Mortgage Renewal Calculator Canada (2026) – Payment Shock

Quick answer

This calculator reprices the balance at maturity and shows the payment change with Canadian semi-annual compounding, so you can decide whether to stay or switch. A $560,000 mortgage at 2.19% costs $2,423/month and leaves $470,980 after five years; at today's published 4.49% 5-year fixed, the new payment over 20 years is $2,967/month, $544 more a month.

Last reviewed November 2026

Sources checked 3 Nov 2026: OSFI minimum qualifying rate, CMHC premium schedule, CMHC Home Start (30-year)

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

Compare to today's range

Put this renewal payment next to the live big-bank 5-year fixed range before you sign.

Compare to today's range
Estimated Payment
$2,520/mo

A 2021 five-year fixed renewing now

A borrower took a $560,000 mortgage at 2.19% on a five-year fixed term with a 25-year amortization. Canadian fixed rates compound semi-annually. The monthly payment has been $2,423, leaving a balance at maturity of $470,980 and 20 years of amortization remaining. The street card is still syncing, so this example does not invent a renewal rate.

Renewal rateNew monthly paymentChange vs $2,423Increase
4.09% — 20 years remaining$2,868+$445+18.4%
4.99% — 20 years remaining$3,092+$669+27.6%

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.

Stay, switch, or refinance

PathStress testTypical costBest when
Sign the renewal letterNone$0Never, without checking the offer against market first
Negotiate with the incumbentNone$0You hold a competing commitment and want to avoid paperwork
Straight switch to a new lenderExempt (uninsured, since Nov 2024)$0–$400The rate gap beats the discharge and assignment fees
RefinanceFull 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. If any of those three change, qualify the new payment in the mortgage stress test calculator. The test is federal, so a stress test calculator Ontario file uses the same rate as a file in any other province.

The renewal timeline

Days before maturityWhat to do
180Pull your balance and maturity date from your statement. Model the renewal payment in the tool above so the number stops being a surprise.
120Ask 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.
90Take 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.
45Decide. A straight switch needs roughly 30 days to fund; a collateral charge discharge needs longer.
21Your 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.

Worked examples

Each example is a remaining balance and the coupon that is maturing, re-priced at a pinned renewal quote. Payment shock is the renewed payment minus the outgoing payment. Staying with the current lender is not a new stress test.

Payment shock on a $280,000 Ontario renewal from 1.99%

The outgoing monthly debit is $1,414.06 at 1.99%. The renewed debit is $1,808.34 at 4.79%. Shock is +$394.28 per month — higher than the letter they have been living inside. On a remaining balance of only $280,000 that jump is still a grocery-bill problem, not a “sell the house” problem, which is why this band is easy to dismiss and easy to under-prepare. The first renewed split is $1,106.67 interest and $701.67 principal; the cheap coupon had been retiring principal unusually fast, and that tailwind ends on renewal day. Because the remaining amortization is already twenty years, stretching it further is a refinance, not a renewal, and the qualifying rate comes back. Switching lenders on an uninsured straight switch does not, by itself, re-open that test. Negotiating the incumbent is still the first phone call; the math on this page is what you bring to that call.

Remaining balance$280,000
Remaining amortization20 years
Outgoing quoted rate1.99%
Outgoing payment$1,414.06
Pinned renewal rate4.79%
Renewed payment$1,808.34
Payment shock+$394.28
First renewed payment — interest$1,106.67
Interest if this rate holds for the remaining amortization$154,001
ProvinceOntario

Outgoing coupon 1.99% and renewal quote 4.79% are pinned so the shock cannot drift when street rates move. Re-run the live renewal calculator against the current sheet before you treat $1,808.34 as an offer. Open this example in the calculator.

Bi-weekly shock on a $400,000 Alberta renewal from 2.49%

Outgoing bi-weekly is $907.28 at 2.49%. Renewed bi-weekly is $1,126.53 at 4.79%. Shock +$219.25 per fortnight is higher and, annualized, it is a noticeable hit on a prairie payroll that has not necessarily risen with national wages. Because the schedule is already bi-weekly, switching to accelerated at renewal would add an extra monthly equivalent on top of the coupon shock — two changes at once, which is how people bounce a debit they could have survived. Alberta’s lack of a land-transfer levy is irrelevant to this remaining-balance math and very relevant if the household’s real plan is to sell and buy up. Keep those plans in different calculators. The first renewed fortnight is still interest-heavy ($728.90 interest). Twenty-two years is enough clock that a modest lump-sum from a bonus still moves the payoff date; using that bonus to paper over the new debit is how the clock never shortens.

Remaining balance$400,000
Remaining amortization22 years
Outgoing quoted rate2.49%
Outgoing payment$907.28
Pinned renewal rate4.79%
Renewed payment$1,126.53
Payment shock+$219.25
First renewed payment — interest$728.90
Interest if this rate holds for the remaining amortization$244,374
ProvinceAlberta

Prairie bi-weekly shock on this page pins 2.49% leaving and 4.79% arriving. Live Alberta street quotes still move with the national sheet; the calculator is the re-run. Open this example in the calculator.

Payment shock on a $520,000 B.C. renewal from 2.89%

Outgoing monthly P and I is $2,576.71. Renewed is $3,098.29. Shock +$521.58 lands on top of whatever the strata corporation is already charging. That is why coastal renewals in this band feel larger than the prairie file with a similar remaining principal: the mortgage is not the only escalator. If a special assessment arrives in the same year as the coupon reset, the household is dealing with two capital events and one payroll. Switching lenders on an uninsured straight switch still does not, by itself, re-open the prescribed qualifying rate; adding the assessment to the mortgage would. The first renewed month is $2,055.25 interest. Property Transfer Tax is irrelevant until you sell. The live rates hub is where you check whether 4.79% is still a fair pin; coastal posted-versus-discount conversations are the same national sheet as everywhere else.

