparison shows how the two capitals of the series differ.

One measurement note before the math. The $678,400 figure is an average price, pulled up by single-family sales; the $616,900 benchmark is the price of a typical home. The series uses the average price so the six cities stay comparable, but the benchmark tells you the typical Ottawa home costs about $61,500 less than the average. The worked example later in this guide uses a $600,000 purchase, which sits close to that benchmark band. If you are shopping apartments, your number is lower still.

Gate one: the down payment

The minimum down payment is federal law, not a lender preference. Per the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, if the purchase price is $500,000 or less, the minimum is 5%. Above $500,000, it is 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the portion above $500,000. Source: Canada.ca - Down payment rules.

Applied to the average Ottawa home:

• Price: $678,400
• 5% of the first $500,000: $25,000
• 10% of the remaining $178,400: $17,840
• Minimum down payment: $42,840 (about 6.31% of the price)

Because $42,840 is less than 20% of the price, the mortgage must be insured. The CMHC premium for a down payment between 5% and 9.99% is 4.00% of the mortgage amount (the full tier table is in our CMHC premium guide). That premium, $25,422 on this scenario, is normally added to the mortgage balance rather than paid in cash - which means a minimum-down buyer in Ottawa is actually financing $660,982, not $635,560.

The Ontario cost: one land transfer tax, plus tax on the premium

The down payment is only the first cash hurdle, and Ottawa's second hurdle is heavier than Calgary's and lighter than Toronto's, for a reason that is easy to miss. Ottawa buyers pay Ontario's land transfer tax, but only once: Toronto is the only Ontario municipality with its own second tax. Our Ontario closing costs guide works the brackets in full: 0.5% on the first $55,000, 1% to $250,000, 1.5% to $400,000, 2% to $2 million, and 2.5% above $2 million.

On the average $678,400 Ottawa purchase, that works out to $275 plus $1,950 plus $2,250 plus $5,568, for $10,043 in provincial land transfer tax. Compare that with Toronto, where the provincial tax plus the municipal tax come to roughly $31,700 combined on the average home. Ottawa's single tax line is about $21,700 lighter, which is cash a buyer keeps in the bank at closing instead of handing to a government. First-time buyers get up to $4,000 back provincially, which cuts the Ottawa bill to $6,043 for an eligible buyer. Our land transfer tax explainer has the eligibility rules, and our Ontario closing costs guide works the full stack, including legal fees and title insurance.

Ontario also charges 8% retail sales tax on the mortgage insurance premium itself, and that tax cannot be added to the loan. CMHC names only Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan as provinces that tax the premium. On the minimum-down scenario above, the 8% tax on the $25,422 premium is $2,034 in cash at closing. At 10% down, the premium is $18,927 and the tax is $1,514. At 20% down there is no premium and no premium tax. A buyer who qualifies on paper also has to find this cash, plus the $10,043 transfer tax, plus legal fees, on closing day. In Alberta the equivalent premium-tax line is zero, which is one reason Calgary's closing stack is lighter, but Ottawa's $10,043 transfer tax is still far below Toronto's roughly $31,700. The closing-cost problem in Ottawa is real, and it is about a third of Toronto's.

Gate two: the stress test

OSFI Guideline B-20 requires federally regulated lenders to qualify borrowers at the minimum qualifying rate (MQR): the greater of the contract rate plus 2 percentage points, or the 5.25% benchmark rate. Source: OSFI - Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages.

At the 4.58% contract rate used throughout our city data, the qualifying rate is 6.58% (the benchmark floor of 5.25% does not bind). You pay at 4.58%, but the lender pretends you are paying 6.58% when it decides how much you can borrow. Our stress test guide explains the full framework, including why a straight renewal switch is exempt but a new purchase is not. The Bank of Canada's October 28 decision to raise its policy rate to 2.5%, its first increase in three years, is part of the backdrop here; our hike piece covers what that decision does to mortgage payments. The hike matters for Ottawa buyers in a specific way: the city depends heavily on federal public-service employment, and the Ottawa Real Estate Board's own October release flagged roughly 15,000 fewer people employed locally since March 2025, with federal public-service reductions as an important contributor. A rate hike plus employment uncertainty is the combination that keeps Ottawa buyers cautious, and it is one reason sales are down 10.7% year over year even as listings ease.

