Put 20% down
Going from 10% to 20% down drops the $19,530 insurance premium off your loan and cuts your payment by $485/mo.
It needs $70,000 more at closing — saving $500/mo gets you there in 11 yrs 8 mos (around Jun 2038).
Canada · CAD · updated weekly
Canadian mortgage calculator
Built on the rules that actually apply here: semi-annual compounding, tiered minimum down payments, the CMHC premium folded into your principal, and the stress-test payment your lender judges you on — not the one you make.
- Semi-annual compounding
- CMHC premium tiers
- Stress test shown
- Accelerated bi-weekly
Total monthly payment
$4,334 /mo
$3,520 principal & interest plus $815 taxes, insurance and fees
- Loan amount
- $649,530
- Paid off
- Sep 2051
- Total interest
- $406.3K
A dated roadmap from these numbers — on screen or as a 2-page PDF.
- Principal & interest $3,520
- Property tax $613
- Home insurance $202
- Total per month $4,334
CMHC premium of $19,530 (3.1% of the loan) is added to your principal and amortized — it is not a monthly line. 8% provincial tax on the premium ($1,562) is due in cash at closing.
Cash needed up front $82,062
- Down payment (10%)
- $70,000
- Provincial tax on insurance premium
- $1,562
- Closing costs (estimate)
- $10,500
Closing costs are a rough 1.5% of price. Actual legal fees, inspections and land transfer tax vary by province.
-
2026
65% interest
$27,331 of interest against $14,904 off the balance.
-
2035
The balance tips
Year 10: equity overtakes interest, $21,837 to $20,397.
-
2050
Almost all yours
Interest down to $957, with $700,000 of equity built.
-
Lifetime
$406.3K
Total interest on this loan. A shorter term or bigger payments move it — priced below.
Hover or focus the chart and use the arrow keys to read any single year; every figure is also in the payment schedule.
| Year | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 year 1 | $14,904 | $27,331 | $634,626 |
| 2027 year 2 | $15,550 | $26,685 | $619,077 |
| 2028 year 3 | $16,224 | $26,010 | $602,853 |
| 2029 year 4 | $16,928 | $25,307 | $585,925 |
| 2030 year 5 | $17,661 | $24,573 | $568,264 |
| 2031 year 6 | $18,427 | $23,807 | $549,836 |
| 2032 year 7 | $19,226 | $23,008 | $530,610 |
| 2033 year 8 | $20,060 | $22,174 | $510,550 |
| 2034 year 9 | $20,930 | $21,305 | $489,620 |
| 2035 year 10 | $21,837 | $20,397 | $467,783 |
Stress test
Canadian lenders must qualify you at the higher of your rate plus 2% or the 5.25% benchmark — here that is 6.29%.
- Your actual payment
- $4,334/mo
Lenders check this second number against your income, not the first one. Most basic calculators never show it.
What you can change
Built from your numbers — every one of these is this same calculation with a single input changed. Tap to try it; nothing is saved until you change it yourself.
Pay three extra payments a year
Adding $880 to every payment pays this off 7 yrs 6 mos early and saves $134.8K in interest.
Same loan, same rate — the extra goes straight at the principal.
Switch to accelerated bi-weekly
Paying half your monthly amount every two weeks is one extra monthly payment a year: 3 yrs 3 mos off the amortization and $59.9K less interest.
26 payments of $1,760 instead of 12 of $3,520 — budget-neutral if you are paid every two weeks.
Drop to 20 years
A 20-year amortization raises your payment by $503/mo but cuts total interest by $90.4K.
Paid off in Sep 2046 instead of Sep 2051.
Watch for a half-point drop
At 3.79% your payment falls $176/mo and you pay $52.9K less interest overall.
Set this as your renewal watch point — a 0.5% better rate at renewal is worth chasing.
The point of all this
Turn these numbers into a plan
A dated roadmap built from your scenario and the moves worth making — on screen, as a two-page PDF, and saved so you can pick it up later.
AI
A personalized read on your numbers
The calculated moves below are always exact. This adds a prioritised, plain-language take on what your particular scenario calls for — written from the figures this calculator produced, not from figures the model made up.