Remaining balance$520,000
Remaining amortization23 years
Outgoing quoted rate2.89%
Outgoing payment$2,576.71
Pinned renewal rate4.79%
Renewed payment$3,098.29
Payment shock+$521.58
First renewed payment — interest$2,055.25
Interest if this rate holds for the remaining amortization$335,127
ProvinceBritish Columbia

Coastal remaining-balance math on this page pins 2.89% leaving and 4.79% arriving. Strata and levies are not in the pin; only the mortgage quote is. Open this example in the calculator.

Payment shock on a $680,000 uninsured Ontario renewal from 1.74%

Outgoing $3,667.13 at 1.74% becomes $4,686.74 at 4.79%. Shock +$1,019.61 is higher and it is the largest dollar jump on this hub so far because the coupon gap is wide and the remaining clock is short. The first renewed month is $2,687.64 interest — the cheap coupon had been an unusually fast principal machine, and that ends. Uninsured straight-switch exemption is the strategic asset on this file. Using the renewal to pull Greater Toronto equity, to blend in a HELOC, or to restore a twenty-five-year clock is how that asset is given away. The one-hundred-eighty-day window is where you get competing quotes while the incumbent still has to beat a real number. Eighteen years is also short enough that a serious prepayment in year one of the new term still moves the payoff into a planned retirement date; ignoring that and only staring at the new debit is how a conventional file becomes a thirty-year problem it is not allowed to be.

Remaining balance$680,000
Remaining amortization18 years
Outgoing quoted rate1.74%
Outgoing payment$3,667.13
Pinned renewal rate4.79%
Renewed payment$4,686.74
Payment shock+$1,019.61
First renewed payment — interest$2,687.64
Interest if this rate holds for the remaining amortization$332,337
ProvinceOntario

The uninsured Ontario file pins 1.74% leaving and 4.79% arriving on an eighteen-year remaining clock. Live quotes move; this shock does not chase them. Open this example in the calculator.

A rate-drop renewal on an $850,000 Quebec remaining balance

Outgoing $5,812.65 at 5.49% becomes $5,264.47 at 4.29%. The difference is $548.18 lower each month. That is real room in a Quebec budget that also pays Welcome Tax only when it buys again, not at renewal. The first new month is still $3,011.94 interest because $850,000 is still large; cheaper money does not make a jumbo remaining balance small. The temptation is to restore lifestyle to match the new debit. The more durable use, on a twenty-year remaining hypothec, is to keep paying the old $5,812.65 as a voluntary extra and let the difference retire principal. Quebec lenders will not all treat that extra the same way; confirm it hits principal and is not held as a skip reserve. Switching for a still-cheaper quote is rational only after notary-and-discharge costs are inside the break-even. The Civil Code file is slower than a common-law switch; start the one-hundred-eighty-day clock anyway.

Remaining balance$850,000
Remaining amortization20 years
Outgoing quoted rate5.49%
Outgoing payment$5,812.65
Pinned renewal rate4.29%
Renewed payment$5,264.47
Payment shock−$548.18
First renewed payment — interest$3,011.94
Interest if this rate holds for the remaining amortization$413,473
ProvinceQuebec

This relief file pins 5.49% leaving and 4.29% arriving. If the live sheet is higher than the pin, the relief shrinks — re-run the calculator rather than spending $548.18 twice. Open this example in the calculator.

Payment shock on a $1,100,000 Ontario renewal from 3.49%

Outgoing $5,486.17 at 3.49% becomes $6,266.79 at 4.79%. Shock +$780.62 is a second-car payment, and it arrives on a file that has not had time to get smaller. The first renewed month is $4,347.65 interest and $1,919.14 principal — almost a new loan’s split, because it almost is a new loan. Uninsured straight-switch exemption still applies if the terms stay clean, but jumbo desks at the destination lender may ask for more documentation than a mid-market switch. That is operational friction, not a return of the prescribed qualifying rate. Using this event to pull equity in the Greater Toronto area is how a clean switch becomes a refinance at the worst possible remaining balance. The one-hundred-eighty-day window is where you find out whether 4.79% is even the right pin. This page will not chase the sheet.

Remaining balance$1,100,000
Remaining amortization25 years
Outgoing quoted rate3.49%
Outgoing payment$5,486.17
Pinned renewal rate4.79%
Renewed payment$6,266.79
Payment shock+$780.62
First renewed payment — interest$4,347.65
Interest if this rate holds for the remaining amortization$780,038
ProvinceOntario

The jumbo remaining file pins 3.49% leaving and 4.79% arriving. Jumbo street quotes can sit wide of the mid-market pin; use the live calculator before you brief a lender. Open this example in the calculator.

Renewal FAQs

What does a mortgage renewal calculator show?▾
A mortgage renewal 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How do I calculate a mortgage renewal payment in Canada?▾
Start from three quantities rather than guessing: the balance at maturity (original principal amortized forward at the expiring contract rate), the remaining amortization (original amortization minus the elapsed term), and the renewal payment (that balance re-priced at the new rate over what is left). Canadian fixed-rate mortgages use semi-annual compounding. The renewal calculator on the parent page derives those three figures and compares them against your current payment.
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.

Last reviewed November 2026