Budget 2026 and Housing: What Actually Changes for Greater Vancouver Buyers, Builders and Landlords
$1.5 million. That's the number in Budget 2026 that will matter most to buyers in Greater Vancouver, and it shows up twice. Ottawa wants to raise the price limit on what the budget calls "optional mortgage insurance" from $1 million to $1.5 million, with 30-year amortizations, as long as one borrower is a first-time buyer or the home is new. And it's scrapping the $1.5 million value cap for insured construction loans on new three- and four-unit buildings, starting February 1, 2027.
The budget was presented on Thursday, November 5, 2026, by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. I read the housing chapter, the tax chapter and the annexes so you don't have to. Most of it is national spending that won't change what you pay for a condo in Burnaby next spring. A handful of items will touch owners, buyers, small builders and landlords here, and they don't all start on the same day. Several are still proposals that need legislation or regulations.
Source: Budget 2026, Chapter 3.
What changes, for whom, and when
Start here. The left column is what the budget says; the right column is the part people skip, which is whether it's actually in force. A budget is a plan. Anything marked "proposed" still needs a bill or a regulation, and dates can move.
| Measure | Who | When |
|---|---|---|
| Optional insurance limit to $1.5M, 30 years | First-time buyers, new homes | Proposed, no date |
| New 3-4 unit homes: 90% insured, no cap | Small builders, lot owners | Feb 1, 2027 |
| Private insurers on 5-50 units | Small apartment builders | Feb 1, 2027 |
| Bank of Canada publishes insured rates | Insured borrowers | Proposed, no date |
| CRA income verification | Mortgage applicants | Proposed; pilot from 2027-28 |
| Prepayment penalty transparency | Insured borrowers | Consultation |
| Foreign buyer ban to Jan 1, 2029 (resale) | Non-Canadians, presale sellers | Proposed, bill to come |
| Canada Housing Benefit, 10 years | Low-income renters | Proposed, from 2028-29 |
| 380,000 PR, 370,000 temporary a year | Landlords, renters, newcomers | Plan for 2027-2029 |
Source: Budget 2026, Chapter 3; Annex 4; Budget 2026 PDF, Annex 3.
Buyers: the $1.5 million optional insurance change
Here's the budget's wording, because the details matter: it "proposes to amend mortgage insurance rules to raise the home price limit for optional mortgage insurance from $1 million to $1.5 million and permit 30-year amortisations for these insured mortgages, provided that at least one borrower is a first-time home buyer or the home is newly built." The stated goal is more competition between lenders and more flexibility for buyers.
Don't mix this up with the change you may already know about. Since December 15, 2024, the cap for regular insured mortgages has been $1.5 million, and first-time buyers and buyers of new builds can already get 30 years. That's the high-ratio world: you borrow more than 80% of the price, insurance is part of the deal, and CMHC's Home Start product spells out the $1.5 million limit and 30-year maximum. I covered the premiums in my CMHC insurance breakdown and the trade-offs of the longer schedule in the 30-year amortization post.
The budget's new item is a separate lever, with its old limit still at $1 million. The chapter doesn't spell out how the product works, who pays for it, or what it costs, so I'm not going to guess. What I'd do as a buyer: once Finance publishes the rule and a start date, ask your lender or broker to quote an insured and an uninsured mortgage side by side on the same property, and compare the total cost, not just the rate.
| Rule | Today | After |
|---|---|---|
| Price limit, regular insured (high-ratio) mortgage | $1.5 million (since Dec 15, 2024) | Unchanged |
| 30-year amortization, regular insured mortgage | First-time buyers and new builds | Unchanged |
| Price limit, optional mortgage insurance | $1 million | $1.5 million if a first-time buyer or new home (proposed) |
| Amortization, optional mortgage insurance | Not stated in the budget | 30 years under the same conditions (proposed) |
| New 3-4 unit construction: value cap | $1.5 million | No maximum (Feb 1, 2027) |
| New 3-4 unit construction: owner must live in a unit | Yes | No (Feb 1, 2027) |
| New 3-4 unit construction: insured share of value | Not stated in the budget | Up to 90% (Feb 1, 2027) |
| 5-50 unit properties, private insurers | Not permitted (implied by the change) | Private insurers may offer it (Feb 1, 2027) |
Source: Budget 2026, Chapter 3; CMHC Home Start; Finance Canada, Sept 16, 2024.