The practical effect is large. On a $542,720 mortgage (the average Ottawa home with 20% down), the payment at 4.58% is $3,041 a month. At the 6.58% qualifying rate, the same mortgage is tested at $3,692 a month - a $651 monthly difference that exists only on the lender's worksheet but fully determines your approval.

Gate three: the 39% and 44% ratio caps

Passing the rate test is not enough. CMHC's underwriting standards cap the gross debt service (GDS) ratio at 39% and the total debt service (TDS) ratio at 44% of gross income. GDS counts the mortgage payment (at the qualifying rate), property tax, heating costs, and 50% of condo fees if applicable. TDS adds every other recurring debt payment - car loans, credit cards, student loans. Source: CMHC - Calculating GDS and TDS.

This is why two households with the same income can qualify for very different homes. A $450 monthly car payment does not change your GDS, but it eats directly into the 44% TDS budget, and on an Ottawa-sized mortgage it can easily be the constraint that binds. Our GDS and TDS worksheet guide reproduces the lender's math line by line. One Ottawa-specific note: half of condo fees count in GDS, and the apartment band at a $377,500 benchmark is where the median household can buy most easily, so a buyer shopping that band needs the fee figure before the lender's math means anything. A $400 monthly condo fee adds $200 to the GDS test payment, which is the same as adding about $30,000 to the mortgage for qualification purposes.

The three Ottawa scenarios

Here is the full picture for the average $678,400 Ottawa home at a 4.58% contract rate, 25-year amortization, tested at the 6.58% qualifying rate. The income column uses only the mortgage payment against the 39% GDS cap - no tax, no heat, no other debts - so treat it as the floor, not the final answer.

Down payment	Mortgage financed	Payment at 4.58%	Test payment at 6.58%	Income needed (mortgage only, 39% GDS)
Minimum: $42,840 (6.31%)	$660,982 (incl. $25,422 CMHC premium)	$3,704	$4,496	About $138,300
10%: $67,840	$629,487 (incl. $18,927 CMHC premium)	$3,528	$4,282	About $131,800
20%: $135,680	$542,720 (no insurance needed)	$3,041	$3,692	About $113,600

Three things stand out. First, putting less down barely helps affordability on paper: the smaller down payment is swallowed by a bigger mortgage and an insurance premium, so the income needed actually rises as the down payment falls. Second, even the friendliest scenario needs about $113,600 - roughly $14,100 above Ottawa's $99,500 median income - before a single dollar of property tax is counted. That is the second-narrowest gap in this series, and it is narrow because incomes are high, not because prices are low: Ottawa's $99,500 median income is the third-highest in the series, and its $678,400 average price is the fourth-highest. Third, the payment at the contract rate is what you will actually pay, and at 20% down it is $3,041 a month, about 36.7% of gross monthly income for a median-earning household. Lenders cap you at the test payment for a reason: they are underwriting the renewal, not just the first term.

You can rerun every one of these scenarios with your own numbers in the affordability calculator, the stress test calculator, and the mortgage payment calculator.

The tax and heat problem

The table above is generous, because GDS does not stop at the mortgage. Property tax and heat are added to the test payment before the 39% cap is applied, and on a $678,400 Ottawa assessment the tax line alone is a real number. Ottawa also heats longer than Toronto or Montreal, so the heat line is not a rounding error either.

Using two hypothetical examples (these are illustrative loads, not measured Ottawa averages) on the 20%-down scenario, where the test payment is $3,692:

• Test payment + $600/month tax and heat: income needed rises to about $132,100
• Test payment + $800/month tax and heat: income needed rises to about $138,200

And that is still GDS only. Any car loan, credit card balance carried month to month, or student debt then has to fit inside the remaining room up to the 44% TDS cap. This is the mechanical reason so many Ottawa buyers who "can afford the payment" at 4.58% get approved for less than the average-priced home: the approval is not based on the payment they will make, and it is not based on the mortgage alone.

There is also an Ottawa wrinkle worth knowing: the $10,043 in land transfer tax from the section above is cash at closing, not part of the mortgage, so it does not enter the GDS math at all - but it decides whether a buyer who qualifies on paper can actually close. At $10,043 it is large enough to matter and small enough that a first-time buyer rebate, up to $4,000, cuts it by nearly 40%. In Toronto the equivalent line is roughly $31,700, and that line has killed deals that the stress test approved. Run the closing-cost math in our Ontario closing costs guide alongside the income math here.

