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Canada Mortgage Bond rates and what they mean for insured multifamily financing

The five year CMB is the benchmark behind every CMHC insured multifamily quote in British Columbia. Updated September 2026.

The short answer

The five year Canada Mortgage Bond is 3.75% as of September 17, 2026, about 11 basis points above the five year Government of Canada bond at 3.64%. CMHC insured multifamily loans in British Columbia are priced as a spread over the CMB, typically plus 0.5 to 1.0 percent, which puts all in insured five year money near 4.25 to 4.75 percent before fees.

Today's benchmark rates

5 year Canada Mortgage Bond

3.75%

as of September 17, 2026

5 year Government of Canada bond

3.64%

as of September 16, 2026

CMB spread over Government of Canada

11 bps

as of September 17, 2026

10 year Government of Canada bond

3.92%

as of September 16, 2026

Source: Bank of Canada for policy rate, prime, Government of Canada bonds and CORRA. The Canada Mortgage Bond figure is a secondary market close, since the Bank of Canada does not publish it. We refresh this page monthly.

Halftone illustration of a stack of bond certificates beside a rental apartment building.

What a Canada Mortgage Bond is

Canada Mortgage Bonds are issued by Canada Housing Trust and guaranteed by CMHC. Lenders sell pools of insured mortgages into the trust, the trust funds the purchase by issuing bonds, and the bondholder is repaid from the mortgages with a federal guarantee behind them. That structure is why an insured multifamily lender can fund your loan at close to government cost, and why the CMB rather than the Government of Canada bond is the number their rate sheet starts from.

Since 2024 the Government of Canada has also committed to buying up to 30 billion dollars of fixed rate CMB issuance each year across the five and ten year terms, which supports demand for the bonds and keeps the spread over Government of Canada bonds narrow.

Source: Bank of Canada.

Why the CMB sits above the Government of Canada bond

It is the same federal credit, in a smaller market with fewer buyers, so investors ask for a little more yield for holding it. The gap is a liquidity spread, not a credit spread. Today it is about 11 basis points. When the gap widens, insured mortgage pricing widens with it even if the Government of Canada bond has not moved.

How an insured multifamily rate is built

ExecutionPriced offTypical spreadAll in today
CMHC insured multifamily (MLI Select)5 year Canada Mortgage Bondplus 0.5 to 1.0 percent4.25 to 4.75 percent
Conventional multifamily5 year Government of Canada bondplus 1.3 to 2.0 percent4.94 to 5.64 percent

The insured route usually carries the lower rate and the longer amortization, but it adds the CMHC premium and MLI Select program conditions, so compare all in cost over the term rather than the headline rate.

Rate holds on insured deals

Insured multifamily commitments commonly hold a rate for 90 to 120 days, because the CMHC approval sits between commitment and funding. Ask for the hold in writing, and ask whether it is set off the CMB on the commitment date or the funding date. On a long closing that single clause can move the rate more than any negotiation.

FAQ

Canada Mortgage Bond questions we hear most.

Because the CMB is the lender's cost of funds, not your rate. The lender adds a spread for its margin, servicing and risk, usually 0.5 to 1.0 percent on insured multifamily, so a quote that reads CMB plus 0.75 percent is a normal one, not a poor one.

Not directly. The policy rate sets the overnight cost of money and drives floating rates. The five year CMB follows the five year bond market, which prices in where investors expect the policy rate to go over five years, so it often moves before a Bank of Canada decision rather than after it.

Nobody knows where the bond market will be in 60 days. If the deal works at today's number, the sensible move is usually to lock the hold and negotiate a float down clause if the lender offers one, rather than carry an open rate through a long closing.

Yes. Canada Housing Trust issues both five and ten year CMBs, so ten year insured multifamily money exists and prices over the ten year CMB. The rate is usually higher than five year but removes a renewal.

The Bank of Canada does not publish CMB yields the way it publishes Government of Canada bond yields, so most people see it through a lender rate sheet or a market data feed. We refresh the figure on this page monthly alongside the Bank of Canada benchmarks, and the five year Government of Canada bond at the Bank of Canada is a reliable proxy since the spread between them is usually small.

Price your multifamily deal on today's CMB.

Send us the rent roll and the plan and we will show you insured and conventional side by side, all in, on today's benchmarks.

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