How much house can an Ontario teacher afford?

A single Ontario teacher earning about $70,000 typically qualifies for roughly $302,000 of mortgage, and one at the top of the grid near $120,000 for roughly $555,000. Those figures qualify at 6.00 per cent, which is a 4.00 per cent contract rate plus the two-point stress test, within a 39 per cent gross and 44 per cent total debt service limit over 25 years. Your own number moves with property tax, heat, condo fees and any car loan or credit card balance.

Almost every teacher asks this question the wrong way round. They ask what they can afford, when the number that actually decides the purchase is what a lender will approve. Those are different, and the gap between them is where people get hurt.

Here is the real calculation, run on published Ontario grid salaries so you can find yourself on it.

The three numbers a lender actually uses

• Your gross annual salary, before any deduction. Pension contributions do not reduce this.
• The stress test. For an uninsured mortgage you must prove you could carry a rate two percentage points above the one you sign, or 5.25 per cent, whichever is higher. That is the minimum qualifying rate set by OSFI.
• Gross debt service, normally capped near 39 per cent. That is the share of your gross monthly income allowed to go to mortgage payment, property tax and heat combined.

Worked examples on the Ontario grid

These use the Halton elementary 2025-26 grid as published, a 4.00 per cent contract rate qualifying at 6.00 per cent under the stress test, a 25-year amortization, the 39 per cent gross and 44 per cent total debt service limits, and allowances of $3,000 a year for property tax and $100 a month for heat. Change any of those and the answer changes.

• Category A, Step 0, about $51,370: roughly $206,000 of mortgage.
• Category A4, Step 0, about $70,194: roughly $302,000 of mortgage.
• Category A4, Step 11, about $119,969: roughly $555,000 of mortgage.

Grid dollar figures vary by board and by panel. Secondary boards label the same QECO tiers Group 1 to 4 rather than A1 to A4. Use your own salary letter, not these examples.

Why the top of the grid qualifies for almost triple

Look at the jump from $51,370 to $119,969. The salary rises about 2.3 times but the mortgage rises about 2.7 times. That is because property tax and heat are close to fixed, so they eat a much larger share of a starting teacher's debt service room than a senior teacher's. Every step you move up the grid buys you more than the raise alone suggests.

It also means the single highest-value thing a newer teacher can do is get their QECO category assessed correctly. Moving from Category A to A4 on the same step is worth close to $96,000 of purchasing power in this example, and it is a paperwork exercise rather than a pay negotiation.

What quietly removes purchasing power

• A car loan. Every $400 a month of payment costs somewhere near $17,000 of mortgage, because debt comes out of the 44 per cent total-debt allowance rather than the 39 per cent housing one.
• Credit card balances, counted at a minimum payment even if you clear them monthly.
• Condo fees. Lenders add a portion, commonly half, into your ratios.
• A student line of credit, counted even when interest-only.

The down payment sits on top

Qualifying for the mortgage is separate from having the cash. The minimum down payment is 5 per cent of the first $500,000 and 10 per cent of the portion above it, up to a $1.5 million purchase price, so $22,500 on a $450,000 home, $35,000 on $600,000 and $50,000 on $750,000. Anything under 20 per cent down normally needs mortgage default insurance. Land transfer tax is on top of that again and cannot be added to the mortgage.

For a first-time buyer the FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan can both be used for the same purchase, which is the strongest combination available.

Sources and dates

Figures in this guide come from the sources below. Each entry shows the date the source states, or the date it was read when the source gives none. After the review date, treat any number as a starting point and check the source.

• ETFO Halton local salary grid, 2025-26 (as of 2025-26)
• OSFI, minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages (as of 2026-01-29)
• CMHC, mortgage loan insurance for homeownership: debt service ratios (accessed 2026-08-26)
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, how much you need for a down payment (accessed 2026-08-26)
• Canada Revenue Agency, participating in your FHSAs (accessed 2026-08-26)
• Canada Revenue Agency, the Home Buyers' Plan (accessed 2026-08-26)

Common questions