Twenty percent down matters for one reason only: it removes the requirement for that insurance, since insured mortgages exist specifically to let lenders approve purchases with a smaller down payment than they would otherwise accept on their own.
Below 20 percent, the insurance premium is added to the mortgage itself, and Saskatchewan charges provincial sales tax on that premium separately, payable in cash at closing rather than rolled into the loan, which catches some first-time buyers off guard.
At the Saskatoon benchmark of $444,700, most first-time buyers put down well under 20 percent and rely on insured financing to do it. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.