Data sources & methodology

How every number on this site is calculated, and where the rules come from.

Calculation version 2026.10-2 · Mortgage rules effective 2024-12-15, reviewed 2026-10-20 · Land transfer tax reviewed 2026-10-20

Payments

Fixed-rate Canadian mortgages compound interest semi-annually. We convert the yearly rate j you enter to a rate per payment i = (1 + j/2)^(2/f) − 1, where f is payments per year (12 monthly, 24 semi-monthly, 26 biweekly, 52 weekly), and use the standard level payment A = P × i / (1 − (1 + i)^−n). At 0% the payment is P / n.

Accelerated biweekly is half the monthly payment every two weeks; accelerated weekly is a quarter of it every week. Regular biweekly and weekly payments are calculated for their own frequency and don’t shorten the mortgage.

Variable rates are compounded monthly, as most Canadian lenders do: i = (1 + j/12)^(12/f) − 1. Lenders’ variable-rate contracts differ, and we hold the rate you enter for the whole projection, which is a snapshot, not a forecast. Open or closed doesn’t change the payment; it changes whether you can prepay or leave early without a penalty.

The first two years of the amortization schedule are free. Premium shows every year and every payment (every month), with term and lifetime totals.

Schedules and totals

Each period, interest on the opening balance is rounded to the cent, the scheduled payment is applied, then any extra payment. The final payment is reduced to the interest plus the remaining balance, so the balance never goes negative and total principal repaid equals the amount financed. Semi-monthly payments fall on the 1st and 15th; biweekly and weekly every 14 or 7 days, so some calendar years have an extra payment. Yearly and one-time lump sums are applied with the last payment of each payment year. Term totals stop at the end of your term and show the balance at renewal. Lifetime totals assume the rate stays the same after renewal, which isn’t guaranteed.

Results are checked against the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s mortgage calculator. Lenders round and date payments in their own ways, so expect differences of a few cents per payment.

Down payment and insurance

• Minimum down payment: 5% of the first $500,000, 10% of the portion up to $1.5 million, 20% at $1.5 million or more (FCAC).
• Insurance premium by loan-to-value: 0.60% up to 65%, 1.70% up to 75%, 2.40% up to 80%, 2.80% up to 85%, 3.10% up to 90%, 4.00% up to 95%, plus 0.2% for a 30-year insured amortization (CMHC). The premium is added to the mortgage.
• Provincial sales tax on the premium (Ontario 8%, Quebec 9%, Saskatchewan 6%) is shown as cash due at closing and never financed.
• Affordability uses the qualifying rate (the greater of your rate + 2% or 5.25%; OSFI), GDS 39% and TDS 44%, heating of $100 a month by default and half of condo fees.

When inputs can be calculated but a lender wouldn’t accept them, the result is labelled a hypothetical scenario.

Land transfer tax

Supported: Ontario (with Toronto’s municipal tax), British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta and Saskatchewan (no land transfer tax). Other provinces and territories are labelled as not yet supported rather than estimated with the wrong rules. Each result links to its official source.

Housing market data

Market pages will use Statistics Canada’s New Housing Price Index (table 18-10-0205-01) and CMHC’s Starts and Completions Survey, under the Statistics Canada Open Licence and the CMHC data licence, with the attribution each licence prescribes next to every chart. Until then, all market figures are labelled sample data.

Found a mistake?

Tell us on the contact page. We review calculation reports first.