Case Study · Residential / Prime

Rideshare Income and 10% Down: A Major Bank's Insured Mortgage Bought a First Condo in Delta at 90%

A married couple with two children were buying a first home in 2024, a two-bedroom-and-den condo in Delta priced at $480,000. One spouse is an architectural draftsperson earning $65,000; the other has driven for a rideshare platform, self-employed, since 2022.

Closed in 2024 · Published October 18, 2026

Residential
Prime lender
Insured
Purchase
First-time buyer
Self-employed

Purchase price: $480,000
Insured mortgage: $432,000 plus the premium
Loan-to-value: 90%
Down payment: 10%, $48,000
Rate in 2024: about 4.8%, three-year fixed

The Situation

The Challenge

Self-employed income is read from tax returns, and the driving income had grown from about $30,000 in 2022 to about $45,000 in 2023.

The Solution

In 2024 we placed an insured mortgage of about $430,000 plus the premium with a major Canadian bank, 90% of the price, on a three-year fixed term at about 4.8%. The bank averaged two years of net self-employed income, grossed it up by 15% to about $43,000 and counted the child benefits, at debt-service ratios of about 36% and 44%.

The Outcome

The couple own their first home with 10% down, $48,000 gathered from eleven of their own accounts.

Run the numbers

Mortgage Insurance Calculator

This first home was an insured purchase with 10% down. See the insurance premium on your own price and down payment.

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Step 1 · Your purchase

Insurance program

Borrowed down payment (Flex 95) — borrowing your 5% down payment from a line of credit or loan is allowed with strong credit. It raises the 5%-down premium from 4.00% to 4.50% (the loan payment counts in your debt ratios). Only affects purchases with less than 10% down.

Purchase price

Buying new construction? Enter the price including the 5% GST — insurers calculate the premium on the GST-inclusive price. Insured mortgages cap at $1,499,999 (20% down required at $1.5M+).

Down payment

10% = $90,000

Amortization

Province

PST on the insurance premium is paid at closing in ON (8%), QC (9%) and SK (6%). Other provinces: none.

Insurance premium

$25,110

3.10% of $810,000 loan @ 90.0% LTV

Breakdown

Purchase price$900,000

Down payment$90,000 · 10.0%

Loan before insurance$810,000

Insurance premium (3.10%)$25,110

Total insured mortgage$835,110

Premium can be added to (financed in) the mortgage. PST on the premium, where applicable, is paid in cash at closing.

Premium curve · 8% → 25% down

Watch how the insurance premium drops as you raise your down payment — it hits $0 once you reach 20% (no insurance needed). The curve starts at this home's federal minimum down payment. The marker shows where you are right now.

What this calculator does that most don't

Charges the provincial sales tax on the premium where it applies (ON 8%, QC 9%, SK 6% — Manitoba removed its in 2020) — due in cash at closing, which most calculators quietly omit
Standard insured AND Sagen Insured Stated Income (self-employed) in one tool — switch the program to see the higher stated-income premium
Knows the December 2024 rules: max insured price $1,499,999 (high-ratio, under 20% down — not to be confused with the $999,999 insurable cap) and the first-time-buyer OR new-build gate on 30-year insured amortization, with the 0.20% surcharge applied

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Questions and answers

Questions about this file

Can a rideshare driver get a mortgage?+

This one did, in 2024, with a major Canadian bank's insured mortgage: self-employed, driving for a rideshare platform since 2022, beside a spouse earning $65,000 as an architectural draftsperson.

How do banks calculate self-employed income for a mortgage?+

In this 2024 file the bank averaged two years of net self-employed income and grossed it up by 15%, to about $43,100.

Does growing self-employed income help?+

Self-employed income is read from tax returns. Here the driving income grew from about $29,500 in 2022 to about $45,400 in 2023, and the bank averaged the two years.

Can the down payment come from several accounts?+

Here the 10% down payment, $48,000, was gathered from eleven of the couple's own accounts.

What were the terms?+

$432,000 plus the premium, 90% of the price, on a three-year fixed term at about 4.8% in 2024, at debt-service ratios of about 36% and 44%. The bank also counted the child benefits.

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