Where $1M to $1.5M sits on today's asking prices
So who sits in the $1 million to $1.5 million band? I pulled median asking prices from EstateBlock's live listings this morning. These are asking prices of active listings, not sale prices, so treat them as where sellers are, not where deals close. Bold marks the medians that land between $1 million and $1.5 million.
| City | Detached | Townhouse | Condo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | $2.78M | $1.39M | $798K |
| North Van | $2.25M | $1.30M | $791K |
| Richmond | $2.29M | $1.04M | $680K |
| Burnaby | $2.10M | $977K | $688K |
| Coquitlam | $1.79M | $1.10M | $630K |
| Port Coq. | $1.35M | $900K | $576K |
| New West | $1.55M | $854K | $550K |
| Surrey | $1.60M | $788K | $499K |
| Langley | $1.81M | $830K | $509K |
| Maple Ridge | $1.37M | $737K | $450K |
Source: EstateBlock.com live listings, snapshot 2026-11-06 (asking prices of active listings, not sale prices).
Six of those 30 medians fall inside the band. Four are townhouses: Vancouver ($1.39M), North Vancouver ($1.30M), Coquitlam ($1.10M) and Richmond ($1.04M). The other two are detached houses in Port Coquitlam ($1.35M) and Maple Ridge ($1.37M). Condos sit below $1 million in every city on the list, so the optional insurance change is mostly a townhouse and outer-suburb house story here.
If you're a first-time buyer shopping a Coquitlam or Richmond townhouse, or a house in Port Coquitlam or Maple Ridge, the first-time buyer guide and the affordability calculator will show you what a 25- versus 30-year schedule does to the payment. Insurance or not, you still have to pass the qualifying rate; the stress test post has the current numbers.
Small builders: the fourplex rule
This is the change I'd pay the most attention to if you own a house on a lot that now allows multiplexes. The budget uses a worked example: a builder wants to put up a $3 million fourplex. Under today's rules it doesn't qualify for mortgage insurance, because the value is over the $1.5 million cap and the builder would have to live in one unit and rent the other three.
From February 1, 2027, insured construction financing for newly built three- and four-unit homes can go up to 90% of the property's value, from any mortgage insurer, with no maximum value and no requirement to live there. When it's finished, the owner can keep it and rent all four units with an insured mortgage amortized over up to 30 years, or sell the units individually. Separately, private insurers will be allowed to insure five- to fifty-unit properties.
Why this matters more here than in most of Canada: look at the land. The median asking price of a detached house is above $1.5 million in eight of the ten cities in the table above, before anyone pours a foundation. In Vancouver it's $2.78M, in Richmond $2.29M, in Burnaby $2.10M. Under the old cap, a Greater Vancouver fourplex on a typical detached lot was out of the insured market before construction costs were even counted. B.C.'s small-scale multi-unit housing rules opened up the zoning (I explain what that means for a typical lot in the Bill 44 SSMUH post); this budget item is aimed at the financing side.
Source: EstateBlock.com live listings, snapshot 2026-11-06 (asking prices of active listings, not sale prices)
Show the numbers
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Vancouver | $2.78M |
| Richmond | $2.29M |
| North Vancouver | $2.25M |
| Burnaby | $2.10M |
| Langley | $1.81M |
| Coquitlam | $1.79M |
| Surrey | $1.60M |
| New Westminster | $1.55M |
| Maple Ridge | $1.37M |
| Port Coquitlam | $1.35M |
Two cautions. First, 90% of value is a financing ceiling, not a guarantee you'll get it; lenders and insurers still underwrite the builder, the budget and the rents. Second, the detailed parameters sit in a Department of Finance technical backgrounder that I couldn't pull today, so I've stuck to what the budget chapter itself says. If you're planning a build for 2027, have your mortgage professional walk you through the backgrounder before you commit to drawings. The budget also says Ottawa is still "exploring a range of options" for financing homes built for ownership, after consultations that wrapped up in September.
One more for larger rental builders: the tax chapter proposes widening an exception to the interest deductibility limits (the EIFEL rules) for purpose-built rental housing, to cover indirect funding within an affiliated group. That's a corporate-structure fix, mostly relevant to developers with an accountant already on retainer. See Chapter 6.
Mortgage shopping: rates, income checks, penalties
Three smaller items, all about the mortgage process rather than the price of the home.