Three markets in one city

Ottawa is not one market at the $678,400 average, and the income math changes completely depending on which property type you shop. The Ottawa Real Estate Board's October 2026 figures put the single-family benchmark at $699,200, down 0.8% year over year, the townhouse benchmark at $539,800, down 4.3%, and the apartment benchmark at $377,500, down 5.3%. That $321,700 spread between a single-family benchmark and an apartment benchmark is the single most important fact in this article after the income math, because the below-average band a median household can actually reach is mostly townhouses and apartments, and apartments are where Ottawa's prices are falling fastest. The inventory split tells the same story in a different form: single-family homes sat at 4.0 months of inventory, townhouses at 3.6 months, and apartments at 7.4 months, the clearest pressure point in the city all year. Apartment sales fell 23.3% year over year, against 12.5% for single-family homes and 3.0% for townhouses.

For the median household, that split is the whole story. The average home needs about $113,600 at 20% down. A single-family home at the $699,200 benchmark would need roughly $117,100 at 20% down by the same math. A townhouse at the $539,800 benchmark would need roughly $90,400, about $9,100 below one median income. An apartment at the $377,500 benchmark would need roughly $63,200. The median household cannot buy the average home on one income, cannot buy a single-family home on one income, can buy a townhouse on one income with room to spare, and can buy an apartment on one income with a wide margin - before condo fees, which count at 50% in GDS and vary widely by building. The $600,000 worked example below sits between those poles, in the townhouse and smaller single-family band where a median household actually shops. Our Ottawa forecast treats property type as the key watch item for 2026.

Worked example: a $600,000 Ottawa home

The average price is a blend of everything from downtown condos to suburban single-family houses, so here is the same lender math on a $600,000 purchase - the kind of below-average target a household would actually shop for in the townhouse band, close to the city's $616,900 benchmark. Because $600,000 is above the $500,000 threshold, the federal minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the remaining $100,000. The land transfer tax on this purchase is $8,475, or $4,475 after the $4,000 first-time buyer rebate, and the 8% tax on the insurance premium at minimum down is $1,808 in cash.

Scenario on $600,000	Mortgage financed	Payment at 4.58%	Test payment at 6.58%	Income needed (mortgage only, 39% GDS)
Minimum down: $35,000 (5.83%)	$587,600 (incl. 4.00% CMHC premium)	$3,293	$3,997	About $123,000
20% down: $120,000	$480,000 (no insurance needed)	$2,690	$3,265	About $100,500

The second row is the most important number in this article. With 20% down on a $600,000 home, the mortgage-only income requirement is about $100,500 - roughly $1,000 above Ottawa's $99,500 median household income. Property tax and heat still have to fit on top, so the median household is not home free even in the below-average band, and any significant car payment will bind through the 44% TDS cap instead. But the path is visible: the average home needs about $113,600, while a home priced $78,400 below the average, bought with a full 20% down payment, needs about $100,500. Every $50,000 shaved off the price cuts the required mortgage-only income by roughly $8,400 at these rates. That spread - between the average listing and the median paycheque - is exactly where Ottawa's market tension lives in 2026, and it is why the townhouse band sees competition that the city-wide average price never hints at.

What about renting instead?

For a median-income Ottawa household, renting the average unit costs $2,280 a month, about 27.5% of gross income. Buying the average home at 20% down costs $3,041 a month in mortgage payment alone, before property tax, heat, insurance, and maintenance - and requires getting approved at a $3,692 test payment in the first place.

So on pure cash flow, renting is roughly $761 a month cheaper than the mortgage payment and further cheaper once the rest of the ownership stack is included. What renting does not give you is principal repayment: at 20% down, about $65,300 of the first five years of payments would have gone to principal on that Ottawa mortgage (at 4.58% over 25 years), building equity even if prices went nowhere. The framing we use site-wide is this: renting in Ottawa is cheaper per month by a clear margin, buying is a forced-savings plan you need roughly $113,600 to $138,200 of income to access at the average price. Our rent-versus-buy guide for Ottawa works the full comparison for the city, and the rent-versus-buy calculator lets you test that trade-off with your own rent and time horizon. Ottawa renters pay the second-smallest share of a median income in the series, which is one reason the city's rental market stays tight even at a 2.0% vacancy rate.

The 30-year question

Longer amortizations are available to some buyers (including first-time buyers under current federal rules), and they do lower the test payment. On the average Ottawa home at 20% down, stretching from 25 to 30 years drops the test payment from $3,692 to $3,459 a month, and the mortgage-only income requirement from about $113,600 to about $106,400. That is a real reduction, roughly $7,200 of required income - and it still lands about $6,900 above Ottawa's $99,500 median income.

