When planning to buy a home in Canada, one of the first questions most people ask is: "How much do I need for a down payment?" It's a crucial piece of the puzzle, and understanding the requirements can help you plan your finances more effectively.

This content breaks down everything you need to know about down payments in Canada: how much you need, what affects the amount, and how to prepare.

What Is a Down Payment?

A down payment is the portion of the home price you pay upfront when buying a property. The rest of the purchase is typically covered by a mortgage.

Your down payment amount impacts:

• Your monthly mortgage payments

• Whether you need mortgage loan insurance

• The interest rate you might qualify for

Minimum Down Payment Requirements in Canada

The minimum down payment you need depends on the price of the home and which lender you usr but typically the big banks use these guidelines:

• Homes under $500,000: Minimum 5% down

• Homes between $500,000 and $999,999: 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the remaining amount

• Homes of $1 million or more: Minimum 20% down

Example: If you're buying a $750,000 home in Toronto:

• 5% on the first $500,000 = $25,000

• 10% on the remaining $250,000 = $25,000

• Total minimum down payment = $50,000

What Happens If You Put Less Than 20% Down?

If your down payment is less than 20%, your mortgage can be considered high-ratio, and you'll need to pay for mortgage loan insurance, usually through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) or Genworth.

Mortgage insurance protects the lender, not the buyer, but it allows you to access homeownership with a lower down payment.

Where Can Your Down Payment Come From?

Accepted sources for a down payment include:

• Personal savings

• RRSPs

• Gifted funds from immediate family

• Equity from the sale of another property

How to Plan for a Down Payment

1. Set a goal: Know the type of home and price range you’re aiming for

2. Understand closing costs: Down payment is only part of what you need

3. Automate savings: Set up a dedicated savings account or use FHSA/RRSPs

4. Talk to your real estate agent: They'll help you build a plan and connect with the right professionals to set a realistic timeline

Your down payment is one of the biggest financial steps in buying a home, but it’s also one of the most manageable with the right strategy. Whether you’re buying your first condo or upsizing to a family home, understanding these thresholds is key to making confident decisions.

Looking for a personalized plan? Our Unna team is here to help you navigate the numbers and find the best path forward. Click here to contact us.

On January 28, 2026, the Bank of Canada held its overnight lending rate at 2.25%. This marks another hold in the Bank’s effort to observe how inflation and the broader economy respond to evolving encomic pressures.

Why Did the Bank Hold?

The decision to maintain the current policy rate reflects ongoing uncertainty in the economic data. December’s inflation figures showed a continued decline, but not at a pace that guarantees price stability. At the same time, economic growth has slowed, and the labour market is showing early signs of softening. The Bank of Canada has forecast modest economic growth as inflation remains close to the 2% target. In this environment, the Bank chose to pause and monitor rather than move too early in either direction.

What It Means for Mortgages

• Variable-rate mortgage holders will not see immediate changes in their monthly payments.

• Fixed-rate mortgages are driven by bond markets. A steady rate environment can anchor bond yields, although any change in economic sentiment could still influence fixed rates up or down.

Housing Market Context

A rate hold doesn’t mean the market is static. It creates an environment where buyers and sellers can plan more confidently without anticipating immediate cost changes. In places like Toronto, where affordability remains an issue, stability can help bring some participants back into the market, particularly those who paused due to rate volatility.

At Unna Real Estate, we guide families through uncertain markets every day. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure what this rate change means for your home journey in Canada, we’re here to help bring clarity, and real options to the table. Click here to contact us.

Understanding what affects property value is essential whether you’re thinking about selling, refinancing, or simply planning for the future. While many factors influence a home’s worth, some have a much bigger impact than others.

You’ve likely heard the saying “location, location, location”, and it remains the most important factor affecting property value today. However, location is just the starting point.

At Unna Real Estate, when we evaluate a property’s value, we begin by reviewing comparable properties that are currently for sale or have recently sold in the same area. From there, we analyze several key elements that influence market value.

Below are the main factors that affect property value the most.

Location and Proximity to Key Amenities

Location plays a major role in property appreciation. Homes close to important amenities tend to hold and increase their value over time.

This includes proximity to:

• Work and business districts 

• Schools and universities 

• Hospitals and healthcare services

• Grocery stores, markets, and retail areas

• Public transit and walkable neighborhoods

Properties that allow residents to walk or enjoy short commutes are often more desirable. On the other hand, homes far from commercial centres can lose value due to longer commute times, reduced convenience, and lower overall demand.

