Housing for newcomers

Guides, fact sheets and tools to help you through the home buying process.

As Canada’s national housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been helping Canadians, including new Canadians, access information, videos and tools to make informed homeownership decisions. A wealth of housing-related information is available for newcomers in eight languages: English, French, Mandarin/Simplified Chinese, Punjabi, Urdu, Tagalog, Arabic and Spanish.

Buying a home

CMHC has created a series of guides, fact sheets and tools, available at Housing for Newcomers, that take you through the home buying process. This includes:

Buying Your First Home in Canada — What Newcomers Need to Know
This guide is designed to answer questions about buying and financing a home.
Homebuyers Checklist — A Newcomers’ Guide and Workbook
The checklist walks you through each step in buying a home — allowing you to complete housing related calculations and record your information for easy reference.
What to Look for When Buying a Home
To help you protect your investment, this fact sheet identifies some of the things you should look at before you buy a home, to make sure you wont end up having to pay for a lot of expensive repairs.
How Much Home Can You Afford
To help you find out how much home you can afford, this fact sheet offers tips on some of the hidden costs that come with homeownership.
Choosing the Right Mortgage for You
For most Canadians, buying a home means taking out a mortgage. With so many options to choose from, this fact sheet will help you make the best choice for your family.
Making an Offer and Closing the Deal
Check out this fact sheet to find out how to make an offer to buy the home of your dreams and what comes next.

Planning and managing your mortgage

Take the time to plan and review your mortgage options, terms and conditions and prepare yourself for managing your mortgage.

Mortgage Planning Tips
Use the tips provided on this fact sheet to help you save money and provide for greater economic stability in the event of financial challenges down the road.
Your Credit Report
This fact sheet offers some simple steps you can take to maintain a good credit score and history and improve your chances of being approved for a mortgage.
Mortgage Fraud
Find out how to protect yourself when purchasing or refinancing a home by reading this helpful fact sheet.

For more homebuying tips, contact me or visit CMHC's interactive Step by Step Guide. CMHC is Canada's largest provider of mortgage loan insurance, helping Canadians buy a home with a minimum down payment starting at 5%. Ask your mortgage professional about CMHC.

The information is provided by CMHC for general illustrative purposes only, and does not take into account the specific objectives, circumstances and individual needs of the reader. It does not provide advice, and should not be relied upon in that regard. The information is believed to be reliable, but its accuracy, completeness and currency cannot be guaranteed. Neither CMHC and its employees nor any other party identified in this Article (Lender, Broker, etc.) assumes any liability of any kind in connection with the information provided. CMHC stakeholders are permitted to distribute the materials at their expense. The above mentioned stakeholder organization is responsible for the distribution of this document.