Insured rates, published. New regulations would have the Bank of Canada publish more information on insured mortgage rates, so borrowers can compare. There's no date. Chapter 1 lists "increase transparency in pricing, including in the insured mortgage market" as part of a wider competition push.
CRA income verification. The budget proposes amending the Canada Revenue Agency Act so CRA can sign agreements with lenders and insurers to verify income, with $13 million over three years starting in 2027-28 to build and pilot it. The aim is a faster, more reliable application and less mortgage fraud. If you're self-employed, expect the income on your tax returns to carry even more weight once this is running.
Prepayment penalties. Ottawa intends to consult on making penalties for breaking or paying off an insured mortgage easier to understand and compare. A consultation, nothing more yet. If you're renewing or breaking a mortgage in the meantime, my mortgage renewal post explains why maturity is the clean moment to switch, and why you ask for the exact penalty figure first.
Foreign buyer ban: extended, with a new-home exemption
Under current law the federal ban on non-Canadians buying residential property ends on January 1, 2027. Budget 2026 proposes to extend it for two years, to January 1, 2029, for existing homes, while exempting new residential properties. The government says it will "propose legislation and launch a regulatory process on this change in short order." As of today that's 56 days before the current expiry, and nothing has passed yet. What counts as a "new residential property" isn't defined in the budget.
Two things don't change here. B.C.'s 20% additional property transfer tax on foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver is a provincial tax and isn't tied to the federal ban, and B.C.'s speculation and vacancy tax rate for foreign owners rises to 4% for the 2027 tax year. So even if a non-Canadian can buy a new condo in 2027, the 20% additional transfer tax still applies, and the speculation and vacancy tax may. I've updated the full foreign buyer ban guide with the exceptions, the penalties and what to watch while the bill moves.
The big money: Build Canada Homes and homelessness
Most of the dollars in the housing chapter go to non-market housing and homelessness. Build Canada Homes, the federal housing agency created in September 2025, gets an extra $13 billion over ten years starting in 2028-29. The budget says that puts its total capitalisation at $45 billion and sets it on a path to 200,000 new homes over the next decade. The broader target is to triple non-market housing starts to 24,000 a year; non-market housing is about 4% of Canada's housing stock today.
Vancouver gets one named example: the budget lists "supporting housing and affordability outcomes on Heather Lands" among Build Canada Homes investments, without a dollar figure in the text version.
The homelessness plan is $11.2 billion over four years starting in 2027-28, plus $17.8 billion in later years, with the goal of putting Canada on a path to end homelessness within 10 years. Inside that is a 10-year renewal of the Canada Housing Benefit ($1.7 billion over three years from 2028-29), which is direct monthly rental help for low-income tenants. A further $1.5 billion over four years goes to water, sewer and roads on federal land so it can be built on.
Source: Budget 2026, Chapter 3
Show the numbers
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Build Canada Homes, added capital (10 years from 2028-29) | $13.0B |
| Supportive and transitional housing (4 years from 2027-28) | $3.6B |
| Reaching Home and veterans' homelessness (3 years from 2028-29) | $2.1B |
| Health Infrastructure Fund (2 years from 2027-28) | $2.0B |
| Integrated Supports Fund (4 years from 2027-28) | $1.8B |
| Canada Housing Benefit renewal (3 years from 2028-29) | $1.7B |
| Preparing federal lands for housing (4 years from 2027-28) | $1.5B |
For a homeowner or buyer in Greater Vancouver, none of this moves prices next month. Much of the money starts flowing in 2027-28 or 2028-29, and the budget expects the provinces to fund operations and support services for the new supportive housing. The existing Apartment Construction Loan Program, which the budget says has committed $32 billion for over 80,000 rental homes, is the federal tool that reaches the purpose-built rental pipeline more directly.
Immigration targets and the rental market
The 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan in the budget sets 380,000 permanent resident admissions and 370,000 new temporary resident arrivals in each of the three years. The budget's own chart puts that next to recent years: 686,010 temporary arrivals and 483,655 PR admissions in 2024. The temporary target is −46% from 2024 and −62% from 2023; the PR target is −21% from 2024.
