How to Save for a Down Payment in These Canadian Provinces

There are several variables that can affect the time you need to get your down payment together: interest rates, a salary raise or a job loss, deciding to pool your funds together and buy with a partner or a friend or a family member, and changes in the housing market, among others.

Although each person saves differently, we got these stats by calculating 10 percent of a person’s monthly salary, using the salary averages as stated in the 2020 census. Then we compared these numbers to the average house price.

Read on for a basic ballpark figure of how long you’ll need to save for a down payment in these Canadian provinces.

Average House Price: $910,914

Minimum Down Payment: $66,091

You’ll need to save up for 12.7 years. Or about 12 years, eight months and three weeks.

If you earn an average income in British Columbia, your best option to become a homeowner may be to pool your money with others and buy a property together.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average income: $51,900
• What to Save Each Month: $433

Average House Price: $423,879

Minimum Down Payment: $25,000

You’ll need to save up for 4.45 years. Or about four years, five months and two weeks. This is the shortest time needed to save up for all the provinces. If you can, set aside more each month for a bigger down payment. This way, you’ll have smaller mortgage payments, and if you then negotiate a fixed-rate mortgage, higher interest rates will have no effect on your monthly payments.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income:  $56,100
• What to Save Each Month: $468

Average House Price: $334,100

Minimum Down Payment: $25,000

You’ll need to save up for 4.87 years. Or abou four years, 10 months and two weeks. Saskatchewan hasn’t seen a huge increase in house prices over the past year but is a good bet if you’re more interested in building equity than flipping your house for a quick buck. To find the cheapest houses for sale in an already cheap province, look further afield than Saskatoon and towards places like Prince Albert.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income: $51,300
• What to Save Each Month: $428

Average House Price: $344,237

Minimum Down Payment: $25,000

You’ll need to save up for 5.18 years. Or about five years, two months and five days. If you can work remotely, Manitoba’s Interlake Region is one of the most affordable places to buy vacation properties in Canada – and who doesn’t want a lake view from their home office?

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income: $48,200
• What to Save Each Month: $402

Average House Price: $829,739

Minimum Down Payment: $57,974

You’ll need to save up for 11.03 years. Or about 11 years and ten days. If this is enough to make you want to cash it all in and go live in a cave, not so fast: While house prices in the GTA are insane, there are plenty of small and more remote Ontario towns where housing is still surprisingly affordable.

Let’s breakdown the finances.

• Average Income: $52,600
• What to Save Each Month: $438

Average House Price: $484,070

Minimum Down Payment: $25,000

You’ll need to save up for 5.17 years. Or about five years, two months and two weeks. Before you get your heart set on that gorgeous Montreal Victorian, be aware that unlike elsewhere in the province, average house prices in Montreal are over $500,000, which can add considerably to the down payment you’d need.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income: $48,400
• What to Save Each Month: $403

Average House Price: $287,600

Minimum Down Payme: $25,000

You’ll need to save up for 5.5 years. about five years and six months. If you can put away more per month, though, you can get that down payment together faster. It will be well worth it: Moncton is one of the best places to live as a single woman in Canada and New Brunswick has some of the cheapest real estate in the country, so you may be able to buy that dream house all on your own.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income: $45,500
• What to Save Each Month: $379

Average House Price: $395,300

Minimum Down Payment: $25,000

You’ll need to save up for 5.44 years. Oabout five years, five months and a week. On average, homes in the Halifax–Dartmouth area are over $500,000. Instead, head to the countryside. On Cape Breton, for example, average homes are under $200,000.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income: $45,900
• What to Save Each Month: $383

Average House Price: $372,700

Minimum Down Payment: $25,000

You’ll need to save up to 5.59 years. Or about five and seven months.

Prince Edward Islanders have the lowest average income in Canada but this doesn’t mean you need to give up your dream of home ownership if you live here. There are such cheap properties for sale in this part of the country that once you’ve made the down payment, you can pay off the rest in a jiffy – and you’ll own an island home.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income:  $44,700
• What to Save Each Month: $373

Average House Price: $286,000

Minimum Down Payment: $25,000

You’ll need to save up for 5.3 years. Or about five years, three months and three weeks. Remember, though, that Newfoundland and Labrador leads the way in terms of cheap houses you can buy in Canada. That $25,000 down payment may even be a third of the total price, which means your monthly mortgage payments will be next to nothing.

Let’s break down the finances:

• Average Income:  $47,100
• What to Save Each Month: $393