Enter your expected 2026 net self-employment profit after business expenses, before personal income tax and CPP. For a sole proprietor/partner, use the applicable T1 net self-employment lines 13500, 13700, 13900, 14100 or 14300.
Used to calculate provincial income tax and determine your total CRA set-aside. Quebec is not supported by this calculator.
This version models one taxpayer with pure self-employment income. Mixed T4 + self-employment income can change both income tax and CPP. Use the Self-Employed Tax Calculator for mixed-income tax/CPP treatment.
Optional. Enter the annual qualifying income from the Self-Employed Mortgage Qualification Calculator or your lender/broker. If left blank, Sidehub uses your expected 2026 net self-employment income as a baseline lender-income proxy.
Sidehub subtracts a planning reserve of 5%, 10% or 15% of your pre-tax monthly self-employment income. These percentages are Sidehub scenarios, not lender or government requirements.
Include non-lender cash expenses you want reflected in affordability: groceries, transportation, childcare, subscriptions, personal insurance, non-heating utilities, homeowner insurance, and a routine maintenance allowance. Exclude mortgage P&I, property tax, heating, condo fees, and existing debt payments — those have dedicated inputs below.
Minimum payments on car loans, student loans, lines of credit, or credit cards. These count toward your TDS ratio.
Minimum: 5% on first $500k, 10% on $500k–just under $1.5M, 20% at $1.5M+. Mortgages under 20% down require mortgage default insurance (calculated automatically); a purchase at or above $1.5M always requires 20%+ down. Closing costs are not deducted from the down payment entered here — see the methodology section below.
Your contract rate. Used for actual payment calculation.
Counts toward GDS. Estimate: annual assessment ÷ 12.
Use the property's actual monthly heating cost where available. Mortgage underwriting may otherwise use a reasonable estimate based on the property. Counts toward GDS and TDS.
Leave at 0 for a freehold. Lenders include 50% of condo fees in GDS and TDS.
| Item | Monthly amount | % of gross |
|---|---|---|
| Enter your details above to see the breakdown. | ||
Tax year 2026. Rates last updated: June 2026.
Tax + CPP calculation: 2026 federal/provincial tax and self-employed CPP are calculated using Sidehub's approved CPP-aware tax engine, including the applicable CPP deduction and credit treatment (half base CPP credit, half base CPP deduction, first additional CPP deduction, and CPP2 deduction). This version models one taxpayer with pure self-employment income and no other taxable income or T4 pensionable employment — mixed income changes both tax and CPP; use the Self-Employed Tax Calculator for that case. Supported jurisdictions: ON, BC, AB, SK, MB, NB, NS, NL, PE, YT, NT, NU. Quebec is not supported.
Income-risk reserve: 5% of pre-tax monthly self-employment income (Steady), 10% (Somewhat variable), or 15% (Highly variable). These percentages are Sidehub planning scenarios, not lender or government requirements, and are reserved as a monthly operating amount, not a savings contribution.
Lender-style ceiling: Computed using GDS (39%) and TDS (44%) limits applied to gross qualifying income (your entered lender qualifying income, or your expected 2026 net self-employment income as a proxy if left blank), with the OSFI stress test rate — max(contract rate + 2%, 5.25%).
Mortgage default insurance: Applied when down payment is below 20% and purchase price is below $1,500,000 (a purchase at or above $1,500,000 always requires 20%+ down, with no insurance option). This estimate uses CMHC's common homeowner premium schedule as an example — CMHC is not the only mortgage default insurer. Tiers: 2.80% / 3.10% / 4.00% (≤25yr amortization); 3.00% / 3.30% / 4.20% (30yr, first-time-buyer/new-build eligible only). The premium is added to the mortgage principal; any provincial sales tax on the premium (see below) is a separate upfront cash cost, not financed.
Mortgage-insurance premium sales tax: Ontario applies 8% RST and Saskatchewan applies 6% PST to the mortgage-insurance premium, payable in cash upfront (not financed). Other supported jurisdictions shown here have no premium sales tax modelled. Quebec is not supported by this calculator.
Canadian mortgage compounding: This calculator assumes a nominal annual mortgage rate compounded semi-annually, a common convention for Canadian fixed-rate mortgage calculations. All payment and loan calculations use the equivalent monthly rate derived from semi-annual compounding. The cash-flow purchase limit and its monthly payment use your contract rate; the lender-style ceiling uses the stress-test rate.
Emergency-fund target: a Sidehub planning scenario of 3 months of essential obligations (Steady), 6 months (Somewhat variable), or 9 months (Highly variable). FCAC generally suggests aiming for roughly 3–6 months of regular expenses; Sidehub uses 9 months as a more conservative planning scenario for the highly-variable setting — it is not a government standard. Essential obligations are living expenses, debt payments, housing costs (100% of condo fees), and the mortgage P&I at the cash-flow purchase limit — not the income-risk reserve, which is already a separate planning reserve. The calculator treats tax/CPP set-asides as separately reserved from income already earned; an emergency fund should not replace money already owed or reserved for CRA. The emergency-fund target is not deducted from your down payment in this calculator — ideally, plan for both separately.
