Mortgage Renewal Calculator Canada

Work out what your mortgage will cost after the term ends. The calculator takes the balance you will actually owe at your maturity date, re-amortizes it over the years you have left, prices it at a renewal rate you choose, and reports the difference against the payment you are making today. That difference — payment shock — is the number the renewal decision turns on, and it is the number your renewal letter never shows you.

Rate hold window

120–180

days before maturity that lenders will hold a rate for you

Renewal statement

21 days

minimum notice a federally regulated lender must give you

Straight switch

No MQR

uninsured switches exempt from the stress test since Nov 21, 2024

What the renewal calculator actually computes

A renewal is not a new mortgage. Your amortization keeps running; only the term ends. So the arithmetic starts from three quantities the calculator derives rather than asks you to guess: the balance at maturity (the original principal amortized forward at the expiring contract rate for the number of payments you have made), the remaining amortization (original amortization minus the elapsed term), and the renewal payment (the balance re-priced at the new rate over what is left).

Everything else on the page is a comparison against that baseline: what the payment becomes at a rate half a point either side, what a lump-sum prepayment at maturity removes from it, and what re-amortizing back to a longer schedule does to both the payment and the lifetime interest bill. Payments are computed with semi-annual compounding, the convention that governs Canadian fixed-rate mortgages.

Worked example: a 2021 five-year fixed maturing now

A borrower took a $560,000 mortgage at 2.19% on a five-year fixed term with a 25-year amortization. The monthly payment has been $2,423. Over the five years, $89,020 of principal came off and $56,359 went to interest, leaving a balance at maturity of $470,980 and 20 years of amortization remaining. Here is what that balance costs at three plausible renewal rates:

Renewal rate	New monthly payment	Change vs $2,423	Increase
3.89% — 20 years remaining	$2,819	+$396	+16.3%
4.29% — 20 years remaining	$2,917	+$494	+20.4%
4.79% — 20 years remaining	$3,042	+$619	+25.5%
4.29% — re-amortized to 25 years	$2,552	+$129	+5.3%

The last row is the lever most borrowers do not know they have. Stretching the amortization back out to 25 years cuts the increase from $494 a month to $129 — but it also pushes five extra years of interest onto the loan, and because it is not a straight switch, it re-opens the stress test if you also want to change lenders. That trade is the whole renewal decision in one line.

Stay, switch, or refinance

Path	Stress test	Typical cost	Best when
Sign the renewal letter	None	$0	Never, without checking the offer against market first
Negotiate with the incumbent	None	$0	You hold a competing commitment and want to avoid paperwork
Straight switch to a new lender	Exempt (uninsured, since Nov 2024)	$0–$400	The rate gap beats the discharge and assignment fees
Refinance	Full MQR qualification	$1,000+	You need equity out, debt consolidated, or a longer amortization

The distinction that matters is the third row against the fourth. A straight switch keeps the loan amount, the amortization, and the payment schedule unchanged, and is exempt from re-qualifying at the Minimum Qualifying Rate. Change any one of those three and the transaction is a refinance, priced and underwritten accordingly. Borrowers routinely forfeit the exemption by asking to roll a few thousand dollars of closing costs into the new mortgage.

The renewal timeline

Days before maturity	What to do
180	Pull your balance and maturity date from your statement. Model the renewal payment here so the number stops being a surprise.
120	Ask a broker or a competing lender for a rate hold. This is free optionality: it caps your rate while leaving you free to take a lower one.
90	Take the held rate back to your current lender in writing. A documented competing offer is the only leverage that reliably moves a posted renewal rate.
45	Decide. A straight switch needs roughly 30 days to fund; a collateral charge discharge needs longer.
21	Your renewal statement arrives. If this is the first time you have thought about it, you have already lost the negotiation.

