How Much Down Payment Do You Need for a First Home in BC? (2026)

The 5/10/20 rule in 2026

Canada's minimum down-payment rules are tiered by purchase price:

• Up to $500,000: 5% minimum down. So a $400,000 condo needs $20,000 down minimum.
• $500,000 to $1,499,999: 5% on the first $500K, plus 10% on the portion above $500K. So a $750,000 home needs $25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000 down.
• $1,500,000 and above: 20% down required. CMHC insurance not available above this price. A $1.6M home needs $320,000 down.

The $1.5M ceiling is new in this decade — it rose from $1M on December 15, 2024 (Department of Finance Canada). Before that change, a $1.1M Surrey detached home required a $220,000 (20%) conventional down payment. Now the same home can close with $110,000 down ($25K + $60K = $85K wait — actually $25K + $60K = $85K; let me recompute: 5% × $500K + 10% × $600K = $25K + $60K = $85K). That single rule change opened the detached market to a lot more first-time Fraser Valley buyers.

Worked examples for Fraser Valley first homes

Real prices on the spectrum of first-time buyer purchases we see in 2026:

$400,000 condo — older 2-bed, Abbotsford or Chilliwack

• Minimum down: $20,000 (5%)
• Insured mortgage: $380,000
• CMHC premium (~4.00%): $15,200, added to mortgage
• BC PST on premium (7%): $1,064, paid at closing
• PTT (with first-time buyer exemption): $0 (under $500K, full exemption applies on the base PTT formula)

$550,000 condo — newer 2-bed, North Surrey or Langley

• Minimum down: $25,000 + $5,000 = $30,000
• Insured mortgage: $520,000
• CMHC premium (~3.10% at ~5.5% down): roughly $16,120
• BC PST on premium: $1,128
• PTT: $1,000 + $7,000 = $8,000; first-time buyer exemption saves $7,000; pay $1,000 net

$700,000 townhouse — Willoughby (Langley) or Cloverdale

• Minimum down: $25,000 + $20,000 = $45,000 (5/10 stacked)
• Insured mortgage: $655,000
• CMHC premium (~4.00% at ~6.4% down): roughly $26,200
• BC PST on premium: $1,834
• PTT: $12,000; first-time buyer exemption saves $8,000; pay $4,000 net

$900,000 townhouse — newer Langley or South Surrey

• Minimum down: $25,000 + $40,000 = $65,000
• Insured mortgage: $835,000
• CMHC premium: roughly $33,400
• BC PST on premium: $2,338
• PTT: $16,000; first-time buyer exemption phased out above $860K; pay full $16,000 (unless new build — check Newly Built Home Exemption)

$1.2M detached starter — Cloverdale or Maple Ridge

• Minimum down: $25,000 + $70,000 = $95,000
• Insured mortgage: $1,105,000
• CMHC premium: roughly $44,200
• BC PST on premium: $3,094
• PTT: $22,000; no first-time buyer exemption; pay full $22,000

How FHSA and HBP fit into down-payment planning

For a buyer who's been planning ahead, the realistic down-payment stack looks like this:

• FHSA balance (up to $40K per person, tax-free withdrawal)
• HBP withdrawal from RRSP (up to $60K per person, tax-deferred, 15-year repayment)
• Regular savings outside registered accounts
• Gift from parents (with documentation)

A single buyer with both FHSA and HBP maxed could put $100,000 toward a down payment from registered accounts alone. Two buyers stacked: $200,000. On a $700K townhouse, that puts you well above the 20% threshold ($140K) — skip CMHC insurance entirely, qualify for a better mortgage rate (most lenders price uninsured mortgages 10–25 bps higher than insured, but you avoid the premium itself), and reduce monthly cashflow.

The cash-vs-mortgage trade-off

A question we get from first-time buyers who happen to have inheritance or windfall money: "Should I put all my cash into the down payment, or hold some back?" Our usual advice:

• Keep 3–6 months of expenses as an emergency fund. Especially in the first year — appliances break, strata special assessments happen, life happens. Going house-poor is the most common first-year regret we hear.
• Hit 20% if you reasonably can. Avoiding CMHC insurance is real money ($26K on a $700K home at minimum down). The premium is added to the mortgage and you pay interest on it for 25–30 years.
• Don't drain RRSPs beyond what HBP allows. Pulling RRSP money outside the HBP triggers full income tax at your marginal rate — usually 30–45% in BC. Bad trade.

If you're close to the 20% line and weighing whether to push over it, there's more to the insured-vs-uninsured decision than just the premium. Rate pricing, qualifying rules, and lender availability all shift at that threshold. We break down exactly what changes at 20% down in the Fraser Valley — worth reading before you finalize the number.

What to do if your down payment is short

Most first-time buyers we work with don't have the full down payment when they start. Three honest options:

1. Wait and save more. Open an FHSA immediately, set up automatic contributions. Aim for an 18-month savings sprint with a clear $-target.
2. Buy lower. The price gap between a $700K Langley townhouse and a $450K Chilliwack townhouse is 18 months of qualifying time for most buyers — and the Chilliwack property still builds equity. Not a glamorous answer; it's an honest one.
3. Co-buy with family. A parent or sibling on title shifts the math substantially. If they're not first-time buyers, you may give up part of the PTT exemption — but that's often more than offset by qualifying easier.