Your down payment can be as much as 20% of your purchase price for a conventional loan, or as little as 0% of the purchase price for a high ratio mortgage. (See Mortgage Insurance page.)

Conventional loans (those that have at least 20% down payment) do not require a mortgage insurance through CMHC or G.E. Capital, so there are no fees associated with setting up this type of mortgage.

When you put under 20% of the purchase price down, a Mortgage Insurer becomes involved in your real estate transaction. The cost to insure through either C.M.H.C. (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) or Genworth Capital, is up to a maximum of 4%  for between 5% and 9.99% down, 3.1% for 10% to up to 14.99% down and up to 2.8% of the mortgage amount up to 19.99%.  

There is also 8% PST on the insurance fee itself, which is payable when the mortgage funds are advanced.

If you are buying an investment property, that is a property you will not be living in, your downpayment may have to be between 20 to 30% of the purchase price in order to qualify for a mortgage.