CMHC MLI Select premium rates and what they cost you
The premium schedule, effective July 14, 2025, with the discount the MLI Select program gives and a calculator that runs it on your numbers.
The short answer
On a standard rental building the CMHC premium runs from 2.60 percent of the loan at 65 percent loan to value to 6.15 percent above 90 percent, with construction financing priced higher, plus 0.25 percent for every five years of amortization beyond 25. MLI Select cuts the whole figure by 10, 20 or 30 percent at 50, 70 and 100 points, and the premium is normally added to the loan rather than paid in cash.
- Leverage sets the band. Each step up the loan to value scale moves you to a higher premium rate.
- Amortization adds 0.25 percent for every five year period beyond 25 years, so a 50 year amortization adds 1.25 percent before the discount.
- Construction financing carries a higher rate than the purchase or refinance of a building already standing.
- Points cut the whole figure. At 50, 70 and 100 points MLI Select takes 10, 20 or 30 percent off the base premium plus the surcharges.
The current premium schedule
Standard rental housing. The rate is applied to the insured loan amount.
| Loan to value | Construction financing | All other loan purposes |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 65 percent | 3.25% | 2.60% |
| Up to 70 percent | 3.75% | 2.85% |
| Up to 75 percent | 4.25% | 3.35% |
| Up to 80 percent | 5.00% | 4.35% |
| Up to 85 percent | 6.00% | 5.35% |
| Up to 90 percent (MLI Select only) | 6.75% | 5.90% |
| Greater than 90 percent (MLI Select only) | 7.00% | 6.15% |
Single room occupancy, student, retirement and supportive housing
| Loan to value | Construction financing | All other loan purposes |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 65 percent | 6.55% | 6.30% |
| Up to 70 percent | 6.85% | 6.60% |
| Up to 75 percent | 7.15% | 6.90% |
| Up to 80 percent | 7.30% | 7.05% |
| Up to 85 percent | 8.00% | 7.75% |
| Up to 90 percent (MLI Select only) | 8.25% | 8.00% |
| Greater than 90 percent (MLI Select only) | 9.00% | 8.75% |
The MLI Select discount
50 points
10%
off the premium plus surcharges
70 points
20%
off the premium plus surcharges
100 points
30%
off the premium plus surcharges
Surcharges
- Extended amortization: 0.25 percent of the net loan amount for every five year period beyond 25 years.
- Non residential space in the building: 1.00 percent.
- Second mortgage: 0.50 percent.
- Effective gross income not yet achieved at first advance: 0.25 percent.
Source: CMHC Multi Unit Fees and Premiums, document 66798 20250513 002A, effective July 14, 2025. Checked September 18, 2026. We recheck this schedule when CMHC issues a new notice.
Run it on your numbers
Your file
Loan to value 85.00 percent
Net premium rate
- Loan to value
- 85.00%
- Base premium rate
- 5.35%
- Extended amortization, 3 five year periods beyond 25 years
- 0.75%
- Subtotal
- 6.10%
- MLI Select discount
- 30%
- Net premium rate
- 4.27%
- Premium
- $435,540
- Loan with premium added
- $10,635,540
The premium is normally added to the loan. Provincial sales tax on the premium cannot be added to the insured loan and is paid at closing, so ask your accountant how it applies to you.
Schedule effective July 14, 2025, checked against CMHC's Multi Unit Fees and Premiums document on September 18, 2026. CMHC's quote on your file governs.
A worked example
Take an existing standard rental building with a lending value of $12,000,000 and a loan of $10,200,000, which is 85 percent loan to value, on a 40 year amortization. The band is up to 85 percent, so the base rate is 5.35%. The amortization adds 0.75% for the three five year periods beyond 25 years, which brings the subtotal to 6.10%.
At 100 points MLI Select takes 30 percent off that subtotal. The net premium rate is 4.27%, the premium is $435,540, and the loan with the premium added is $10,635,540.
The points are worth real money. The same loan at 70 points carries a net rate of 4.88% and a premium of $497,760. With no points at all the rate is 6.10% and the premium is $622,200, which is $186,660 more than the 100 point structure on the same building.
Refinancing an insured loan
If the property already carries CMHC insurance, part of the premium you paid counts against the premium on the new loan. The credit falls the longer you wait.
| Years since the prior insured transaction | Credit against the new premium |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 year | 75% |
| Up to 2 years | 70% |
| Up to 3 years | 60% |
| Up to 4 years | 50% |
| Up to 5 years | 40% |
| Up to 6 years | 30% |
| Up to 7 years | 20% |
Timing matters because the credit disappears entirely after seven years. If an equity take out is on the horizon and the building already carries insurance, the cost of waiting another year is a visible number, not a vague one.
Application fees
On a file with up to two advances the application fee is 150 dollars per unit or 100 dollars per bed for the first 100 units or beds, then 100 dollars per unit or bed, capped at 50,000 dollars per loan.
On a file with more than two advances, which is the normal shape of a construction file, it is 200 dollars per unit or bed for the first 100 units or beds, then 100 dollars per unit or bed, capped at 55,000 dollars per loan, plus 350 dollars for each advance from the third onward.
What moves the premium on your file
Loan to value. The premium rate rises with leverage. Pushing the loan up is the single largest driver of the premium, and it is also the reason most borrowers are on the insured path at all.
Amortization. A longer amortization carries a higher premium. It also lowers the annual debt service, which lifts the coverage and therefore the proceeds. The two move together on purpose.
New construction or existing property. Construction financing sits in the higher column of the schedule, and a construction file carries its own sequence through to the insured takeout.
Points achieved on MLI Select. More points reduce the premium. The same commitments that get you there also raise the leverage and the amortization ceiling, which is why the levers on this page keep pointing at each other.
The MLI Select discount is tied to the same points that set your tier
MLI Select scores a project on affordability, energy efficiency and accessibility. Those points set the tier, and the tier is what unlocks higher leverage and a longer amortization. The premium discount runs off the same score. You are not choosing between a better structure and a cheaper premium. You get both from the same commitments, or neither.
That makes the points work the highest value hour on the file. Affordability points turn on the rents you commit to and how long you hold them. Energy points turn on modelled performance against a baseline. The MLI Select points estimator gives you a read on where a project lands before anyone commits to anything.
How we quote it on your file
CMHC's own multi unit fees and premiums document is the authority. This page reproduces its current schedule, and we recheck the figures on every CMHC notice so the tables above match the document rather than a memory of it.
When we size your file we run the premium inside the loan at your actual leverage, amortization and points, alongside the debt sizing, so you see the mortgage you will actually carry rather than a rate in isolation.
CMHC is an insurer, not a lender. The premium is paid to CMHC through the lender for the insurance coverage, and the loan itself still comes from a lender we place it with. The wider mechanics sit on our CMHC insured financing page.
Premium questions.
Related reading
Want the premium priced on your actual structure?
Send the unit mix, the rent plan and the energy target. We will size the file and quote the current premium inside it.