How to Save for a Down Payment on a $600k Home in Ontario

You’ve been watching Ontario real estate long enough to know that $600,000 isn’t an extravagant budget — it’s close to the median price for a condo or smaller house in many markets outside the downtown core. You’re probably already saving something every month, but the math still feels impossibly slow. The gap between where you are and a realistic down payment feels enormous, especially when rent keeps climbing and student loans aren’t fully paid off. The good news is that Canada has three registered accounts specifically designed to accelerate this goal, and most young Canadians are only using one of them — or none at all.

Quick answer: On a $600,000 Ontario home, you’ll need a minimum 5% down payment on the first $500,000 and 10% on the remaining $100,000 — totalling $35,000 — though putting down more significantly reduces your CMHC insurance premium and monthly costs. The fastest path is maxing your FHSA ($8,000/year, up to $40,000 lifetime) first, then using your TFSA, and only then tapping an RRSP via the Home Buyers’ Plan.

How Much Do You Actually Need as a Down Payment on a $600k Ontario Home?

The minimum down payment on a $600,000 purchase is $35,000. Here’s how that’s calculated: the rules require 5% on the first $500,000 ($25,000) and 10% on anything above that ($10,000 on the remaining $100,000). That $35,000 minimum also triggers CMHC mortgage default insurance, which adds a premium of 2.8% of the insured amount to your mortgage — roughly $15,680 — bringing your total borrowing to around $580,680 before interest.

Putting down 10% ($60,000) drops your CMHC premium to 3.1% of a smaller insured amount and meaningfully reduces your monthly payment. Putting down 20% ($120,000) eliminates CMHC insurance entirely and gives you a conventional mortgage. Most first-time buyers in Ontario aim for somewhere between 5% and 15% depending on their timeline and income. If you’re targeting $60,000–$75,000 as a realistic first-time buyer down payment, that’s a concrete and achievable number — and the accounts below exist to help you get there faster.

How Does the FHSA Work and Why Should You Open One First?

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is the most powerful savings tool available to first-time buyers in Canada, and most people under 30 haven’t opened one yet. You can contribute up to $8,000 per year and up to $40,000 over your lifetime. Every dollar you contribute is tax-deductible — just like an RRSP — and every dollar you withdraw to buy a qualifying home comes out completely tax-free, just like a TFSA.

That combination doesn’t exist anywhere else in the Canadian tax system. On a $70,000 income in Ontario, contributing $8,000 to your FHSA could generate a tax refund of roughly $2,000–$2,400, which you can then put back toward your down payment goal. Unused contribution room also carries forward one year, so if you can only contribute $5,000 this year, you can put in $11,000 next year. To qualify, you must be a Canadian resident, at least 18 years old, and a first-time home buyer (you haven’t owned a home you lived in at any point in the current or preceding four calendar years). Open your FHSA at Wealthsimple, Questrade, or any major bank — and do it as soon as possible, even with a small amount, because room starts accumulating from the day you open the account.

Quick tip: Open your FHSA now, even if you can only put in $500. Contribution room is only created once you’ve opened the account — there’s no retroactive room for years you had an account closed.

How to Use Your TFSA and RRSP Alongside the FHSA

Once you’re contributing to your FHSA, your TFSA is the next best place to park home savings. Your TFSA doesn’t give you a tax deduction on the way in, but growth and withdrawals are completely tax-free and there’s no restriction on what you withdraw the money for — unlike the FHSA, which is locked to a qualifying home purchase. If your timeline shifts or you decide not to buy, your TFSA money is fully yours to use however you want. As of 2026, the cumulative TFSA contribution room for someone who was 18 by 2009 is $95,000 — so there’s likely room even if you’ve made contributions before.

The RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) lets you withdraw up to $35,000 from your RRSP tax-free to buy your first home, but there’s an important catch: you have to repay that amount back into your RRSP over 15 years, or the unpaid portion gets added to your taxable income each year. The HBP still makes sense if you have significant RRSP savings and want to maximize your down payment without liquidating other assets. You can combine the HBP with the FHSA — meaning a couple could theoretically put $70,000 in FHSA withdrawals plus $70,000 in HBP withdrawals together toward one purchase. For a detailed breakdown of using both, see our guide on how to use your FHSA and RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan together.

What’s a Realistic Timeline to Save $60,000 in Ontario?

Let’s run the numbers honestly. If you’re saving $1,500/month toward your down payment — a realistic but serious commitment on a $70,000–$80,000 income — you’d hit $60,000 in about 40 months, or just over three years, with no investment growth at all. With your FHSA invested in a balanced ETF portfolio earning a modest return, you’d likely get there a few months earlier. Your annual FHSA tax refunds — potentially $2,000–$3,000 per year at median Ontario income levels — can be directed straight back into your TFSA or FHSA to accelerate the timeline further.

The real lever isn’t investment returns — it’s savings rate. Cutting $400/month from discretionary spending (a mid-range restaurant habit, streaming services, unused subscriptions) and redirecting it to your down payment shortens a 40-month plan to 30 months. If you can save $2,000/month, you’re looking at roughly two and a half years to $60,000. The key is keeping those funds invested at EQ Bank, a HISA, or in low-risk ETFs rather than sitting in a chequing account earning nothing. Check out our post on how much you need for a down payment in Canada for more detail on how the thresholds work across different price points.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum down payment on a $600,000 home in Ontario?

The minimum down payment on a $600,000 purchase is $35,000. That’s 5% on the first $500,000 ($25,000) plus 10% on the remaining $100,000 ($10,000). Any down payment under 20% requires CMHC mortgage default insurance, which is added to your mortgage balance.

Can I use my FHSA and RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan at the same time?

Yes. You can combine an FHSA withdrawal (up to $40,000 lifetime, fully tax-free) with an RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal (up to $35,000 per person) on the same qualifying home purchase. A couple where both are first-time buyers could combine up to $150,000 from these two programs alone.

How much CMHC insurance would I pay on a $600k home with a 5% down payment?

With a $35,000 down payment (5.83% of $600,000), your insured mortgage would be $565,000. The CMHC premium rate at this down payment is 2.8%, adding about $15,820 to your mortgage balance. That premium is also subject to Ontario’s provincial sales tax (PST), which adds roughly $2,500 due at closing.

Is the FHSA better than a TFSA for saving for a home?

For a qualifying first home purchase, the FHSA is better because it gives you both a tax deduction when you contribute and a tax-free withdrawal when you buy. The TFSA has no up-front deduction. Use the FHSA first up to its limits ($8,000/year, $40,000 lifetime), then continue saving in your TFSA for flexibility or for amounts beyond the FHSA cap.

What happens if I save in my FHSA but never buy a home?

If you don’t use your FHSA to buy a qualifying home, you can transfer the funds to your RRSP or RRIF without using up RRSP contribution room — and without tax consequences on the transfer. You’d only pay tax when you eventually withdraw from the RRSP in retirement. This means opening an FHSA is essentially risk-free: the money goes somewhere useful either way.

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