How to use this guide
Work through this guide before your first meeting with your design team, lender or accessibility consultant, ideally before design starts. Tick off what you already have and turn the gaps into questions. For how the points add up, read MLI Select accessibility points, explained. This is general information, not financial or legal advice. CMHC and your approved lender make every decision, and CMHC can change its criteria, so confirm the current rules before you apply.
The criteria at a glance
- Eligible projects
- Rental projects with five or more units. Retirement homes need at least 50 units or beds.
- Baseline
- Required for both levels: 100% of units visitable, and all common areas barrier-free, under CSA B651:23.
- Level 1 · 20 points
- Any one of: at least 15% of units accessible under CSA B651:23; at least 15% universal design units; or an RHFAC v4.0 score of 60–79%.
- Level 2 · 30 points
- Any one of: 15% accessible units plus 85% universal design units; 100% universal design units; 100% accessible units; or RHFAC v4.0 Gold (80% or more).
CMHC uses the CSA definition of visitable: a home that offers a basic level of access for visitors, such as people who use a wheeled mobility aid, so they can enter safely, move independently through the visitable level and use the toilet facilities.
Decisions to make early
- Your target tier (50, 70 or 100 points), and the points you expect from affordability and energy efficiency. Accessibility can't qualify a project on its own.
- Level 1 or Level 2, and which pathway: accessible units, universal design units, a mix, or RHFAC.
- Whether the baseline is realistic. Can every unit be visitable and every common area barrier-free? In an existing building, this is often the deciding question.
- How accessible or universal design units will be spread across unit types, sizes and floors, so residents have real choice.
- Who will sign the attestation. CMHC requires an architect or a designated accessibility consultant.
- For a new Ontario building, how the Building Code's requirement for at least 15% of suites to have basic accessibility features relates to your pathway. Don't assume those suites meet CSA B651:23; have them checked.
- For RHFAC, when to get a pre-construction rating. It gives a provisional result from the drawings and expires when the building receives an occupancy permit, so the finished building needs a new rating.
Information to gather
- Project basics: new construction or existing building, address, storeys and total unit count.
- Unit mix: the number of each unit type (bachelor, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and so on), with sizes and floors.
- Current drawings and their design stage: site plan, floor plans, typical and accessible unit plans, sections, and door and hardware schedules.
- A list of common areas: entrances, lobby, corridors, elevators, mail, laundry, garbage and recycling rooms, amenity rooms, storage, parking and outdoor spaces.
- For an existing building: as-built drawings if you have them, photos, known barriers and planned renovations.
- The pathway you're considering, and any universal design or accessibility checklist your team already uses.
- Your affordability and energy plans, your lender and your target application date.
- Any earlier accessibility reports, audits or RHFAC ratings.
This is what the attestation is built on. CMHC's documentation guide also asks for a summary of key accessibility and universal design features, and a sample accessible or universal unit design.
Who's involved
- Owner or developer
- The borrower. Makes the commitment, signs the loan documents and any later attestation.
- Approved lender
- Submits the application and documents to CMHC and follows up after funding.
- CMHC
- Underwrites and decides. It may review or audit the analysis behind an attestation.
- Architect
- Designs the units and common areas, and can sign the attestation.
- Accessibility consultant
- Reviews drawings or the building against the criteria, and can sign the attestation as a designated accessibility consultant.
- RHFAC Professional
- Rates the building if you use the RHFAC pathway.
- Builder
- Builds what's drawn and flags substitutions or field changes that affect accessible features.
- Property manager
- Keeps features working after move-in.
When attestations and certification happen
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| At application | The lender submits documents, including an attestation signed by an architect or designated accessibility consultant. It supports the commitment to meet the criteria, or confirms they're already met. |
| Before first advance | The borrower signs loan documents that include the schedule and covenants set out in the special conditions of the CMHC Certificate of Insurance. The lender also obtains the reports confirming the criteria. |
| Within 60 days of final advance, or as CMHC prescribes | If the criteria are met after insurance starts, the borrower signs an attestation that they've been satisfied, with supporting documents. |
| If plans change | If the borrower can't meet the criteria, the lender gathers the facts and promptly notifies CMHC. |
On the RHFAC pathway, a new building's pre-construction rating is provisional. The completed building must be rated again as an existing site to be certified, so ask your lender and consultant early how that timing fits with CMHC's.
Key point: An attestation is a professional's signed statement, and CMHC may review or audit the analysis behind it. No consultant, including PRISM, can guarantee CMHC approval or financing terms. CMHC and your lender make those decisions.
Questions to ask
- Which level and pathway fits our unit mix, design stage and budget?
- Can every unit be visitable, and every common area barrier-free under CSA B651:23? Which spaces are most at risk?
- Who will sign the attestation, and what do they need from us, and by when?
- How will our universal design units be defined and documented?
- What does our lender need from us, and when?
- If we use RHFAC, when should ratings happen, and which prerequisites apply to the level we need?
- How will we handle substitutions or field changes that affect accessible features during construction?
- What happens if we can't meet the commitment, and how will we keep features working after occupancy?
Try the MLI Select points estimator to compare combinations. PRISM can help you choose a pathway, review drawings and prepare for the attestation. Get in touch to talk through your project.
Sources
- MLI Select, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (published September 2026)
- MLI Select Required Documentation Guide (PDF), CMHC
- Accessibility Criteria Attestation (PDF), CMHC
- Frequently asked questions about RHFAC, Rick Hansen Foundation
- Accessibility in Ontario's Building Code, Government of Ontario (updated March 2025)
- PRISM: MLI Select accessibility points, explained and RHFAC certification: what the scores mean