The minimum down payment itself is a closing-adjacent number worth planning around: 5 percent on the first $500,000 of the purchase price and 10 percent on any portion above that. At the Saskatoon benchmark of $444,700, most purchases sit comfortably inside that first tier.
First-time buyers have two programs worth checking before finalizing a budget: the Home Buyers' Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from an RRSP, and the First Home Savings Account, or FHSA, allows up to $8,000 a year toward a lifetime limit of $40,000, both of which can offset the cash needed at possession.
None of these programs cover legal fees or the insurance premium tax directly, so budget those as separate cash needed on possession day. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.