Closing costs: not calculated in this pass. CMHC notes homebuyers may need closing costs such as legal fees, land-transfer tax, adjustments, and appraisal/inspection where applicable, and provides a planning range around 1.5%–4% of purchase price. Closing costs are not deducted from the down payment entered here.
Sources: CMHC GDS/TDS calculation, OSFI minimum qualifying rate, FCAC emergency funds, CRA self-employment income lines.
This tool is for planning purposes only. Mortgage qualification and approval depend on lender-specific policies, credit scores, asset verification, and other factors not modelled here.
Frequently asked questions
Enter your expected 2026 net self-employment profit after business expenses, before personal income tax and CPP — for a sole proprietor/partner, the applicable T1 net self-employment lines 13500, 13700, 13900, 14100 or 14300. This field drives your current-year tax/CPP, cash flow, and the Sidehub cash-flow limit.
Do not use gross revenue or Line 13499 — business expenses should already be deducted. This field is not automatically your lender's qualifying income; if you have a qualifying-income figure from a lender or the Qualification Calculator, enter it separately in the optional "Lender qualifying income" field below.
Lender GDS/TDS qualification starts from gross qualifying income and applies debt-service limits. It does not operate as an after-tax household budget — it does not deduct income tax, CPP contributions, living expenses, or any variability reserve. That's why it can differ from Sidehub's cash-flow limit, which does deduct those items.
For a self-employed person earning $100,000 in Ontario under this calculator's pure-self-employment assumption, this calculator computes approximately $28,338 in total 2026 income tax and CPP before a single dollar reaches a mortgage payment. Actual tax changes with other income, T4 CPP, credits/deductions, and other tax circumstances — this is not a universal figure for every $100k Ontario borrower.
The income-risk reserve is a monthly amount reserved from your pre-tax income to cover lean periods, unexpected costs, and the absence of employer benefits like paid sick leave or disability coverage. It is set as a percentage of gross monthly income: 5% for steady income, 10% for somewhat variable, and 15% for highly variable. These percentages are Sidehub planning scenarios, not lender or government requirements.
This is not the same as the emergency-fund target (which is a savings balance, not a monthly reserve). The income-risk reserve is a monthly operating amount that reduces how much of your income is available for housing. If you already maintain a large emergency fund and have stable contracts, you can use the Steady setting even if your income category might suggest otherwise.
Yes. If your down payment is below 20% of the purchase price and the purchase price is below $1,500,000, mortgage default insurance is required (a purchase at or above $1,500,000 always needs 20%+ down instead, with no insurance option). The premium (2.80%–4.20% of the loan, depending on down payment percentage, amortization, and 30-year insured eligibility) is added to your mortgage principal. This estimate uses CMHC's common homeowner premium schedule as an example — CMHC is not the only mortgage default insurer.
The solver works backwards from your available cash flow: it determines the total loan the payment can support, then finds the highest legal purchase price across both conventional and insured financing, respecting the $1,500,000 insured cap and minimum-down-payment rules. Ontario applies an 8% RST and Saskatchewan a 6% PST on the premium, shown separately as an upfront cash cost (it cannot be financed); other supported jurisdictions have no premium sales tax modelled. The financing summary below the breakdown table shows the full structure.
The target is based on essential monthly obligations (living expenses, debt payments, housing costs, and the mortgage payment at the cash-flow purchase limit) multiplied by a months-of-coverage factor: 3 months for Steady income, 6 months for Somewhat variable, and 9 months for Highly variable. FCAC generally suggests aiming for roughly 3–6 months of regular expenses; Sidehub uses 9 months as a more conservative planning scenario for the highly-variable setting — it is not a government standard. The income-risk reserve is excluded since it's already a separate monthly planning reserve. The calculator treats tax/CPP set-asides as separately reserved from income already earned — an emergency fund should not replace money already owed or reserved for CRA.
This is a Sidehub planning scenario, not a minimum requirement. If you have dependants, a single major client, or industry-specific risk factors, consider holding more. The emergency-fund target is not deducted from your down payment in this calculator — ideally, plan for both separately. The emergency fund should be held in a liquid, accessible account (HISA or TFSA) separate from business accounts.
The Qualification Calculator answers: What is the maximum a lender will approve? It uses self-employed lender/CMHC qualifying-income scenarios (filed-income, CMHC gross-up and eligible add-back scenarios), GDS/TDS and the mortgage stress test to estimate the lender's ceiling — including the deduction trade-off unique to self-employed borrowers. CRA does not set mortgage qualifying-income rules; that's a lender/insurer methodology.
This Affordability Calculator answers: What can I actually carry without financial stress? It starts from your post-tax cash flow and works backwards, accounting for the tax/CPP set-aside, living costs and income-risk reserve that GDS/TDS qualification doesn't model. The two tools are designed to be used together: run the Qualification Calculator first, copy its qualifying-income result, and enter it here as your optional lender qualifying income — then this calculator shows the gap between that lender-style ceiling and your own cash-flow limit. There is no automated handoff between the two calculators yet.