It is not free. The contract-rate payment falls from $3,041 to $2,776 a month, but the total interest over the life of the loan rises from about $369,700 to about $456,500 - roughly $86,900 more interest for the same house, and principal repayment slows, which matters in a market where our data shows prices down 1.2% year over year and sales volumes down 10.7%. Our 30-year amortization guide works the full trade-off. The 30-year option narrows the gap by more than half. It does not close it - and unlike Calgary, where the same lever closes the mortgage-only gap outright, Ottawa needs a second lever on top of the longer amortization before the median household qualifies, and the tax-and-heat load reopens the gap just as fast.

How Ottawa buyers actually close the gap

Given that one median income does not quite qualify for the average home, Ottawa purchases happen because at least one variable moves:

1. Two incomes, and in Ottawa that is more than enough. Two earners at the $99,500 median produce $199,000 of household income, which clears the mortgage-only requirement at 20% down by about $85,400, and still clears it by about $60,800 once a hypothetical $800 a month of tax and heat is counted. At minimum down, the requirement with tax and heat rises to about $163,000, and two median incomes still clear it by about $36,000. This is the sharpest contrast with Vancouver in this series, where two median incomes fall short even before tax and heat, and with Toronto, where two medians clear the average home at 20% down but fall short at minimum down once tax and heat are counted. In Ottawa, dual-income qualification works at every down payment level in the scenarios above, with the second-widest margin in the series after Calgary.
2. A below-average target. The $678,400 figure is an average across all home types. Apartments pull it down; single-family houses pull it up. Every $50,000 shaved off the price cuts the required mortgage-only income by roughly $8,400 at these rates, which is why the $600,000 band above is where the competition concentrates - and why the townhouse benchmark at $539,800, needing about $90,400, is the only band in this series where the median household qualifies on the mortgage alone with nearly $10,000 to spare.
3. A bigger down payment. Moving from 10% to 20% down removes the insurance premium and cuts the income requirement by about $18,200 in the scenarios above, and it also removes the roughly $18,927 premium itself from the amount financed, plus the $1,514 tax on that premium. Family gifts are common here, but they follow strict documentation rules - see our guide to gifted down payments.
4. Debt cleanup before applying. Because TDS caps total debts at 44%, clearing a car loan or card balance can raise the approved mortgage amount more than a modest raise does. The approval math rewards low obligations, not just high income.
5. A co-borrower. Adding a co-borrower pools income for qualification, at the cost of shared liability. The trade-offs are spelled out in our co-borrower versus guarantor guide.

What does not work: hoping the stress test goes away, or assuming a 1.2% price decline means the math is getting easier fast. A buyer who waits for prices to fall far enough to meet a $99,500 income is waiting for roughly a 12.4% decline from the average price on the mortgage alone, which no forecaster in our Ottawa forecast is describing - and Ottawa's benchmark fell only 1.3% year over year while the pace of decline slowed in October. The levers that work are a second income, a lower price band, a bigger down payment, or less other debt - in roughly that order. Run your own combination in the affordability calculator before you book a single showing. First-time buyers should also read our complete first-time buyer roadmap before choosing a price band.

Frequently asked questions

How much income do you need to buy a home in Ottawa in 2026?

For the average $678,400 Ottawa home with 20% down at a 4.58% contract rate, the mortgage payment alone requires roughly $113,600 of gross income under CMHC's 39% GDS cap at the 6.58% qualifying rate. Adding a hypothetical $600 to $800 a month for property tax and heat pushes the requirement to roughly $132,100 to $138,200. The city's median household income in our data is $99,500.

What is the minimum down payment on a $678,400 home in Ottawa?

Under the federal rules, homes priced above $500,000 require 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the remainder. On $678,400 that is $25,000 plus $17,840, for a minimum down payment of $42,840, or about 6.31% of the price. Because that is under 20%, mortgage default insurance is required: the 4.00% premium adds $25,422 to the mortgage. Ontario also charges 8% tax on the premium, $2,034 in cash at closing, which cannot be added to the loan.

What rate does the stress test use for an Ottawa buyer in 2026?

OSFI's minimum qualifying rate is the greater of your contract rate plus 2 percentage points or the 5.25% benchmark floor. At the 4.58% contract rate in our market data, the qualifying rate is 6.58%. You pay at 4.58%, but the lender sizes your maximum mortgage as if you were paying 6.58%.

