Most first-time buyers can quote their down payment number. Almost nobody can quote their cash-to-close number, and the second one is what the lawyer’s office actually asks for. The gap is a few thousand dollars of legal fees, registration fees, insurance, inspections, and adjustments, all landing in the busiest month of the purchase.
This post works through every dollar a Calgary buyer pays on the way to possession, one scenario carried start to finish, ending in a single cash-to-close number. If your move has a sale in it too, the cost of selling a home in Calgary is this post’s mirror image.
The headline: on a $425,000 purchase with 5% down, plan for just under $25,900 in cash, of which $21,250 is the down payment and about $4,600 is everything else. Here is where each piece comes from.
The example we’ll work with
A first-time buyer purchasing a $425,000 row home in SW Calgary in mid-2026, with the minimum 5% down. The price is not an invention: CREB’s June 2026 benchmark for row housing across the city is $424,100, and in SW communities like Glamorgan, Braeside, Palliser, or Rutland Park, that budget buys real row and townhouse options, depending on the complex and its age.
Five per cent down is $21,250, which makes this an insured, high-ratio mortgage of $403,750 before the insurance premium is added. It is a resale purchase, not a new build, and a principal residence. Your numbers will move with your price, but the structure of the costs is identical for any purchase under $500,000.
The down payment rules
Canada’s minimum down payment has three tiers:
- $500,000 or less: 5% of the purchase price
- $500,000 to $1.5 million: 5% of the first $500,000, plus 10% of the portion above it
- $1.5 million or more: 20%, and no insured mortgage at all
The $1.5 million insured-mortgage cap took effect December 15, 2024 (it was $1 million before that) and is still current in mid-2026. At $425,000 the scenario sits in the first tier: the minimum is a flat 5%, or $21,250.
Anything under 20% down means mortgage default insurance, usually through CMHC. At this price, avoiding insurance entirely would take $85,000 down, which is why so many first-time buyers here are insured buyers.
The CMHC premium
The premium is calculated on the loan amount, and the rate depends on how much you put down:
| Down payment | Premium rate | Premium at $425,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 5% ($21,250) | 4.00% | $16,150 |
| 10% ($42,500) | 3.10% | $11,858 |
| 15% ($63,750) | 2.80% | $10,115 |
| 20% ($85,000) | none | $0 |
For the scenario: $403,750 × 4.00% = $16,150. Here is the part that surprises people: you do not write a cheque for it. The premium is added to the mortgage principal by default, so the mortgage that actually gets registered is $403,750 + $16,150 = $419,900. You can pay it as a lump sum at closing instead. Almost no one does. It is a real cost either way, and you pay interest on it over the amortization. It just never shows up in the cash-to-close pile.
Two footnotes. First, some provinces charge provincial sales tax on the premium (Ontario and Quebec do), due in cash at closing where it applies. Alberta charges none. Second, first-time buyers can opt for a 30-year amortization on an insured purchase, including resale, since December 15, 2024. Choosing it adds a 0.20% surcharge: 4.20% instead of 4.00%, or $16,958 instead of $16,150 on this loan. Lower monthly payment, more premium, more interest. It is an option, not the default, and the example stays at the standard amortization.
To see what a $419,900 mortgage looks like as a monthly payment at today’s rates, the mortgage calculator will run it in about a minute.
Deposit vs down payment
These two get confused constantly, because the deposit is due months before anyone mentions closing.
The deposit is money you send when your offer is accepted, typically within a day or two, held in trust by the listing brokerage until possession. It is not an extra cost: at closing it counts toward the purchase price, so it is effectively the first instalment of your down payment, paid early. Its job is to show the seller you are serious.
There is no rule setting the amount. Alberta treats the deposit as a negotiated term of the offer, which means it gets sized as strategy: large enough to signal you are serious, scaled to the price and to how much competition the property has. Your agent will recommend a number for the specific offer, and a larger deposit reads as a stronger one when a seller is comparing two similar offers.
While your conditions (financing, inspection) are in place, walking away under a condition gets the deposit back. Once you waive conditions, the deposit is at risk if you fail to close. That is the trade, and it is why the condition period matters more than most buyers realise.