Size of the Property

The size of a property is another major factor affecting home value. Larger homes typically command higher prices because:

• They offer more living space

• They appeal to growing families 

• They often have higher price-per-square-foot values 

When a larger property is located near commercial centres or in a desirable neighborhood with good security, its value can increase even further.

Condition of the Property

Over time, all properties experience wear and tear. The condition of the home plays a critical role in determining its market value.

Common factors that affect value include:

• Age of major systems (roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical)

• Quality of finishes and materials

• Level of maintenance and upkeep

Investing in renovations and regular maintenance can help prevent depreciation and, in many cases, significantly increase property value.

How These Factors Determine Market Value

All of the factors above help determine a property’s market value.

Market value is defined as the highest estimated price a property is likely to achieve when:

• It is exposed to the open market

• A reasonable amount of time is allowed to find a buyer

• The buyer and seller are knowledgeable and acting without pressure

In simple terms, market value reflects what a well-informed buyer is willing to pay under normal market conditions.

Why Knowing Your Property Value Matters

Even if you are not planning to sell your home, knowing your property’s value is always a smart move. It helps with:

• Financial planning

• Refinancing decisions

• Investment strategies

• Understanding your equity

At Unna Real Estate we believe homeowners should always be informed. That’s why we’re happy to provide a detailed home value analysis, tailored to your property and current market conditions.

📩 Request your free home value analysis today and understand what your property is really worth.

Se você é proprietário de um imóvel em Toronto, existe uma regra importante que precisa ser seguida. Todos os proprietários devem enviar a declaração do Vacant Home Tax em Toronto, mesmo que morem no imóvel o ano inteiro.

Para o ano-base de 2025, o prazo para declarar é 30 de abril de 2026.

Essa regra vale apenas para imóveis localizados em Toronto. Outras cidades possuem regras diferentes.

O Vacant Home Tax foi criado pela City of Toronto para aumentar a oferta de moradias, evitando que imóveis fiquem vazios por longos períodos. Perder o prazo pode resultar em impostos altos, multas e juros.

O Que é o Vacant Home Tax em Toronto?

O Vacant Home Tax em Toronto (VHT) é um imposto anual de 3% sobre o valor avaliado de imóveis residenciais que tenham ficado desocupados por mais de seis meses no ano anterior (neste caso, 2025).

Exemplo:

• Imóvel avaliado em $1,2 milhão

• Considerado vazio

• Vacant Home Tax = $36.000

Quem Precisa Declarar o Vacant Home Tax em Toronto?

Todos os proprietários de imóveis residenciais em Toronto devem declarar, sem exceção.

Isso inclui:

• Residência principal

• Imóvel de aluguel

• Imóvel de investimento

• Imóvel herdado ou mantido em trust

Se a declaração não for enviada até 30 de abril de 2026, a cidade pode considerar o imóvel automaticamente como vazio e aplicar o imposto, além de multas e juros.

Como Declarar o Vacant Home Tax em Toronto

O processo é simples e online:

1. Acesse toronto.ca/vacanthometax

2. Tenha em mãos o número de matrícula de 13 dígitos e o número do cliente (no imposto predial)

3. Envie a declaração - leva menos de 5 minutos

Isenções do Vacant Home Tax em Toronto

Se o imóvel ficou vazio por um motivo válido, pode haver direito à isenção, como:

• Reformas com licença aprovada

• Proprietário hospitalizado ou em cuidados de longa duração

• Falecimento do proprietário

• Questões legais que impedem a ocupação

• Transferência de propriedade durante o ano

É necessário apresentar documentação comprobatória.

Por Que o Vacant Home Tax em Toronto é Importante

Na UNNA Real Estate, ajudamos proprietários, compradores do primeiro imóvel e investidores imobiliários por toda Toronto. Como equipe localizada na região de College & Ossington, com a Revel Realty, acompanhamos de perto regras como o Vacant Home Tax, pois elas impactam diretamente seu imóvel e seu patrimônio.

Se você tem dúvidas sobre o Vacant Home Tax, precisa de ajuda para entender um aviso da prefeitura ou quer conversar sobre estratégias para imóveis de investimento, estamos aqui para ajudar.

