Financing Vacant or Raw Land

Vacant (raw) land cannot be CMHC-insured, and typically requires a significantly larger down payment than a home purchase — commonly 35-50%, sometimes more depending on the land's location, size, and whether it has road access and utilities.

Amortizations on land loans also tend to be shorter than a standard 25-year mortgage, since lenders see undeveloped land as higher risk (it produces no income and can be harder to resell quickly than a home).

Serviced land close to existing development (with road access, hydro, and municipal water/sewer already available) is generally easier to finance than remote or unserviced land, which some conventional lenders won't finance at all — that gap is often filled by credit unions or private lenders specializing in rural and recreational land.

If your plan is to eventually build, ask lenders specifically about transitioning a land loan into a construction mortgage later — not every lender that finances land also offers construction financing, and knowing this upfront avoids having to refinance with a new lender partway through your plan.