Closing costs, one by one
These are the cash costs beyond the down payment. None of them is huge on its own. Together they are the roughly $4,600 that first-time buyers most often forget to save for.
Legal fees and disbursements
Your lawyer handles the title transfer, the mortgage registration, the statement of adjustments, and the movement of everyone’s money. In Alberta, the professional fee on a straightforward purchase typically runs $800 to $1,800, plus $100 to $500 in disbursements (title searches, couriers, administration). For the scenario: $1,500 all-in, mid-range.
Title insurance
A one-time policy your lawyer arranges as part of closing, typically $200 to $500, commonly quoted at $250 to $350. The scenario uses $300.
The property tax adjustment
Calgary’s property tax bill is due June 30 each year, and whoever owns the home on that date gets billed for the full year. The statement of adjustments squares that between buyer and seller. Close before June 30 and you will be the one paying the full year’s bill, so the seller credits you their share at closing. Close after June 30 and the seller has already paid the full year, so you reimburse them for your portion.
The selling-side version of this post works the same mechanic from the other direction on a $750,000 home, where the swing runs $1,500 to $4,000. Tax bills roughly track value, so at $425,000 the realistic swing is smaller, typically several hundred dollars to somewhere around $2,000 depending on how far possession sits from June 30. The table below carries $1,000 as a mid-range placeholder; your closing date sets the real number and the direction.
Home inspection
For a Calgary row or townhouse, a professional inspection runs about $465 for a roughly three-hour visit. Condos come in lower (around $340) and detached homes higher (around $495 for up to 2,000 square feet). It is condition money: spent during the condition period, before you are committed, which is precisely what it is for.
Appraisal
When a full appraisal is required, expect $300 to $500. On an insured, straightforward file like this scenario, lenders often rely on a lower-cost desktop appraisal instead, built from MLS data, tax records, and imagery with no site visit. Budget $400 and be pleasantly surprised if you never spend it.
No land transfer tax, just Land Titles fees
The good news line on the whole page: Alberta has no land transfer tax. In many provinces, a purchase at this price would trigger a transfer tax running into the thousands. Alberta charges modest registration fees instead, at $50 plus $5 per $5,000 for each of the two registrations (rates current since the October 2024 fee increase):
- Transfer of land on $425,000: $475
- Mortgage registration on the $419,900 registered principal, which is the $403,750 loan plus the financed CMHC premium, not the loan alone: $419,900 ÷ $5,000 = 83.98, rounded up to 84 increments, so 84 × $5 + $50 = $470
Total: $945, usually flowing through your lawyer’s bill.
Where the money comes from
The down payment has more help attached to it than most buyers realise, if the accounts are set up early.
FHSA. The First Home Savings Account gives you $8,000 of contribution room in the year you open it, with unused room carrying forward, up to a $40,000 lifetime limit. Withdrawals for a qualifying home purchase are tax-free. Even if buying is two or three years away, opening the account now starts the room accumulating.
RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan. You can withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP for a qualifying purchase. It is a loan from your own retirement savings: repayment runs over 15 years, starting the second calendar year after the withdrawal year, so a 2026 withdrawal means repayments start in 2028. (The temporary three-year repayment deferral you may have read about applied only to withdrawals made between 2022 and 2025; a 2026 withdrawal is on the standard schedule.) You can combine the HBP with an FHSA withdrawal for the same home if you qualify for both.
Gifted down payments. Family money is a big part of how first purchases happen at this price point, and lenders accommodate it with paperwork.
New-build aside. If you were buying new construction instead of resale, the first-time buyer GST rebate is now live, with applications open since March 2026: a 100% rebate of the GST on a new home up to $1 million, phasing out between $1 million and $1.5 million. It does not apply to a resale purchase like this one, so it stays out of the math.
The total: cash to close on $425,000
Stack it all up. This is the whole point of the post, one table.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Down payment (5% of $425,000) | $21,250 |
| Legal fees and disbursements | $1,500 |
| Title insurance | $300 |
| Alberta Land Titles registration (transfer + mortgage) | $945 |
| Home inspection (row/townhouse) | $465 |
| Appraisal (budget; often less on an insured file) | $400 |
| Property tax adjustment (estimate; direction depends on closing date) | $1,000 |
| Total cash to close | ~$25,860 |
| CMHC premium (financed into the mortgage, not cash) | $16,150 |
| Total mortgage registered ($403,750 + $16,150) | $419,900 |
The deposit does not get its own line because it is not an extra cost: it is a slice of the down payment, paid early.
