Budget eases mortgage insurance rules for new fourplexes and 50-unit buildings

A builder with a $3-million fourplex could secure an insured loan of up to $2.7 million under changes announced in Prime Minister Mark Carney's 2026 federal budget, Daily Hive Vancouver reported. That figure is the budget's own example.

Ottawa plans to scrap the $1.5-million property value ceiling and the owner-occupancy requirement for eligible new triplexes and fourplexes. Insured loans could reach 90 per cent of the expected value once construction is finished, and a builder could keep all four homes as rentals on a mortgage of up to 30 years or sell them individually. Traditional lenders often treat multiplexes as commercial developments, so the insurance rules matter to Metro Vancouver builders weighing small multiplex projects.

Private insurers could also cover buildings with five to 50 homes. New-construction loans could reach 90 per cent of value with repayment periods of up to 50 years; other loans would top out at 85 per cent and 40 years. Such properties must have a single legal title or ownership structure, and borrowers need net worth of at least 25 per cent of the loan and no less than $100,000. For construction loans, insurers would apply their own criteria to judge ability to repay.

Finished triplexes and fourplexes would face limits of 39 per cent of gross income for housing costs and 44 per cent for total debt payments, with a credit score of 600 or higher for at least one borrower or guarantor. Both changes would apply to applications lenders submit on or after Feb. 1, 2027. The Spring 2026 economic update first hinted at them.