📍 UNNA Real Estate Group

Orgulhosamente baseada no lado oeste de Toronto | Parte da Revel Realty

🌐 www.unnarealestate.com

📩 Vamos conversar sobre o seu próximo passo.

Este conteúdo é apenas informativo e não constitui aconselhamento legal ou fiscal.

If you own a home in Toronto, there is an important rule you must follow. Every year, homeowners must submit a Toronto Vacant Home Tax declaration, even if they live in their home full-time.

For the 2025 tax year, the deadline to declare is April 30, 2026.

This rule applies only to properties located in Toronto. Homes in other cities follow different local rules.

The City of Toronto created the Vacant Home Tax to encourage more housing by discouraging homes from sitting empty. Missing the deadline can lead to large taxes, penalties, and interest.

What Is the Toronto Vacant Home Tax?

The Toronto Vacant Home Tax (VHT) is a yearly tax of 3% of a property’s assessed value if a residential home was vacant for more than six months in the previous year (in this case, 2025).

For example:

• A home assessed at $1.2 million

• Considered vacant

• Vacant Home Tax = $36,000

Who Must Declare the Toronto Vacant Home Tax?

All residential property owners in Toronto must declare. No exceptions.

You must submit a declaration if your property is:

• Your main residence

• A rental or income property

• An investment property

• An inherited property or held in a trust

If you do not declare by April 30, 2026, the City may assume your property is vacant and charge the tax, plus penalties and interest.

How to Declare the Toronto Vacant Home Tax

Declaring is simple and done online:

1. Visit toronto.ca/vacanthometax

2. Have your 13-digit roll number and customer number ready (from your property tax bill)

3. Submit your declaration - it takes less than 5 minutes

Toronto Vacant Home Tax Exemptions

If your property was vacant for a valid reason, you may qualify for an exemption, such as:

• Renovations with approved permits

• Owner in hospital or long-term care

• Death of the owner

• Legal issues that prevent occupancy

• Property ownership changed during the year

Supporting documents are required for exemption claims.

Why the Toronto Vacant Home Tax Matters

At UNNA Real Estate, we work with Toronto homeowners, first-time buyers, and real estate investors across the city. As a team based near College & Ossington with Revel Realty, we closely follow rules like the Toronto Vacant Home Tax because they directly affect your property and finances.

If you have questions about the Vacant Home Tax, need help understanding a City notice, or want to discuss investment property strategies, we’re here to help.

📍 UNNA Real Estate Group
Proudly based in West Toronto | Part of Revel Realty
🌐 www.unnarealestate.com
📩 Let’s talk about your next step.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice.

For the first time in years, Toronto’s rental market is no longer climbing by default.

By late 2025, asking rents across the city began to ease - not collapse, not spike - but reset. And that distinction matters.

What the Numbers Are Telling Us

Average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto is now around $2,720, down almost 4% from last year and well below the late-2023 peak near $2,920.

That may not sound dramatic, but in a city where rents felt untouchable for years, it’s a meaningful shift. Toronto is the market that usually resists gravity the longest - so when it moves, something underneath has changed.

Why Toronto, and Why Now?

This isn’t random. Two things finally lined up.

Demand slowed.

Toronto absorbed renters for years at record speed, driven largely by international students and temporary residents. In 2025, that pipeline thinned. Fewer new renters entered the market, and units stopped disappearing overnight.

Supply showed up.

Thousands of new condos and purpose-built rentals were completed across the GTA. At the same time, resale activity stayed weak. Many condo owners who once planned to sell chose to lease instead, adding even more inventory to the rental pool.

More listings. Fewer renters. That math always leads to one outcome.

Landlords Are Competing Again

This is the real change people miss.

Toronto’s rent decline isn’t driven by distress - it’s driven by competition. Units are sitting longer. Tenants are comparing options. Pricing aggressively now means chasing the market down instead of leasing efficiently.

For the first time in a while, landlords need strategy, not optimism.

Even Room Rentals Are Softening

The pressure isn’t limited to full units. Room rentals - often tied to student demand - have also eased in parts of the city. That’s usually the first segment to react when population growth slows, and it confirms what the broader data is already showing.

What This Means on the Ground

• Renters have leverage again: more choice, more negotiating power, fewer panic decisions.

• Landlords need realistic pricing and strong presentation - overreaching costs time.