If you are breaking the term early

Renewing at maturity carries no penalty. Leaving before maturity does. On a closed fixed mortgage the penalty is the greater of three months’ interest or the Interest Rate Differential; on a variable mortgage it is normally three months’ interest alone. Using the example above, three months’ interest on a $470,980 balance at 2.19% is about $2,579 — but the IRD on a mortgage written at 2.19% with years still to run can be many multiples of that, because it compensates the lender for the spread between your rate and what it can earn today.

That asymmetry is why early renewal is often worth doing on a variable mortgage and rarely worth doing on a deeply discounted fixed one. Ask your lender for the penalty quote in writing and compare it against the interest saved over the remaining months, not against the headline rate gap.

Renewal FAQs

How far before my maturity date can I lock a renewal rate?▾

Most Canadian lenders will hold a rate for you 120 days before maturity, and several will go to 180 days. The hold is free and one-directional in your favour: if rates fall between the hold and your maturity date, you take the lower rate; if they rise, you keep the held one. Federally regulated lenders must also send you a renewal statement at least 21 days before the term ends, but 21 days is far too late to start shopping — by then you are negotiating against a deadline instead of against a competing commitment.

Why does my payment jump at renewal even though my balance went down?▾

Two forces move in opposite directions and the rate usually wins. Your balance falls over the term, which pushes the payment down. But the remaining amortization also falls — a 25-year amortization taken five years ago has 20 years left, so the same balance is now compressed into fewer payments. Add a contract rate that is two points higher than the one that expired and the rate effect swamps both. The renewal calculator isolates the three effects so you can see how much of the increase is rate, how much is the shorter amortization, and how much a lump sum would offset.

Do I have to pass the stress test to switch lenders at renewal?▾

Not on a straight switch. Since November 21, 2024, OSFI has not required uninsured borrowers to re-qualify at the Minimum Qualifying Rate when they move an existing mortgage to a new lender without increasing the loan amount, extending the amortization, or changing the payment schedule. Insured mortgages have been exempt on straight switches for far longer. The exemption evaporates the moment the transaction stops being a straight switch: take equity out, consolidate debt into the mortgage, or stretch the amortization, and it is a refinance, which is fully stress-tested.

What does it cost to move my mortgage to a new lender at renewal?▾

On a straight switch at maturity there is no prepayment penalty, because the term has ended. What remains are transactional: a discharge or assignment fee from the outgoing lender (roughly $200 to $400 depending on province and charge type), a new-lender appraisal (about $300, frequently waived or covered), and legal or title work (often absorbed by the incoming lender through a switch program). Budget a few hundred dollars, and ask the new lender in writing which of those items it is covering before you sign.

What is a collateral charge and why does it complicate a switch?▾

A collateral charge registers the security for more than the mortgage amount so the lender can lend you more later without re-registering. The trade-off appears at renewal: a collateral charge generally cannot be assigned to a new lender, so switching requires a full discharge and a fresh registration, with legal fees the incoming lender may or may not cover. It does not prevent a switch — it adds cost and time to one. If your current mortgage is registered as a collateral charge, start the conversation earlier than the standard 120 days.

Should I renew early and pay a penalty to get a lower rate?▾

Only when the interest saved over the remaining term exceeds the penalty plus the cost of losing your existing rate. On a closed fixed mortgage the penalty is the greater of three months’ interest or the Interest Rate Differential, and the IRD on a mortgage taken at a very low rate can be an order of magnitude larger than the three-month figure. On a variable mortgage the penalty is normally three months’ interest, which makes early action far more often worthwhile. Run the break-even before you call the lender, not after.

Can I extend my amortization at renewal to lower the payment?▾

With your existing lender, re-amortizing back out is usually possible on an uninsured mortgage and is the single most effective lever against payment shock — but it is not a straight switch, so moving to a new lender while extending the amortization puts you back inside the stress test. Insured mortgages are capped at their original amortization schedule with narrow exceptions. Extending also costs real money: the payment falls now and the total interest paid rises, which the calculator quantifies alongside the lower payment.