Canada Mortgage Calculator

How does this tool calculate the mortgage payment?

This tool uses semi-annual compounding, the convention for Canadian fixed-rate mortgages. It converts your annual rate into an effective monthly rate of (1 + rate/2)^(1/6) − 1 and applies the standard level-payment formula over the amortization you pick. Bi-weekly is the monthly payment × 12 ÷ 26, weekly is × 12 ÷ 52, and accelerated bi-weekly is half the monthly payment paid 26 times a year. A lender’s own quote can differ by a few dollars because of rounding and its own payment rules.

How is the CMHC premium worked out here?

The figures built into this tool are 4.00% of the loan for a down payment of 5% to 9.99%, 3.10% for 10% to 14.99%, and 2.80% for 15% to 19.99%, plus 0.20 percentage points when the amortization is longer than 25 years. The premium is charged on the price minus your down payment and added to the principal. It is shown only when the down payment is under 20% and the price is under $1,500,000. Other insurers’ schedules, and any provincial sales tax a province charges on the premium at closing, are not included.

What does the stress-test row show?

The tool takes the higher of your rate plus 2 percentage points and 5.25%, and shows the monthly payment at that qualifying rate on the same principal and amortization. It is an illustration of the payment a lender may test you against. It does not look at your income, debts, property taxes or heating costs, so it cannot tell you whether you would actually qualify.

Does the tool stop me choosing a 30-year amortization or a tiny down payment?

No. Every amortization in the list works with every input, and a 30-year insured mortgage simply adds the surcharge. The tool does not check whether you are a first-time buyer or buying a new build, which the figures built into it treat as the condition for 30 years on an insured mortgage. A separate row compares your down payment with the tiered minimum (5% of the first $500,000, 10% of the next $1,000,000, 20% from $1,500,000) and flags a shortfall, but the results are still calculated.

What happens at a price of $1,500,000 or more?

The tool does not add a premium, because the figures built into it treat prices from $1,500,000 as ineligible for insurance. If your down payment is under 20% at that price, the premium row says the price is not eligible and the minimum-down-payment row shows 20% of the price, so you can see the gap.

Does the province selector change anything?

No. The province list is a leftover label and does not feed the calculation, so choosing Quebec or Alberta gives the same payment as Ontario. Land transfer or property transfer tax is not calculated on this page; use the Ontario or BC calculators for those.

What are the edge cases for blank and zero values?

The rate field starts at 5.5%. Clearing it counts as 0, and a rate of 0 is treated as a true 0% rate, so the payment becomes principal divided by the number of months. A down payment above the price is capped at the price, and negative values are treated as zero. Accelerated bi-weekly shows the payoff time in years because the loan is repaid before the nominal amortization ends.

What is not modelled?

Renewal at a different rate after a 5-year term, prepayments, property tax, home insurance, condo fees, closing costs and penalties for breaking a mortgage are all outside the tool. The whole amortization is run at one fixed rate, so the interest total is a single-rate illustration. Rules and tables like these change, so the lender, CMHC or a qualified adviser decides what applies to you.