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30-Year Amortization Eligibility

Also known as: 30-year amortization · 30-year mortgage

Insured mortgages can be amortized over 30 years instead of 25, but only for first-time buyers and for anyone buying newly built housing. The change took effect December 15, 2024, and it raises what a buyer qualifies for by stretching the payment out.

Effective December 15, 2024, CMHC-insured mortgages permit a 30-year amortization (vs. the standard 25-year maximum) for two specific borrower categories: (1) all first-time home buyers regardless of property type, and (2) any buyer, first-time or repeat, purchasing newly constructed housing. The longer amortization reduces the monthly principal-and-interest payment by roughly 8-12% versus a 25-year amortization at the same rate, improving affordability and qualifying capacity at the cost of more lifetime interest paid.

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Affordability and stress-test calculator

CMHC Default Insurance Cap — The maximum home purchase price eligible for CMHC default mortgage insurance, raised from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 effective December 15, 2024.
OSFI Mortgage Stress Test (B-20) — OSFI Guideline B-20 requires federally-regulated lenders to qualify mortgage borrowers at the greater of (a) the contract rate plus 2 percentage points or (b) the 5.
Gross Debt Service Ratio (GDS) — The share of your gross income that housing alone takes up: the mortgage payment, property tax, heat, and half of any strata fee.
Total Debt Service Ratio (TDS) — Gross debt service widened to every debt you carry: car payments, credit cards, lines of credit and student loans on top of the housing costs.

@misc{bronsonjob-cmhc_amortization_30yr_eligibility,
  author       = {Job, Bronson},
  title        = {{30-year amortization eligibility (insured mortgages)}},
  howpublished = {BC Real Estate Codex},
  year         = {2024},
  url          = {https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#cmhc.amortization_30yr_eligibility},
  urldate      = {2026-11-04},
  note         = {Fact ID: cmhc.amortization_30yr_eligibility, version 1.}
}

APA — Press, journalism

Job, B. (2024). 30-year amortization eligibility (insured mortgages). *BC Real Estate Codex*. Retrieved 2026-11-04, from https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#cmhc.amortization_30yr_eligibility

Plain link — Slack, email, Twitter

30-year amortization eligibility (insured mortgages) — Bronson Job PREC, BC Real Estate Codex (2026-11-04). https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#cmhc.amortization_30yr_eligibility

Fact id: cmhc.amortization_30yr_eligibility · v1 · machine-readable: /api/v1/facts/by-id/cmhc.amortization_30yr_eligibility.json

License: This definition is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: "30-Year Amortization Eligibility", BC Real Estate Glossary by Bronson Job, https://www.bronsonjob.com/glossary/cmhc-30yr-amortization.

Bronson Job PREC, REALTOR® at Momentum Realty Inc.. GVR Member #6015742 · FVREB Member #FJOBBR

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