- Temporary residents
- Permanent residents
Source: Budget 2026, Chapter 3, Chart 3.1 (IRCC data, Aug 31, 2026)
Show the numbers
| Temporary residents | Permanent residents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 972K | 472K |
| 2024 | 686K | 484K |
| 2027-29 target | 370K | 380K |
| 2024 | Target/yr | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary arrivals | 686,010 | 370,000 | −46.1% |
| PR admissions | 483,655 | 380,000 | −21.4% |
Source: Budget 2026, Chapter 3, Chart 3.1 text version.
Two more lines from the same section. Up to 200,000 temporary residents already in Canada could become permanent residents by the end of 2027, including 100,000 workers eligible for Express Entry or a Provincial Nominee Program, working with the provinces. And new worker arrivals from January to August 2026 were 57% (170,455) lower than in the same months of 2024.
My read for landlords and renters: lower temporary arrivals mean fewer brand-new households looking for their first rental in Canada. The PR transition doesn't add people; it changes their status. Someone who becomes a permanent resident can stop renting and buy, and they're no longer covered by the foreign buyer ban. I wouldn't treat any of that as a forecast for rents, and the budget doesn't make one. If you're setting a rent for 2027, start from the 2.2% cap for existing tenancies and today's asking rents, not from a national immigration number. For newcomers working toward PR, the newcomer buying guide covers what you can do before and after the status change.
My read
If you're a first-time buyer looking at a $1 million to $1.5 million townhouse, the optional insurance change is worth tracking, but don't plan around it until there's a start date. The rules that already exist (the $1.5 million high-ratio cap and 30 years for first-time buyers) are the ones you can use this winter.
If you own a detached lot in Vancouver, Burnaby or Richmond and you've been sketching a fourplex, February 1, 2027 is the date to circle. The lot price no longer knocks you out of insured construction financing, and you don't have to live there. That doesn't make the numbers work by itself; construction cost and rents still decide it. But it removes a cap that, on Greater Vancouver land prices, ruled most projects out.
If you're a non-Canadian waiting for January 1, 2027, don't assume the ban ends. The government has said it plans to extend it for resale homes. Watch for the bill.
And if you're selling a house that a builder might want, the February change could bring more financed builders to the table for lots that allow multiplexes. I can't tell you it will. If you want to know where your place sits on today's asking prices, start with the home value estimator.
FAQ
Did Budget 2026 change the mortgage insurance price limit?
It proposes to raise the price limit for optional mortgage insurance from $1 million to $1.5 million, with 30-year amortizations, when at least one borrower is a first-time buyer or the home is newly built. No start date was given. The $1.5 million cap for regular high-ratio insured mortgages has been in place since December 15, 2024.
When do the missing-middle mortgage insurance changes start?
February 1, 2027. Newly built three- and four-unit homes can get insured financing up to 90% of value with no maximum value and no owner-occupancy requirement, and private insurers can insure five- to fifty-unit properties.
Is the foreign buyer ban extended?
Budget 2026 proposes to extend it to January 1, 2029 for existing homes and to exempt new residential properties. Legislation and regulations are still to come; under current law the ban ends January 1, 2027.
What are the 2027-2029 immigration targets in Budget 2026?
380,000 permanent resident admissions and 370,000 new temporary resident arrivals in each of 2027, 2028 and 2029, plus up to 200,000 temporary residents already in Canada who could become permanent residents by the end of 2027.
Sources
- Budget 2026: home page
- Budget 2026, Chapter 3: A more affordable life (housing, mortgages, foreign buyers, immigration)
- Budget 2026, Chapter 1 (competition, insured mortgage pricing)
- Finance Canada: technical backgrounder, mortgage insurance changes for missing-middle housing
- Canadian Mortgage Trends (Bloomberg): budget relaxes foreign buyer ban (Nov 5, 2026)
- Government of B.C.: Rent increases (2027 limit)
- Budget 2026, Chapter 6 (tax measures, purpose-built rental EIFEL exception)
- Budget 2026, Annex 4: Impacts report
- Budget 2026, full PDF (Annex 3 legislative measures)
- CMHC: Home Start (current insured limits)
- Finance Canada: mortgage reforms effective December 15, 2024 (Sept 16, 2024)
- Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 (foreign buyer ban expiry)
- Government of B.C.: Additional property transfer tax
- Government of B.C.: Speculation and vacancy tax rates
- EstateBlock.com: live listings by city (snapshot 2026-11-06, asking prices)
Dan Marusin PREC, REALTOR® · Renanza Realty Inc., 777 Hornby St, Suite 600, Vancouver, BC. This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.