• Investors should reassess cash-flow assumptions built on nonstop rent growth.

• Leasing agents are back to doing real market work, not just uploading listings.

The Bottom Line

Toronto’s rental market isn’t breaking.

It’s normalizing.

After years where demand alone set the price, supply is finally part of the conversation again. From here on, outcomes will depend on location, product quality, and pricing discipline - not hype.

And honestly?

That’s a healthier market for everyone.

After years of uncertainty, Ontario has sent a clear signal to the rental market.

With the introduction of Bill 60, the province has made one of the most meaningful updates to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) in years. The changes are designed to improve efficiency, reduce prolonged disputes, and restore balance between landlords and tenants.

While Bill 60 applies only in Ontario, updates of this scale rarely stay isolated. When Ontario adjusts its housing framework, the rest of the country tends to watch closely.

What Is Bill 60 - And Why Does It Matter?

At its core, Bill 60 focuses on efficiency, clarity, and accountability.

For years, landlords faced long delays, rising arrears, and procedural uncertainty when enforcing basic lease obligations. Bill 60 shortens timelines, limits unnecessary delays, and provides more predictability for housing providers - while maintaining core tenant protections.

This isn’t about removing protections for tenants.

It’s about restoring confidence in the rental system so responsible investment in housing supply can continue - something Canada continues to need.

Summarizing it:

Key RTA Changes Landlords Need to Know

Here are the most impactful amendments under Bill 60:

• Faster non-payment action

N4 notices for unpaid rent are shortened from 14 days to 7 days, allowing landlords to file with the LTB sooner.

• Quicker final decisions

Review requests drop from 30 days to 15, reducing endless delays and improving resolution times.

• Limits on delay tactics

Tenants raising counter-claims (repairs, harassment, etc.) must now prepay 50% of arrears before doing so.

• Changes to personal-use evictions (N12)

One-month rent compensation is removed when pa poper 120-day notice is provided or aligned with the lease end.

• New “persistently late” rent grounds

Upcoming regulations will address chronic late payments - a long-standing issue for landlords.

These changes dramatically reduce uncertainty and cash-flow risk.

What This Looks Like in Real Life

Imagine a landlord running a duplex. One tenant falls three months behind, owing $9,000.

Before Bill 60, the landlord could wait months - sometimes longer - while disputes dragged through the LTB.

Now?

• Day 7: N4 is issued

• Same week: L1 application is filed

• Any counter-claim requires 50% of the arrears upfront

• Appeals are limited

• Resolution happens faster

That’s not punishment. That’s predictability - and predictability is what allows people to invest responsibly.

Why This Matters for Housing Supply

Landlords aren’t villains - they’re housing providers.

Buying a rental property requires capital, risk, compliance, and ongoing responsibility. When the system becomes unworkable, investors step back. When confidence returns, supply follows.

Bill 60 sends a message:

Ontario wants ethical landlords to stay in the game.

And that matters at a time when rental housing shortages remain one of Canada’s biggest challenges.

How Tenants Are Affected

Bill 60 does mean faster timelines and less tolerance for chronic non-payment.

For tenants who consistently pay rent and communicate responsibly, this creates a more stable rental environment. Issues are addressed faster. Bad actors exit sooner. Supply improves over time.

For vulnerable renters, the changes highlight the importance of early communication, payment plans, and professional guidance - because delays are no longer automatic.

Balance cuts both ways.

Why Investors Outside Ontario Should Care

Ontario often sets the tone.

Provinces like BC, Quebec, and Nova Scotia still maintain stronger tenant-leaning frameworks, but pressure is mounting everywhere to address supply constraints.

A more efficient, investor-friendly system in Canada’s largest province increases confidence nationally , especially for investors who’ve been sitting on the sidelines due to regulatory uncertainty.

This could be the start of a broader shift.

The Bigger Picture

For the first time in years, investment housing is being actively encouraged instead of penalized.

Bill 60 doesn’t remove responsibility, it restores fairness.

And fairness is what allows long-term, ethical investors to build housing, stabilize communities, and contribute to a healthier rental market.

For landlords, investors, and real-estate professionals, understanding these changes isn’t optional - it’s essential.

We’re back at it again with a review of Market numbers for the month of October. Let’s have a look at the numbers.

We’re back at it again with a review of Market numbers for the month of September. Let’s have a look at the numbers.