Two lines deserve a second look. The CMHC premium is the largest cost on the page and the only one you never write a cheque for, which is exactly why it hides: $16,150 quietly becomes part of a $419,900 mortgage. And the property tax adjustment is the one line that can move in your favour, depending on which side of June 30 you take possession.
When each cheque actually leaves your account
The costs above arrive in a sequence, and the sequence is worth knowing in advance.
While you save: FHSA and RRSP contributions build the down payment with tax help. Nothing is spent yet.
At pre-approval: no money changes hands. Documents do, and this is when the down payment paper trail should go quiet and traceable.
At offer acceptance: the deposit, usually within a day or two. The first real cheque, and the one that surprises buyers with its timing, months before possession.
During the condition period: the inspection (about $465 here), and the appraisal if your lender orders a full one.
In the days before possession: everything else lands at once through your lawyer’s office. The balance of the down payment (minus the deposit you already paid), legal fees, Land Titles registration, title insurance, and the property tax adjustment go into one trust payment, and the keys come back the other way.
The number to plan around
On this scenario, the answer to the title question is just under $25,900 in cash: $21,250 of down payment and roughly $4,600 of closing costs, with a $16,150 insurance premium financed on top of the mortgage rather than paid in cash. Your line items will differ, but the structure holds: whatever your down payment number is, add roughly $4,500 to $5,000 at this price point before you know your real cash requirement.
If the move involves selling as well as buying, run both sides before committing to either; the numbers interact, especially around possession dates and the tax adjustment. And if you want the monthly-payment side of this math on your own price point, the calculator below is where I’d start.
Common questions
What is the minimum down payment on a $425,000 home in Calgary?
5% of the purchase price, or $21,250. The 5% minimum applies to any home priced at $500,000 or less. Between $500,000 and $1.5 million the minimum is 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the portion above it, and at $1.5 million or more the minimum is 20%. Any down payment below 20% means an insured mortgage with a CMHC premium added to the loan.
Is there a land transfer tax in Alberta?
No. Alberta charges Land Titles registration fees instead, and they are modest. Both the transfer of land and the mortgage registration cost $50 plus $5 per $5,000, the transfer fee based on the property’s value and the mortgage fee based on the registered mortgage principal, including any financed CMHC premium. On a $425,000 purchase with a $419,900 registered mortgage (the $403,750 loan plus the financed CMHC premium), that works out to $475 for the transfer and $470 for the mortgage registration, $945 in total. The same purchase in most other provinces would trigger a land transfer tax running into the thousands.
Do I pay the CMHC premium in cash at closing?
Normally, no. The premium is added to your mortgage principal and paid off over the amortization, so it inflates the loan rather than the cheque you bring to the lawyer. On a $425,000 purchase with 5% down, the premium is 4.00% of the $403,750 loan, or $16,150, which brings the total mortgage to $419,900. You can pay it as a lump sum instead, but almost nobody does. Alberta charges no provincial sales tax on the premium; Ontario and Quebec do.
How much are closing costs in Calgary beyond the down payment?
On a $425,000 purchase, budget roughly $4,500 to $5,000 on top of the down payment: legal fees and disbursements, title insurance, Land Titles registration fees, a home inspection, possibly an appraisal, and a property tax adjustment that depends on your closing date. Alberta has no land transfer tax, which is why the total is lower than buyers arriving from Ontario or B.C. expect.
Can I use my FHSA and RRSP together for a down payment?
Yes. You can combine a tax-free FHSA withdrawal (lifetime contribution limit of $40,000) with an RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal of up to $60,000 for the same qualifying home, provided you meet the conditions of both programs. Keep in mind the HBP is a loan from your own retirement savings: it is repaid over 15 years, starting the second calendar year after the withdrawal year, so a 2026 withdrawal means repayments start in 2028.
What would the payment be at your price point?
Run your own price, down payment, rate, and amortization through the mortgage calculator. It takes about a minute, and it turns this post's cash math into your monthly number.
