The City of Saskatoon treats a legal two-family property differently from an unpermitted suite, and that distinction is what a lender actually checks. A permitted second unit with its own egress and fire separation gets its rental income counted at a lender-set percentage, while an unpermitted one is often ignored entirely in the qualifying math, no matter how much rent it collects.
Buyers putting down less than 20 percent still pay mortgage default insurance through CMHC, Sagen or Canada Guaranty, and Saskatchewan charges provincial sales tax on that premium in cash at possession rather than folding it into the loan. That cash requirement catches buyers who budgeted only for the down payment.
In Nutana specifically, older mechanical systems and character-home construction mean a lender may also want a recent home inspection, typically $400 to $600, before releasing funds on an income property. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.