Down Payments and Closing Costs in Saskatchewan: What Buyers Actually Need in Cash

Most people, when they start planning to buy, think about the down payment and pretty much stop there. Totally understandable. But the down payment is only one piece of the cash you actually need. Closing costs are separate, they come due around the same time, and a few of them are specific to how Saskatchewan does real estate. So let me walk you through both, so the money side of buying does not sneak up on you.

A quick note before we get into it. This is general education, not financing or legal advice. Your mortgage professional, lawyer, and accountant should confirm the numbers for your own situation. And a few of the figures below shift over time, so they are worth re-checking with the source before you lean on them.

Part 1: The Down Payment

Your down payment is the cash you put toward the purchase price. The minimum is set by federal rules, so it is the same right across Canada, Saskatchewan included.

The Minimum Down Payment Tiers

• 5 percent on the first $500,000 of the purchase price
• 10 percent on the portion of the price above $500,000
• 20 percent if the purchase price is $1.5 million or more, because mortgage default insurance is not available at that level

Here is how that plays out on a couple of example prices. These are round numbers just to show the math, not Saskatoon average prices.

Illustrative Price	Minimum Down Payment	Effective Percentage
$400,000	$20,000 (5% of $400,000)	5%
$600,000	$35,000 ($25,000 + $10,000)	about 5.8%
$1,500,000	$300,000 (20%)	20%

Take the $600,000 example. That is 5 percent of the first $500,000 ($25,000), plus 10 percent of the remaining $100,000 ($10,000). Add them up and you get $35,000.

One thing worth clearing up on the $1 million threshold. This is where things changed recently, and a lot of older advice still floating around has it wrong. The old rule was that any home of $1 million or more needed 20 percent down. But as of December 15, 2024, the federal government raised the cap on insurable mortgages to $1.5 million. So now a home priced between $1 million and just under $1.5 million can be bought with less than 20 percent down, using the tiered minimum above. The 20 percent floor kicks in at $1.5 million and up. These rules do shift, though, so confirm the current thresholds with a mortgage professional before you count on them.

Mortgage Default Insurance

If your down payment is less than 20 percent, you are required to carry mortgage default insurance. It comes from one of three providers, CMHC, Sagen, or Canada Guaranty. Here is the part people often misunderstand: this insurance protects the lender, not you. What it does for you is let you buy with a smaller down payment. At the other end of the scale, if you are in a position to put down a very large amount or to skip the mortgage entirely, the trade-offs change shape, and I go through them in cash versus mortgage.

The premium is a percentage of your mortgage, and it is tiered by the size of your down payment. The bigger your down payment, the smaller the premium. Usually the premium just gets added onto your mortgage and paid off over time, so it is not money you hand over at closing. Rates are set by the insurers and can change, so check the current rate with your lender.

A Saskatchewan-Specific Cash Cost: PST on the Premium

Here is a Saskatchewan detail that catches a lot of buyers off guard. The premium itself can go onto your mortgage, like I said. But Saskatchewan charges provincial sales tax on that premium, and the PST has to be paid in cash at closing. That part cannot be rolled into the mortgage.

Saskatchewan’s PST rate is 6 percent, and it applies to the premium rather than to the price of the home. So on a premium of $19,000, the PST would be $1,140 due in cash at closing. It applies the same way whichever of the three insurers your lender uses, because it is a provincial tax and not the insurer’s decision.

So if you are putting down less than 20 percent, plan for this PST as an out-of-pocket cost, on top of your down payment and the rest of your closing costs. Confirm your exact amount with your lender, since it depends on the premium you are actually charged.

Part 2: Closing Costs

Closing costs are the fees and adjustments that come due around the time you take possession. They are separate from your down payment, and they are easy to underestimate. Here are the main ones you will run into on a Saskatchewan purchase.

Land Title Transfer Fee (ISC)

Good news here: Saskatchewan does not have a provincial land transfer tax, which some provinces do, and it can be a big number. What we have instead is a fee from Information Services Corporation (ISC), the provincial land registry, to register the transfer of title into your name. For any home worth more than $6,300, which is every home purchase in practice, the fee is 0.4 percent of the title’s value, or $4 per thousand. That is a percentage rather than a flat amount, so it scales with your purchase price:

Purchase Price	ISC Transfer Fee
$300,000	$1,200
$400,000	$1,600
$500,000	$2,000
$650,000	$2,600

These rates took effect April 15, 2026. ISC does adjust its schedule periodically, so check ISC’s land titles fee page if you are reading this well after that date.

Mortgage Registration Fee (ISC)

If you are getting a mortgage, ISC charges a second, separate fee to register that mortgage against the title. This one trips people up because it is easy to assume the transfer fee covers everything. It does not, these are two different fees. This one is charged in flat tiers based on the size of the mortgage rather than as a percentage, so it is usually the smaller of the two:

Mortgage Amount	ISC Registration Fee
Under $250,000	$200
$250,000 to $500,000	$275
$500,000.01 to $750,000	$525
$750,000.01 to $1,000,000	$775
Over $1,000,000	$1,000

Also effective April 15, 2026. Worth knowing for later: discharging that mortgage when you eventually pay it off or refinance costs $55.

