Mortgage Payment Calculator

Semi-annual compounding (the Canadian difference)

Canadian fixed mortgage rates compound twice a year. The per-payment rate is (1 + rate/2)^(2/f) − 1 where f is payments per year, and the payment is P × r ÷ (1 − (1+r)^−n). A US-style monthly-compounding calculator overstates your payment slightly at the same quoted rate.

Fixed vs variable: which compounding is in use

The Rate type control changes one thing, how often the quoted rate compounds, and the page states the convention in use next to that control and above both comparison tables. Fixed uses the Canadian semi-annual convention above, (1 + rate/2)^(2/f) − 1, because a fixed rate must be disclosed as "calculated semi-annually, not in advance" (Interest Act s. 6). Variable and adjustable-rate mortgages are priced off the lender's prime rate and compound monthly, so the per-payment rate is (1 + rate/12)^(12/f) − 1 and the payment at the same quoted rate is slightly higher. Applying the fixed convention to a variable mortgage understates the payment. Fixed is the default, and the stress-test payment uses whichever convention you pick. Everything else, CMHC, the caps, the schedule, is identical between the two.

Balance over time

Each point is the balance left at the end of a year, from the same payment-by-payment schedule as the figures above. The renewal marker sits at the end of your term and its label is the Balance at renewal figure. With prepayments, the dashed line is the same mortgage without them, and the Paid off marker sits at the exact payment that clears the balance, which can fall part way through a year.

Where each year's payments go

Each bar is one year of payments split into principal and interest, so its full height is that year's figure in the Payments column of the schedule. With prepayments, principal is split again into the part your required payment repaid and the part your extra payments and lump sum repaid. The required payment is counted first, so on the final payment the scheduled share is cleared before any prepayment is counted.

Renewal payment shock

At the end of your term the remaining balance is re-amortized over what is left of the amortization: the years you entered minus the term you just finished. The table reruns that payment at your current rate plus or minus each rate move in the Renewal scenarios set, and shows the change against your current required payment in dollars, in percent, and over a year. The bars above the table plot the same change per payment, red where it rises and green where it falls. Prepayments are not carried past renewal, and if your term runs to the end of the amortization there is nothing to renew and the panel says so.

CMHC insurance

Below 20% down, default insurance is mandatory (and unavailable at all for homes $1.5M+). The premium, 0.60% to 4.00% of the loan by loan-to-value, +0.20% for an insured 30-year amortization (first-time buyers and new builds only), is added to your mortgage. Its provincial sales tax in ON (8%), QC (9%), SK (6%) and MB (7%) must be paid in cash at closing. If you pick a 30-year amortization with less than 20% down but aren't a first-time buyer or buying new construction, the loan is automatically calculated at 25 years (that rule came into force December 15, 2024), toggle First-time buyer or new build if it applies to you.

Minimum down payment

5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the rest; 20% for homes of $1.5M or more (OSFI/FCAC rules, confirmed July 2026).

Entering the down payment as a percent

The $ / % switch beside the down payment only changes how you type it. The dollar amount is always the figure the calculation and the shareable link carry, so switching modes never moves the result; in percent mode the dollars are derived as price × percent ÷ 100 and re-derived if you change the price. Whichever mode you are in, the hint under the label shows the other representation.

Premium tier cliffs

CMHC premiums are a step function of loan-to-value, not a smooth curve: the rate changes at 85%, 90% and 95% LTV, and disappears entirely at 80% (20% down). Sitting a few hundred dollars the wrong side of an edge means paying the higher rate on the whole loan. When the next edge down is within 10% of the down payment you already have, the tool prices the jump: how many more dollars are needed and how much premium (and premium PST, where a province charges it) that removes. The 10% cut-off is a judgement call, not a rule, and it keeps the nudge to top-ups you could plausibly find rather than another year of saving.

CMHC premium by down payment

The chart reruns the calculation above at every whole percent of down payment from 5% to 30% of your price: premium = (price − down payment) × the CMHC rate for that loan-to-value, with the 0.20-point charge for an insured 30-year amortization when it applies (first-time buyers and new builds only), and the provincial sales tax on the premium stacked on top where your province charges it. Every tier edge is a whole percent of down payment (10%, 15% and 20%), so each drop is drawn exactly where it happens, and the edge itself already gets the lower rate. Inside a tier the premium still falls a little as the down payment rises, because it is charged on a smaller loan. The blended minimum down payment is rarely a whole percent, so it takes the place of the nearest point, with its exact figures in the tooltip and the data table; down payments below it are shown as not allowed, never as a $0 premium. At $1.5M or more nothing under 20% down can be insured, so the chart is not shown.

