This calculator runs cap rate, monthly cash flow, cash-on-cash return, and gross rent multiplier off one input set, and it fixes amortization at 30 years regardless of your down payment — a longer schedule than federal guidance says most uninsured investment purchases will actually get. Its cash-on-cash figure also divides by down payment alone, not down payment plus closing costs, which will read higher than the site's dedicated cash-on-cash calculator on identical numbers.
Four numbers, one snapshot — and what's baked into each
This calculator's own code fixes a few assumptions worth knowing before you read the output. Amortization is hardcoded at 30 years (360 monthly payments) no matter what down payment you enter. Monthly cash flow subtracts the mortgage payment, property tax, insurance, HOA/condo fees, a maintenance percentage of gross rent, and a management percentage of effective (post-vacancy) rent from effective rent. Cap rate is NOI — effective rent minus every operating line except the mortgage — divided by purchase price. And cash-on-cash return here is annual cash flow divided by down payment alone; it does not add closing costs or rehab to the denominator, which is why this page's cash-on-cash figure will read higher than the dedicated cash-on-cash calculator's figure on the same deal — that one divides by down payment plus closing costs plus rehab.
Why a lender may not actually give you 30 years
The 30-year amortization this calculator always assumes is the maximum allowed under federal mortgage rules only in specific cases. Per the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, a 30-year maximum amortization applies to first-time buyers and/or buyers of new builds with a down payment under 20%; buyers who don't fit that description, with a down payment under 20%, are capped at 25 years. For a down payment of 20% or more — which describes essentially every investment purchase, since investment mortgages require at least that much down — the lender sets the maximum amortization itself, and 25 years remains the common default at most federally regulated lenders even when a longer schedule is technically permitted. If your actual quote comes back at 25 years rather than 30, your real monthly payment will be higher, and your real cash flow and cash-on-cash return will both be lower than what this calculator shows at its fixed 30-year default.
CCA: the deduction this calculator doesn't model
The cash flow and cap rate this calculator returns are both pre-tax, and neither factors in capital cost allowance. CRA's rental-income guide places most rental buildings in Class 1 (4% declining-balance) or Classes 3, 6, 31, or 32 depending on the building's material and acquisition date, with furniture and equipment in Class 8 at 20%. A half-year rule limits your first-year CCA claim to one-half of net additions to a class, and on sale, CRA requires you to add a recapture of CCA to income, or claim a terminal loss, depending on whether the sale price lands above or below the property's remaining undepreciated capital cost. CCA can reduce the tax bill on the cash flow this calculator shows — but it isn't part of the cash flow number itself.
The rent you type in should be paid rent, not asking rent
Every result on this page traces back to the monthly rent field. Statistics Canada's experimental rent-price series shows a persistent gap between what landlords advertise and what tenants actually pay: in Q2 2026, Toronto's average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment was C$2,650 versus an average paid rent of C$2,160, about 22.7% higher. Enter an asking-rent figure here instead of a comparable unit's actual paid rent, and every downstream number — cap rate, cash flow, cash-on-cash, gross rent multiplier — inherits the overstatement.
If you're evaluating this as a quick flip rather than a hold
This calculator's numbers describe an ongoing rental, not a resale. If you're actually weighing a fast turnaround, CRA's residential property flipping rule matters more than any figure on this page: a property owned for less than 365 consecutive days before disposition is deemed fully taxable as business income on sale — no capital gains treatment, no principal residence exemption — for transactions from January 1, 2023 onward, with narrow life-event exceptions (death, relationship breakdown, job loss, and similar). And even on a longer hold, the principal residence exemption CRA describes for owner-occupied homes only ever applies to years the property was genuinely your principal residence — a straight rental never qualifies, and a house-hacked property qualifies only for the owner-occupied portion and years.
This calculator's math stops working once you're buying five or more units
This calculator's fixed 30-year amortization and 20%-down assumptions describe a single-property purchase. If you're actually evaluating a building of five or more units, financing changes entirely under CMHC's MLI Select program, which scores a building on affordability, energy efficiency and accessibility criteria and grants better terms as the score rises: a minimum 50 points unlocks up to 85% loan-to-value and a 40-year amortization; 70 points unlocks up to 95% LTV and a 45-year amortization; 100 points unlocks up to 95% LTV and a 50-year amortization. None of those figures are what this calculator's single-unit defaults model.
| Minimum points | Max LTV | Max amortization |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 85% | 40 years |
| 70 | 95% | 45 years |
| 100 | 95% (up to 95% new construction) | 50 years |
CMHC, MLI Select program page, retrieved 2026-09-21. Points are earned across affordability, energy-efficiency/GHG and accessibility categories; CMHC's page does not state specific premium percentages for each tier.
A gate this calculator never asks about: who's allowed to buy
Every number on this page assumes the purchase can close. Canada's federal ban on non-Canadians purchasing residential property has been in force since January 1, 2023 and was extended to January 1, 2027. It covers buildings of up to three dwelling units and parts of buildings such as semi-detached houses or condo units — exactly the kind of property this calculator is built to run numbers on — though it does not apply to buildings of four or more units or to property outside a Census Metropolitan Area or Census Agglomeration. Exceptions exist for certain temporary residents, refugees, and non-Canadian spouses or partners co-purchasing with an eligible Canadian buyer, but the default position for a covered property is exclusion, regardless of what this calculator's cash flow or cap rate shows.
Methodology
This calculator's own formulas (fixed 30-year amortization, cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash off down payment alone) are read from its source module. Amortization-rule context is from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. CCA classes, the half-year rule, and recapture are from CRA's rental income guide. The rent-accuracy figures are from Statistics Canada's experimental rent-price table. The flipping rule is from CRA's residential property flipping rule page, and the principal-residence scope note is from CRA's principal residence and other real estate guidance.
Sources
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Mortgage term and amortization — accessed 2026-09-21
- Canada Revenue Agency — T4036, Rental Income — accessed 2026-09-21
- Canada Revenue Agency — Residential Property Flipping Rule — accessed 2026-09-21
- Statistics Canada — Table 46-10-0092-01, Asking and paid rent — accessed 2026-09-21
- Canada Revenue Agency — Principal residence and other real estate — accessed 2026-09-21
- Bank of Canada — Valet API, Conventional mortgage: 5-year posted rate — accessed 2026-09-21
- CMHC — MLI Select — accessed 2026-09-21
- CMHC — Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act — accessed 2026-09-21