Mortgages, in plain language

Amortization is how long it would take to pay the whole mortgage off, often 25 or 30 years. The term is how long your current contract and rate last, usually 1 to 5 years. When the term ends you renew, often at a different rate, and keep going until the amortization runs out.

Yes, and you should. Enter the rate your lender or broker quoted. We never show a rate as a bank’s offer. The default is only an example to start from.

The full amortization schedule, every year and every payment, term and lifetime totals (principal, interest and balance at renewal), payoff dates, your saved history on every device, and no ads. CA$9.99 once or CA$2.99 a month. The calculators, results and the first two years of the schedule stay free.

No. ChowChow Labs runs this site independently. It isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by any bank, lender, Statistics Canada, CMHC or government body, and we don’t sell your information to lenders.

Fixed-rate mortgages in Canada compound interest twice a year, not monthly as in the US. A 5% Canadian rate costs slightly less than a 5% US rate. We convert your rate the Canadian way for every payment frequency.

A fixed rate stays the same for the term. A variable rate moves with your lender’s prime rate; depending on the contract, your payment changes or the amortization stretches instead. Our estimates hold the rate you enter constant, so for variable rates treat them as a snapshot.

You pay half your monthly payment every two weeks. There are 26 of those a year, which works out to one extra monthly payment a year, so the mortgage is paid off years sooner. Regular biweekly payments are smaller and don’t speed things up.

When your down payment is less than 20% of the price. The premium (0.6% to 4% of the mortgage) is usually added to the mortgage. In Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan, provincial sales tax on the premium is due in cash at closing. Homes priced at $1.5 million or more can’t be insured, so they need 20% down.

Each chart shows its source, period and release date. Until the official Statistics Canada and CMHC feeds are connected, the market figures on this site are clearly labelled sample data.

They follow documented Canadian conventions and are checked against known results, but your lender’s rounding, dates and fees can differ by a few dollars. They aren’t approval or advice. Confirm material figures with your lender.