In Canada, minimum down payment requirements are set federally and scale with the purchase price:
5% on the portion of the price up to $500,000, 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $999,999, and 20% on any home priced at $1,000,000 or more (homes at this price point no longer qualify for a low-down-payment insured mortgage at all).
Any purchase with less than 20% down is considered a “high-ratio” mortgage and requires mortgage default insurance (commonly called CMHC insurance, though Sagen and Canada Guaranty also provide it). This premium is calculated as a percentage of your mortgage amount and is typically added directly onto the loan rather than paid upfront in cash.
Self-employment, credit history, or being new to Canada can sometimes affect the down payment a specific lender requires — this is exactly the kind of thing we sort out early in a conversation, before you’re house hunting.