What would the payments
actually look like?

The amortization is how long it takes to pay the whole mortgage off — commonly 25 years. The term is how long your current contract and rate are locked in, usually one to five years. When the term ends you renew the remaining balance at whatever rates are available then, which is why the rate you sign today isn't the rate you'll pay for the whole 25 years.

A fixed rate stays the same for your whole term, so the payment never moves. A variable rate follows the lender's prime rate, so it can go up or down during the term. Fixed buys certainty; variable has historically cost less on average but asks you to carry the risk. Which one suits you is less about predicting rates and more about how much movement your budget can absorb.

Canadian fixed mortgages compound semi-annually, not monthly. It's a legal requirement here, and it makes payments slightly lower than the standard American formula would suggest. Plenty of online calculators use the American version, which is why numbers vary from site to site. The calculator on this page uses the Canadian convention.

Lenders don't qualify you at the rate you're being offered — they qualify you at a higher one, to check you could still manage if rates rose. It means your approval amount is lower than your contract rate alone would imply. A broker can tell you what you qualify for under the current qualifying rate before you start looking.

A pre-qualification is a quick estimate based on what you tell the lender. A pre-approval means they've looked at your documents and held a rate for you, usually for 90 to 120 days. In a competitive offer, a real pre-approval is what lets you move quickly and bid with confidence — and sellers can tell the difference.

A regular bi-weekly payment is your annual total split into 26 pieces. An accelerated bi-weekly payment is half the monthly amount, paid 26 times — which works out to one extra monthly payment a year. That extra goes straight at the principal, so the mortgage clears years earlier and the interest saved is substantial. Try the toggle in the calculator above to see it on your own numbers.

Most mortgages let you pay extra each year without penalty — a lump sum against the principal, or increasing your regular payment by a set percentage. The allowances differ a lot between lenders, and they're easy to overlook when you're only comparing rates. If you expect bonuses or plan to pay down faster, they matter as much as the rate does.

A closed mortgage has a lower rate but limits how much you can pay off early without a penalty. An open mortgage lets you pay it off whenever you like, at a higher rate. Most buyers take a closed mortgage; an open one tends to make sense only if you know you'll be selling or paying out the balance soon.

If you break a closed mortgage mid-term — selling without porting it, or refinancing — the lender charges a penalty. On a variable it's usually three months' interest. On a fixed it's the greater of three months' interest or an interest rate differential, which can be far larger. Worth asking how a lender calculates theirs before you sign, not after.

Your bank can offer you its own products. A mortgage broker shops multiple lenders, including ones that don't have branches, and is often able to find a better rate or terms that fit an unusual situation — self-employment, a rental property, a short credit history. There's no cost to you in most residential deals. We're happy to introduce you to brokers our clients have had good experiences with.