Below 20 percent down, a buyer pays a mortgage default insurance premium added to the loan, and in Saskatchewan the provincial sales tax on that premium is due in cash at closing rather than financed. At 20 percent or more, there is no insurance premium at all, which is a real ongoing savings, not just a one-time cost.
The realistic answer for most first-time buyers is 5 to 10 percent, using the Home Buyers' Plan and a First Home Savings Account to get there, while a repeat buyer with equity from a previous sale is often positioned to reach 20 percent and skip the insurance entirely.
At the Saskatoon benchmark of $444,700, the gap between a 5 percent and a 20 percent down payment is a meaningful five-figure sum, so the right answer depends on how much liquidity you want to keep versus how much insurance premium you are willing to carry.
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