Does Ottawa's median income of $99,500 qualify for the average home?

Not quite. A single median income falls about $14,100 short of the mortgage-only requirement of roughly $113,600 at 20% down, the second-narrowest shortfall in this series after Calgary's $6,700, ahead of Montreal at about $16,900, Halifax at about $22,000, Toronto at about $56,800, and Vancouver at about $98,200. Once a hypothetical $600 a month of property tax and heat is counted, the shortfall grows to about $32,600. Stretching to a 30-year amortization at 20% down drops the requirement to about $106,400, still about $6,900 above one median income. Two median incomes together total $199,000, which clears the average Ottawa home at every down payment level even with tax and heat counted.

Is renting in Ottawa cheaper than buying in 2026?

On monthly cash flow, yes. Average rent in our Ottawa data is $2,280 a month, versus a $3,041 mortgage payment at 20% down (before tax, heat, insurance and maintenance). Renting is about $761 a month cheaper than the mortgage payment alone. Rent takes about 27.5% of gross income for a household earning the $99,500 median, the second-least-stretched rent in this series after Calgary.

What price can a $99,500 Ottawa income actually afford?

Holding the 39% GDS cap and the 6.58% qualifying rate constant, a $99,500 income supports a qualifying payment of about $3,234 a month. That corresponds to a mortgage near $475,400 before tax and heat are counted, or a home near $594,300 with 20% down - about 12.4% below the $678,400 average. This is arithmetic, not a forecast.

What the Ottawa numbers add up to

Ottawa is not cheap because its prices are low in isolation - it is the second-least stretched of Canada's big-city markets because a 6.8x price-to-income multiple still puts the average home roughly $14,100 of income beyond the median paycheque, before tax and heat. An Ottawa buyer at the average price needs about $113,600 of income before tax and heat, and $132,100 to $138,200 with them. One median income almost gets there, and a 30-year amortization narrows the mortgage-only gap by more than half without closing it. Two median incomes clear the average home at every down payment level, with the second-widest margin in the series. And the $539,800 townhouse band needs only about $90,400 at 20% down, which is roughly $9,100 below one median income - the one place in this series where the median household can buy in the middle of the market with room to spare. Ontario's closing costs sit between the two extremes in the series too: $10,043 in land transfer tax against roughly $31,700 of combined transfer tax in Toronto, plus $2,034 of tax on the insurance premium at minimum down, partly offset by a first-time buyer rebate of up to $4,000. If your household is below the $113,600 line, the levers that work are a second income, a lower price band, a bigger down payment, or less other debt - in roughly that order. Run your own combination in the affordability calculator before you book a single showing.

Data and sources: BubbleWatch market data for Ottawa (average price $678,400, median income $99,500, average rent $2,280, vacancy 2.0%, year-over-year price change -1.2%, as listed in the site's affordability data, last updated November 9, 2026; mortgage rate 4.58% from the site's live market data, refreshed November 9, 2026); Ottawa Real Estate Board October 2026 release, November 5, 2026 (1,048 sales, down 10.7% year over year; new listings 2,382, down 18.6% from September; active listings 4,582; average sale price $678,512, down 4.5% year over year; median price $622,000; composite benchmark $616,900, down 1.3% year over year; single-family benchmark $699,200, townhouse benchmark $539,800, apartment benchmark $377,500; months of inventory 4.4 overall, 4.0 single-family, 3.6 townhouse, 7.4 apartment; sales-to-new-listings ratio 44.0%; homes sold for 97.5% of list price; median time on market 25.5 days; roughly 15,000 fewer people employed locally since March 2025 per the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives via the Ottawa Citizen); Financial Consumer Agency of Canada down payment rules via Canada.ca; OSFI Guideline B-20 minimum qualifying rate (greater of contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%); CMHC GDS/TDS limits of 39% and 44%; CMHC premium tiers 4.00% / 3.10% / 2.80% and the 8% Ontario tax on the premium from the site's CMHC premium guide; Ontario land transfer tax brackets and the first-time buyer rebate of up to $4,000 from the site's Ontario closing costs guide; Bank of Canada policy rate 2.5% after the October 28, 2026 decision. Tax and heating figures in the sensitivity section are labeled hypothetical examples, not measured Ottawa averages. Confirm current rates and program rules with your lender, as they change.