Canadian Mortgage Calculator
Calculate your monthly mortgage payment, total interest paid, and see a full amortization breakdown. Includes CMHC mortgage insurance.
How Canadian Mortgages Work
A Canadian mortgage has two key time periods: the amortization period (typically 25 years) and the term (commonly 5 years). Payments are calculated over the full amortization, but at the end of each term you renegotiate your rate. Your actual total interest cost depends heavily on rate movements over the life of your mortgage.
If your down payment is less than 20%, CMHC mortgage insurance is mandatory. The premium (2.8% to 4%) is added to your mortgage balance. While this increases your total debt, it allows purchasing with as little as 5% down — important in high-cost markets like Toronto and Vancouver.
Canadian mortgage interest is legally compounded semi-annually, not monthly. This makes Canadian mortgage math slightly different from the US standard. This calculator uses the correct Canadian semi-annual compounding formula for accurate results.
Frequently Asked Questions
5% for homes up to $500,000. 10% on the portion from $500,000 to $999,999. 20% minimum for homes $1M+, where CMHC insurance is unavailable.
A mandatory premium (2.8–4%) on mortgages with under 20% down. Added to your mortgage balance — it protects the lender, not you.
You must qualify at your rate + 2% or 5.25%, whichever is higher. Designed to ensure you can handle rate increases at renewal.
25 years is the standard and maximum for insured mortgages. Shorter terms mean higher payments but dramatically less total interest. 30-year amortization is available for conventional mortgages (20%+ down).
Canadian mortgages compound semi-annually — American ones don't
By law, a fixed-rate Canadian mortgage is compounded semi-annually, not in advance. American mortgages compound monthly. This is why you cannot use a US mortgage formula or a US calculator on a Canadian mortgage — the monthly payment it produces will be slightly wrong, and the error compounds over 25 years.
The practical effect is that your effective annual rate is marginally lower than the posted rate for the same nominal figure. It also means a Canadian mortgage rate is not directly comparable to a car loan or line of credit, which compound monthly. This calculator applies the Canadian semi-annual convention.
Term and amortisation are not the same thing
Almost uniquely among developed countries, Canada separates the two. Your amortisation is how long until the mortgage is fully repaid — typically 25 years. Your term is how long your current rate and conditions are locked, usually 5 years. At the end of each term you renew at whatever rates then exist.
A 25-year amortisation therefore means roughly five separate renewals, each carrying rate risk. There is no Canadian equivalent of the American 30-year fixed. This is why renewal is a recurring, consequential event rather than an administrative formality — and why the rate you sign today only governs a fraction of the loan's life.
Accelerated payments: the cheapest way to shorten a mortgage
The single most effective lever most homeowners never pull. Accelerated bi-weekly takes your monthly payment, halves it, and charges it 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, applied entirely to principal.
On a typical 25-year mortgage that alone cuts roughly three to four years off the amortisation and saves tens of thousands in interest, for a payment increase most people never notice. Beware the naming: plain "bi-weekly" (non-accelerated) simply divides the annual total by 26 and saves almost nothing. Ask which one you are being offered — the words differ by one adjective and the outcome differs by years.
What this payment figure leaves out
- Property tax — often collected with your payment and remitted by the lender.
- Home insurance — required before a lender will fund.
- Mortgage default insurance (CMHC and others) if your down payment is under 20%. The premium is normally added to the mortgage rather than paid at closing, so it increases the balance you pay interest on.
- Condo fees, where applicable.
- Closing costs — see the Ontario or Alberta calculators.
Two more things to check before signing: the prepayment privileges (how much extra you may pay annually without penalty — typically 10–20%) and whether the mortgage is open or closed. And remember a lender's approval is not a budget: the stress test shows what you qualify for, not what is comfortable.