These guides are generated from the guides published on the site.
- 2026 mortgage renewal playbook
The 2021 five-year terms come due in 2026. Timeline, negotiation, switching, and blend-and-extend, with the stress-test exemption written out.
- The 2027 renewal wave
Five-year terms from 2022 mature in 2027. January's borrowers and December's borrowers are not facing the same payment.
- Switching lenders at renewal
Discharge, legal, and appraisal costs, the straight-switch exemption from the set stress-test rate, and the papers to have ready before maturity.
- Renewal, refinance, or HELOC
Same house, three different loans: what each one changes, what it costs, and which test you have to pass.
- Porting a mortgage
Same lender, remaining term, and a blend if you need more money. The day-count between closings is in the contract, and it is not the same at every bank.
- Blend-and-extend vs break vs wait
The month-weighted formula, a worked example against waiting and against a three-month penalty, and the costs a blend hides.
- Mortgage rate holds
RBC and TD publish 120-day fixed holds and BMO publishes 130. A hold is honoured only if you fund in time and still qualify, and a renewal statement is a shorter, different promise.
- How prepayment penalties are calculated
Three months' interest versus the IRD, the posted-rate method versus a discounted comparison rate, and the moves that shrink the bill.
- Fixed vs variable in 2026
The spread in this site's rate file, a break-even if prime rises, and the difference between a payment that moves and a payment that does not.
- Should you lock in a variable rate?
The conversion is usually into a fixed term at least as long as the time left, at the rate the lender offers that day. The spread in the rate file is the break-even, not a forecast.
- Posted vs discounted rates
Why the shelf rate exists, how a discount is applied, and how that same discount comes back in a prepayment penalty.
- Bank of Canada rate and your mortgage
Overnight rate, prime, variable versus adjustable payments, trigger rates, and why a fixed quote can move when the Bank holds.
- Big 5 banks compared
Posted and special 5-year rates from the scrape, reported discounts only where the sample is large enough, and the penalty, hold, and HELOC terms each bank publishes.
- Big banks, monolines, and credit unions
Rates, penalties, portability, service, and who actually regulates the lender. Deposit insurance is about savings, not the loan.
- HELOC rates in Canada
Prime plus a margin, a revolving cap at 65% of value, and a combined cap at 80%. The margin is in the commitment unless the lender actually posts it.
- First-time home buyer programs
FHSA, the Home Buyers' Plan, the new-home GST/HST rebate, provincial transfer taxes, and who can still get a 30-year insured amortization.
- Closing costs by province
Land transfer tax, Toronto's municipal tax, and land-titles fees on a $500,000 and an $800,000 home, plus the rebates and the new-build GST.
- CMHC mortgage insurance
Premium tiers, the down-payment formula, the price cap under $1.5 million, provincial tax, and why 20% down is not always the cheaper loan.
- Mortgage stress test, explained
The qualifying rate, the 39% and 44% debt ratios, worked files at three incomes, and the renewals that do not re-run the test.
- 30-year amortizations
Who qualifies for an insured 30-year amortization, the payment and the stress test, and what the extra interest costs on a worked example.
- How much below posted can you negotiate?
A renewal conversation, using posted rates and rates self-reported by Canadian borrowers online.
- All guides
The hub for comparisons, the glossary, and the below-the-line report.
