The MLI Select Requirements That Actually Decide If Your Multiplex Qualifies

MLI Select requirements split into two very different buckets, and mixing them up is the most common qualification mistake owners make. One small group of requirements is clearly defined: miss the unit count, the property type, or the accessibility standard, and a project cannot enter the program, full stop. Everything else (energy efficiency, extra accessibility beyond the floor, affordability depth) is optional: clearing those adds points and shrinks the premium, but skipping them never disqualifies anyone. What follows is exactly which requirement belongs in which bucket, with CMHC's numeric thresholds attached.

The gate before points matter: unit count and property type

CMHC's floor is 5 residential units. Retirement homes are held to a separate minimum of 50 units or beds. Below 5 units, a property cannot enter MLI Select at all, no matter how many points the design would otherwise earn.

Non-residential space is capped too: commercial floor area cannot exceed 30% of gross floor area, and it cannot exceed 30% of total lending value. Eligible property types are standard rental buildings, single-room occupancy housing, supportive housing, and retirement homes. Student housing is a partial case: it only qualifies under the energy-efficiency and accessibility criteria, not the full program. A project also cannot be subject to any prohibition under the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act.

Under MLI Select, CMHC is not the lender. It is Canada's only provider of mortgage loan insurance for multi-unit residential properties, and it insures loans made by NHA-approved lenders.

For the full mechanics of how CMHC scores an application once it clears this gate, see CMHC MLI Select: A Complete Guide for Toronto Multiplex Owners. This piece isolates the pass/fail line from the point-stacking choices.

The one floor that's easy to miss: accessibility, not energy efficiency

These two get conflated constantly, and they work opposite ways.

Accessibility has a mandatory floor that applies to every MLI Select loan, at every points tier: 100% of units in the project must be "visitable" under CSA standard B651:23, and all common areas must be barrier-free. This is a pass/fail eligibility condition, not something a borrower can trade off against other categories. Above that floor, extra accessibility earns points. A minimum 15% of units built accessible under CSA B651:23 (or an equivalent universal-design share, or a Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification score of 60% to 79%) earns 20 points. Higher thresholds, such as 15% accessible plus 85% universal design, 100% universal design, 100% accessible units, or a Rick Hansen Gold rating of 80% or higher, earn 30 points.

Energy efficiency has no equivalent floor. It is purely optional and purely point-earning. Did you know a project can hit the 50-point minimum entirely through affordability and accessibility commitments, with zero energy-efficiency points, and still qualify for MLI Select? New construction still has to meet standard building code, but that is a general legal requirement, not something MLI Select adds on top.

How the point tiers turn into loan terms

MLI Select scores strictly in three tiers: 50, 70, and 100 points. Each tier unlocks a specific premium discount, amortization ceiling, and leverage limit.

Points tier	Premium discount	Max amortization	Max LTV (existing) / LTC (new)	Recourse
50	10%	40 years	85% / 95%	Full recourse
70	20%	45 years	95% / 95%	Full recourse
100	30%	50 years	95% / 95%	Limited recourse

Minimum debt coverage ratio runs alongside these tiers: 1.10x is the general floor, rising to 1.20x for shelter-need models and 1.40x where the project carries non-residential space.

These figures date to July 14, 2025, when CMHC standardized pricing across its multi-unit mortgage loan insurance products and introduced this 10%/20%/30% discount schedule, applied to the base premium plus any surcharges. Confused about how a longer amortization surcharge nets against the points discount? CMHC's public materials don't spell it out with a single formula, so confirm the exact calculation with CMHC or the insuring lender before pricing a deal off these numbers.

For the full economics of that trade-off, including what a given discount is actually worth against the amortization and leverage you give up to get it, see MLI Select for a Toronto Multiplex: What the Discount Actually Costs You.

Mandatory vs. optional, at a glance

Must clear, or the project cannot enter the program:

• Minimum 5 residential units (50 units or beds for retirement homes)
• Non-residential space at or below 30% of gross floor area and 30% of lending value
• An eligible property type (standard rental, SRO, supportive housing, retirement home; student housing only under the energy and accessibility criteria)
• No prohibition under the Non-Canadians purchase restriction
• 100% unit visitability under CSA B651:23, plus barrier-free common areas

Optional, changes the discount size but never disqualifies:

• Extra accessible or universal-design units beyond the visitability floor
• Affordability commitments: for existing properties, 40% of units at or below 30% of median renter income for 10 years earns 50 points, 60% earns 70 points, 80% earns 100 points; for new construction the thresholds are 10%, 15%, and 25%. A 20-year-plus commitment adds a further 30 points.
• Energy efficiency: for existing buildings, 20 points at a 15% GHG reduction, 35 points at 25%, 50 points at 40%. For new construction, points are scored against the 2020 National Energy Code for Buildings or 2020 National Building Code baseline, with solar PV capped at contributing 15% of the total claimed reduction.

A transition window lets new-construction applications attest against the older 2015 National Building Code and 2017 energy code until September 30, 2026. After that date, every new-construction file scores against the 2020 codes. That deadline is close enough that it's worth confirming the current baseline with the lender before structuring an application around it.

Where small Toronto conversions trip on these floors

Toronto's as-of-right multiplex rules let an owner add units without a rezoning or public meeting, but they don't get a project to MLI Select's floor on their own. Zoning By-law 474-2023, in force since May 12, 2023, with the companion Official Plan Amendment in force from June 2023, permits duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes (up to 4 residential units) as-of-right in the RD, RS, and RT zones. That caps out one unit short of MLI Select's 5-unit minimum, so a standard fourplex conversion cannot qualify for the program at all, regardless of how well it would otherwise score on energy or affordability.

A separate framework gets a project past that gate. Toronto City Council adopted Official Plan Amendment 818 and Zoning By-law 654-2025 on June 25 and 26, 2025, permitting five- and six-unit houseplexes as-of-right in nine wards: the eight Toronto and East York District wards, plus Ward 23 (Scarborough North). Other wards can opt in to the same permissions through a Council process, and Council directed staff to monitor multiplex uptake city-wide as the framework rolls out. In practice, only a project built to 5 or 6 units under this houseplex framework, and located in one of those nine wards (or a ward that has since opted in), clears CMHC's unit-count floor.

That leaves the accessibility floor as the second trap. A small conversion built to Toronto's existing zoning envelope was not necessarily designed with 100% unit visitability or barrier-free common areas in mind. Retrofitting a converted house to meet CSA B651:23 visitability across every unit after the fact is a materially different, and pricier, scope than designing it in from the start. Energy efficiency, by contrast, costs a project points, not eligibility, if a small conversion can't hit a meaningful GHG reduction or code-beyond performance level.

The documentation CMHC actually requires

At application, CMHC wants an energy simulation prepared by a qualified professional: a Professional Engineer, Architect, Certified Engineering Technologist, or Certified Energy Manager, using approved simulation software. Alongside it, the lender submits signed Energy Efficiency Criteria and Accessibility Criteria attestation forms, plus the affordability commitment documentation.

After construction, the file isn't closed. A signed attestation confirming the Energy Efficiency Criteria was actually satisfied is due within 60 days of the final loan advance, alongside confirmation that the accessibility commitment was achieved.

What happens if you commit and then miss a requirement post-closing?

CMHC's own published program documentation does not specify a standardized penalty, clawback, or repayment mechanism for a borrower who commits to a points tier and then fails to deliver the underlying energy, accessibility, or affordability outcome after closing. That's a real gap, and it matters! Don't assume a number here. Confirm the specific consequence in the lender and insurance agreement before you commit to a tier the project might not hit.