Selected for the first municipal cohort of

Affordable rent calculator

MLI Select

CMHC mortgage loan insurance for multi-unit rentals. Definitions for the affordable rent. Not a qualification.

Rent

Affordable rent: 30% of the market's median renter income, per month. New and existing buildings use the same ceiling.
Median renter income: The annual figure in CMHC's 2019 workbook for that market, rounded to the nearest $100.

Points

A share of the units must sit at or below the ceiling. Counts round up to a whole unit.

Share of units at or below the affordable rent, by points
Points	New	Existing
50	10%	40%
70	15%	60%
100	25%	80%
20 years	+30 points

Minimum size: Standard rental needs 5 residential units. A retirement home needs 50 units or beds.

Markets

Market: A row CMHC published: an urban centre, a province or territory, the rural rest of a province, or Canada.
Town not listed: Use a comparable centre, the province, or a comparable rural centre. Your approved lender confirms the choice.

Limits

What this does not decide: Energy, accessibility, visitability, debt coverage, leverage, and the premium are separate. Student housing cannot earn affordability points. CMHC and the approved lender decide the file.

Sources

Why the incomes are from 2019: The workbook CMHC still links from the MLI Select page. Titled 2019, last updated March 2021. A newer series does not replace it until CMHC uses it for underwriting.
2027 increase cap: The CPI percentage CMHC published for 2027 affordable-rent increases, used where a province does not already cap the increase. The calculator shows the figure for the market you pick.

CMHC MLI Select Income workbook

General information, not financial, legal, or mortgage advice.