Down payment scenarios

The optional 5 / 10 / 15 / 20% comparison reruns the same math four times at your price, rate, amortization, term and payment frequency, with no prepayments. A scenario that isn't legal is shown as unavailable with the reason instead of a payment: 5% is below the blended minimum on any home over $500,000, nothing under 20% is available at $1.5M or more, and an insured 30-year amortization drops back to 25 years unless you're a first-time buyer or buying new. Your own down payment, not the scenarios, drives every figure above.

The stress test

Lenders must qualify you at the greater of your contract rate + 2% or 5.25% (OSFI B-20). The qualifying payment shown is what your budget is tested against, not what you pay.

Payment frequencies

Six frequencies, all built from the same monthly payment. The plain ones spread the identical annual total across more dates: semi-monthly is the monthly payment halved and taken 24 times, bi-weekly is the annual total over 26, weekly the annual total over 52. They cost about the same as monthly, they only change your cash-flow rhythm. The accelerated ones pay a straight fraction of the monthly payment instead: accelerated bi-weekly is exactly half the monthly payment 26 times, accelerated weekly is exactly a quarter of it 52 times. Both add up to 13 months of payments a year rather than 12, and that extra month is the entire advantage, it goes straight to principal and takes years off the amortization. The Every payment frequency table runs all six on your own numbers at once so the gap is visible without switching the control, and the bars above it plot each frequency's interest saved against monthly payments, with your own frequency highlighted.

Matching your bank, and a BA II Plus, to the penny

The engine computes the exact annuity payment; lenders round it up to the next cent and shrink the final payment to clear the balance, so a bank schedule can differ from the exact figure by less than a cent per payment. The classic check value: $100,000 at 6% over 25 years is $639.81 a month, via the effective monthly rate (1 + 0.06/2)^(2/12) − 1 = 0.49386%, and our automated test suite pins this engine to that published figure. To reproduce any payment on a BA II Plus: set P/Y to your payments per year and C/Y = 2 (semi-annual compounding; use C/Y = 12 for a variable rate), then N = years × P/Y, I/Y = the quoted rate, PV = the principal including any CMHC premium, FV = 0, CPT PMT. For the accelerated frequencies compute the monthly payment first, then pay exactly half of it 26 times (accelerated bi-weekly) or a quarter of it 52 times (accelerated weekly).

Buying with someone

Turn on Split this mortgage between two buyers to divide one mortgage between two people. Each payment is split by a percentage you choose, or in proportion to your two gross incomes, in which case you both put the same share of income toward the mortgage. Prepayments are split the same way. Each person's capital is what they have put into the home: their part of the down payment plus their share of the principal repaid. Interest is shown for each of you but counts as the cost of borrowing, so it builds no stake. When the down payment split differs from the payment split, the capital split starts at the down payment ratio and moves toward the payment ratio as the loan is repaid: (your down payment + your share × principal repaid) ÷ (down payment + principal repaid). A CMHC premium is part of the loan, so repaying it counts as principal. Every figure is the schedule above divided in two, so the columns always add back to the totals. The panel splits money only: how the title records your shares, and what happens on a sale or a separation, are questions for a lawyer or notary.

Interest saved by prepayment plan

Each cell reruns the full amortization with one plan: a fixed extra amount added to every payment (rows: 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 50% of your required payment) and a lump sum once a year at the last payment of each year (columns: 1%, 2.5%, 5%, 10% and 15% of the original principal). Steps are rounded to two significant figures, and your own extra payment and lump sum replace the nearest step, so your plan is always on the grid and its cell matches the saving quoted above. The figure is total interest with no prepayments − total interest with that plan, with your rate held for the whole amortization, the same assumption as the Total interest figure; a real renewal at a different rate would change both. If you enter a privilege limit, an asterisk marks the plans whose yearly prepayments (lump sum plus extra payments) go over original principal × privilege ÷ 100. No prepayment charge is calculated.

Prepayment privilege

The interest saving from prepayments above assumes every dollar is penalty-free. Real mortgage contracts cap that: you may prepay up to a set share of the original principal each year without a charge, commonly 10% to 20%, but the exact figure is your lender's and is written in your contract, not set by any regulator. Enter it in Privilege limit (0 leaves it out of the picture) and the tool compares your prepayments against original principal × privilege ÷ 100 and flags anything above it. It does not calculate a penalty: prepayment charges are contract-specific, so no charge is ever netted off the saving shown. Lenders usually treat an increase to your regular payment as a separate privilege from lump sums, so check both limits.

What this doesn't model

Actual future rates, rate resets during a variable term or a trigger rate being hit, the size of any prepayment charge (the tool flags when you exceed the privilege you entered), property taxes, or closing costs. Try the affordability calculator and land transfer tax calculator for the full purchase picture.