Building a CMHC MLI Select purpose-built rental in Ottawa
How MLI Select works
MLI Select is CMHC's mortgage-loan-insurance product for multi-unit rental housing. It scores a project across three categories — affordability, energy efficiency, and accessibility — and the points you earn unlock progressively better financing terms.
| Points | Loan-to-value | Amortization | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50+ | 85–95% | up to 40 years | Recourse |
| 70+ | up to 95% | up to 45 years | Recourse |
| 100+ | up to 95% | up to 50 years | Limited-recourse |
Minimum five units; standard minimum debt-service-coverage ratio 1.1. Affordability points come from renting units at a set share of median renter income over a multi-year commitment; accessibility points from meeting recognized universal-design and accessibility standards.
The energy points are the builder's lever
Affordability and accessibility points are largely fixed by policy and design choices you make up front. The energy-efficiency points are different — they're earned by how the building actually performs: the envelope, air-tightness, and mechanical systems. That's construction, not paperwork.
This matters more than ever after September 30, 2026. From that date, CMHC scores new-construction files against the stricter 2020 National Building Code and 2020 National Energy Code — the older 2015/2017 baselines are gone. The same design now earns fewer energy points, and the 100-point tier (with its 50-year amortization) is materially harder to reach. A genuinely high-performance build — insulated-concrete (ICF) structure, a tight, well-detailed envelope, geothermal and efficient mechanicals — is what moves the score.
Why open-book construction management fits MLI Select
An MLI Select application lives or dies on a credible budget and a build that hits its energy targets. On an open-book agency construction-management model you hold every trade contract in your own name and see every real quote — so the pro-forma you submit is grounded in tendered numbers, not a lump-sum guess with margin buried inside it. And because the manager is paid a disclosed fee rather than a markup, the incentive is aligned with building efficiently to the point threshold, not cutting the envelope to protect a margin.
Planning a purpose-built rental in Ottawa or Eastern Ontario?
Talk through the numbers and the energy-points path — myhomebuilders.ca · 613 400 0785
Common questions
Who can build a purpose-built rental with CMHC MLI Select in Ottawa?
Any owner or investor building at least five rental units held as a long-term rental. In practice you assemble a team: an owner/sponsor, a CMHC-experienced lender or mortgage broker to structure the insurance, and a builder or construction manager to deliver the build to the standard that earns points. My Home Builders manages these builds on an open-book basis in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, focused on the energy-efficiency points that come from how the building is constructed.
How many units do I need?
At least five for a standard MLI Select rental project. Non-residential space is capped at 30% of the building.
What changed for energy scoring on September 30, 2026?
CMHC stopped accepting energy attestations based on the older 2015 National Building Code and 2017 National Energy Code. After that date, all new-construction MLI Select files are scored against the 2020 codes, whose baselines are already more efficient. The 50/70/100 point tiers are unchanged, but reaching 100 points — and the 50-year amortization — became harder, which rewards a genuinely high-performance build.
Do you arrange the financing?
No — we're the construction manager, not a lender or mortgage broker. We work alongside your CMHC-approved lender and energy consultant, and we build to hit the energy targets your application relies on.
Note: MLI Select terms are set by CMHC and change over time; the figures above reflect the program as of July 2026. Confirm current criteria, points, and financing terms with CMHC and a CMHC-approved lender before relying on them. My Home Builders provides construction management, not financial or lending advice.