Three separate numbers, not one — and the first thing to fix is that most buyers think they're the same amount.
Short answer
More than “the down payment” alone, because that's really three separate figures. The deposit is a good-faith amount paid with the offer, held in trust, and later credited toward the down payment. The down payment itself runs 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion above that up to CMHC's $1.5 million insured ceiling. Closing costs sit on top of both, at roughly 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price.
The deposit accompanies the signed offer and is held in a segregated trust account, usually by the listing brokerage — it isn't a separate cost, it's an early instalment of the down payment. The down payment is the equity portion of the purchase price due at closing. Closing costs — land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance, adjustments — are a third, separate amount that a buyer needs in cash on top of both, and it's the one first-time buyers most often forget to budget for at all.
For an insured mortgage, CMHC's own eligibility page sets it out plainly: “For a purchase price of $500,000 or less, the minimum down payment is 5%. When the purchase price is above $500,000, the minimum down payment is 5% for the first $500,000 and 10% for the remaining portion,” up to a $1.5 million ceiling for homeowner loans. The same page adds the closing-cost estimate CMHC itself uses when qualifying a buyer — “1.5% to 4% of the purchase price” — and its own observation that “many first-time buyers are surprised by these costs.”
A deposit isn't automatically forfeited if a deal falls apart. Per Treadstone Law's own deposit-rules page, it's returned when a condition isn't met and notice was given on time, or when both sides sign a mutual release; “forfeiture isn't automatic” and requires the buyer's written consent or a court order, not just a missed deadline. A disputed deposit can go to the Ontario Superior Court through an interpleader application rather than being released to either side unilaterally, and if it sits unclaimed for more than two years, RECO's own rule requires the brokerage to forward it to RECO rather than hold it indefinitely.
One practical number worth knowing before a buyer needs it: Ontario's consumer deposit insurance covers brokerage theft, fraud, insolvency, or misappropriation up to $200,000 per claim and $4 million per single event — a real backstop, but not a reason to skip explaining how the trust account itself works. One real deposit dispute and the first-time buyer rebate that can offset some of this are both worth walking a buyer through in the same conversation.
A 30-minute call is enough to tell you whether your process holds up.
