Ryan Jacob

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been conducting its annual Mortgage Consumer Survey since 1999 with a one-year exception during the pandemic. The survey brings valuable insights on mortgage consumers’ thoughts, attitudes and behaviours regarding homeownership and the process of obtaining a mortgage.

This year, a total of 4,112 mortgage consumers were surveyed between January 7 and February 1, 2026. The interviews were conducted in both English and French, and included Canadians aged 18 or over in every region of the country who:

• are the prime decision makers in their households; and,
• had undertaken a mortgage transaction in the past 18 months.

Key highlights

1. Respondents continue to be confident about their purchase being a good long-term investment, though fewer believe the value of their home will increase over the next 12 months compared to last year.
2. It took homebuyers an average of 4.4 years to save for a down payment, mainly driven by first-time homebuyers taking longer at 4.7 year.
3. Savings and equity from previous home continue to be the main components of down payments. However, 23% of homebuyers (13% of repeat buyers and 27% of first-time homebuyers) surveyed said they received a financial gift to contribute to their down payment. 
4. There was a significant decrease in mortgage consumers who were concerned about defaulting on their payments, down to 39% from 53% in 2025.
5. Renewers were more likely (35%) to say they experienced increased financial pressure due to changes in interest rates, with their mortgage payments increasing on average by $375 a month.
6. Mortgage consumers are leveraging the use of AI (16% of those who did online research) to help with their information gathering

https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/-/media/sites/cmhc/professional/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/surveys/mortgage-consumer-surveys/survey-results-2026/mcs-2026-e-book-en.pdf