Double-check this result
Run the same numbers somewhere else. Principal & interest should match to within a dollar or two; totals can differ because tools make different assumptions about insurance premiums and payment frequency.
- CMHC (opens in a new tab)
The official calculator. It also compounds semi-annually, so principal & interest should match closely.
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (opens in a new tab)
Government tool with payment frequency options — useful for double-checking accelerated bi-weekly.
- Bankrate Canada (opens in a new tab)
Handy second opinion. Watch for US-style monthly compounding, which overstates a Canadian payment.
One place we are deliberately more accurate than most: Canadian fixed rates are compounded semi-annually, not monthly. Calculators that use the US formula overstate a $500,000 payment at 5% over 25 years by about $15 a month — $2,923 instead of $2,908.
Total per month $4,334
Why US calculators get Canadian mortgages wrong
A US calculator divides your annual rate by 12. Canadian fixed-rate mortgages are
compounded semi-annually, not in advance, so the correct monthly rate is
(1 + annual ÷ 2)2÷12 − 1. It looks like a rounding detail and
it is not: on a $500,000 mortgage at 5% over 25 years, the correct payment is $2,908 a
month and the US formula gives $2,923 — about $15 a month, roughly $4,500 over the
amortization.
The same gap shows up in the CMHC premium. It is a one-time charge of 2.8% to 4.0% of the loan, and it is normally added to your principal and amortized — not billed monthly the way US PMI is. A tool that shows it as a monthly line is describing a mortgage you do not have.
- Minimum down payment is tiered. 5% on the first $500,000, 10% from $500,000 to $1,500,000, 20% at $1,500,000 and up, where insurance is unavailable.
- Insured amortization caps at 25 years — 30 for first-time buyers and newly built homes.
- Premium tax is cash at closing. Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba charge provincial sales tax on the premium, and it cannot be financed.
- Term is not amortization. Your rate is locked for the term, usually 1 to 5 years; the amortization is the full payoff horizon.
Canadian mortgage questions
Why do Canadian mortgage payments use semi-annual compounding?
The Interest Act requires fixed-rate Canadian mortgages to be compounded semi-annually, not in advance. The correct monthly rate is (1 + annual rate ÷ 2)^(2÷12) − 1, not annual rate ÷ 12. Using the US formula overstates the payment: on a $500,000 mortgage at 5% over 25 years it returns $2,922.95 instead of the correct $2,908.02 — about $15 a month, or roughly $4,500 over the amortization. This calculator uses the Canadian formula on Canadian scenarios.
What is the minimum down payment in Canada?
It is tiered: 5% on the first $500,000 of the price, 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1,500,000, and 20% at $1,500,000 or more, where mortgage default insurance is not available. On an $800,000 home, the minimum is $55,000 — 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the remaining $300,000.
How does CMHC mortgage insurance work?
With less than 20% down, default insurance is mandatory. The premium is a one-time charge of roughly 2.8% to 4.0% of the loan depending on your down payment, and it is normally added to the mortgage principal and amortized rather than paid monthly. In Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, provincial sales tax on the premium must be paid in cash at closing.
What is the mortgage stress test?
Lenders must qualify you at the higher of your contract rate plus 2% or the 5.25% benchmark rate. You are approved on that higher payment, not the one you will actually make. The stress-test panel shows both numbers side by side so you know which one the lender is judging.
What is the difference between term and amortization?
Amortization is how long until the mortgage is fully paid off — usually 25 years, or 30 for first-time buyers and newly built homes with insurance. The term is how long your rate is locked, typically 1 to 5 years, after which you renew at whatever rates then apply. This calculator amortizes over the full period; renewal-rate scenarios are on the roadmap.
Is accelerated bi-weekly worth it?
Accelerated bi-weekly takes half your monthly payment every two weeks. Because there are 26 two-week periods in a year, you make the equivalent of 13 monthly payments instead of 12 — one extra payment a year, without it feeling like extra. On a typical 25-year mortgage that removes roughly three years and tens of thousands in interest.