Legal Fees and Disbursements

Your real estate lawyer does a lot of the heavy lifting at closing. They handle the transfer, register the documents through ISC, manage the closing funds, and report back to you and your lender. You pay the lawyer’s professional fee, plus disbursements, which are the registration fees I just mentioned, title searches, courier and office costs, that kind of thing. My advice: ask for a quote up front so there are no surprises.

Home Inspection

A home inspection is optional, but I would think hard before skipping it. For a few hundred dollars you get an independent read on the home’s condition before you are locked in. One thing to note on timing: you pay for this during your conditional period, not at closing, but it is still part of the cash you need to buy.

Property Tax Adjustment

Property taxes are usually paid for the calendar year, which means somebody often pays ahead of where they actually own the home. So your lawyer works out an adjustment, so you and the seller each cover the part of the year you each own the place. Depending on the timing, that can mean you owe the seller a bit back at closing, or it can go the other way. It varies with each deal.

Title Insurance

Title insurance is a one-time policy that protects against certain title-related issues. A lot of the time it is optional, though some lenders require it. This is a good one to talk through with your lawyer, who can tell you whether it makes sense for your purchase and what it would run you.

Other Costs to Plan For

• Appraisal: Your lender may want an appraisal of the property. Sometimes the insurer or lender covers it, sometimes it lands on you.
• Home insurance: Lenders need proof of home insurance before closing, so you will want a policy lined up ahead of time.
• Condo documents: Buying a condo? There can be fees to pull estoppel certificates or condo documents for your review.
• Moving and setup: Movers, getting utilities hooked up, address changes. These are real costs around possession, even if they are not closing costs in the legal sense. Easy to forget when you are budgeting.

How Much Should I Budget for Closing Costs?

I wish I could give you one tidy percentage, but there is no single official number that reliably covers Saskatchewan closing costs. They are a collection of separate items, and they depend on the property, the price, and your financing. So be a little skeptical of any blanket figure you see online. As a rough planning number only, many buyers set aside somewhere around 1 to 2 percent of the purchase price for closing and setup costs, on top of the down payment, and our Moving to Saskatoon guide works from the same range. I want to be straight with you that this is a rule of thumb rather than a sourced rule, and your own number will depend on the property and your financing. Get an itemized estimate from your lawyer and lender for your actual purchase.

Honestly, the most reliable approach is just to add up the real items: down payment, ISC fees, legal fees, inspection, adjustments, title insurance if you use it, and PST on mortgage insurance if your down payment is under 20 percent. Once you total the real line items, you know exactly where you stand.

The Cash You Need, in One List

Cost	When It Is Due	Notes
Down payment	At closing	Minimum 5% on first $500,000, 10% above
ISC title transfer fee	At closing	Saskatchewan has no land transfer tax; this is the registry fee
ISC mortgage registration fee	At closing	Separate from the transfer fee
Legal fees and disbursements	At closing	Professional fee plus registration and search costs
Home inspection	During conditions	Optional but recommended
Property tax adjustment	At closing	Can go either direction depending on timing
Title insurance	At closing	Often optional; some lenders require it
PST on mortgage insurance	At closing, in cash	Only if down payment is under 20%
Home insurance	Before closing	Lender requires it in place

Where Tanner Fits In

Money is one of the most stressful parts of buying a home, and I find a lot of that stress comes from surprises, not from the numbers themselves. I would rather you have honest, clear information up front than a sales pitch. I can help you understand the full cash picture for a Saskatoon purchase, and connect you with mortgage and legal professionals who will give you real numbers for your situation. No pressure, just a clear read on where you stand.

If this is your first purchase, my first-time buyer hub pulls the key guides together, and our first-time buyer programs guide covers savings tools and tax credits that can help on the cash side. Our step-by-step buying process guide walks through how the whole thing unfolds.

Source Notes

Just to repeat what I said up top: this guide is general education, not financing or legal advice. A few of these figures shift over time, so confirm them with the source before you rely on them.

• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, down payment minimums and mortgage default insurance basics.
• Information Services Corporation (ISC), Land Title Fees Table effective April 15, 2026, for the transfer fee (0.4 percent of title value above $6,300) and the tiered mortgage registration fee. ISC adjusts these periodically; confirm current amounts at closing.
• Federal mortgage rule changes effective December 15, 2024 raised the cap on insurable mortgages to $1.5 million; confirm current thresholds with CMHC or a mortgage professional, as these rules change.
• Saskatchewan applies its 6 percent provincial sales tax to mortgage default insurance premiums, payable in cash at closing rather than added to the mortgage; confirm your own amount with your lender, since it depends on the premium charged. The Government of Saskatchewan administers PST.
• The closing-and-setup planning estimate of roughly 1 to 2 percent is a common rule of thumb referenced in our relocation guide, not an official figure; total the real line items for an accurate number.