Canadian Mortgage Calculator
Calculate mortgage payments including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI).
Mortgage Details
Purchase price of the home
Minimum 5% for homes under $500K
Annual mortgage interest rate
Total time to pay off mortgage
Additional Costs
Annual property tax amount
Annual insurance premium
Monthly condo/maintenance fees
Annual heating expenses
Affordability Check
Total household income before taxes
Car loans, credit cards, etc.
Mortgage Results
Monthly Payment
monthly payment frequency
Loan Amount
80.0% LTV
Down Payment
20.0%
Principal vs Interest
Total Monthly Housing Costs
Canadian Lending Standards
Minimum income needed: $118,012/year
Payment Summary
🍁 Canadian Mortgage Info
- • CMHC insurance required for down payments under 20%
- • Maximum 30-year amortization for insured mortgages
- • Stress test: qualify at higher of contract rate + 2% or 5.25%
- • GDS ratio includes housing costs only
- • TDS ratio includes all debt payments
How it works
A Canadian mortgage calculator estimates payments under Canadian rules, where fixed-rate mortgages compound semi-annually (not monthly) by law. It converts the quoted rate to an effective monthly rate, then amortizes the balance over the amortization period.
Payment with semi-annual compounding
Effective monthly rate = (1 + annual/2)^(1/6) − 1 M = P · r(1+r)ⁿ / [(1+r)ⁿ − 1]
- P
- amount borrowed
- r
- effective monthly rate
- n
- payments over the amortization
Worked example
- Borrow $400,000 at 5%
- 25-year amortization
- Convert 5% semi-annual to a monthly rate
- Amortize over 300 months
Payment ≈ $2,326/month.
Good to know
- The semi-annual compounding rule makes a Canadian 5% slightly cheaper than an American 5% compounded monthly.
- Mortgages renew at the end of each term (often 5 years), re-pricing at then-current rates.
- Default insurance (CMHC) is required with less than 20% down.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How is Canadian mortgage interest compounded?
Fixed-rate Canadian mortgages compound semi-annually by law, not monthly as in the US. That makes a quoted 5% in Canada slightly cheaper than an American 5%: the calculator converts the semi-annual rate to an effective monthly rate before amortizing.
What is the difference between term and amortization?
Amortization is the total payoff schedule — commonly 25 years — while the term is the contract period with your current lender and rate, often 5 years. At each term's end you renew at then-current rates, so Canadian borrowers re-price their mortgage several times over its life.
What is the minimum down payment in Canada?
5% on the first $500,000 of the purchase price and 10% on the portion above that, for homes priced under $1.5 million. Homes at $1.5 million or more require at least 20% down and cannot use insured mortgages.
What is CMHC mortgage default insurance?
Required whenever the down payment is under 20%, it protects the lender if you default. The premium — roughly 2.8% to 4% of the loan depending on your down payment — is usually added to the mortgage balance rather than paid up front.
What is the mortgage stress test?
Federally regulated lenders must qualify you at the higher of your contract rate plus 2 percentage points or the benchmark qualifying rate. You must show you could afford payments at that higher rate, which reduces the maximum mortgage you can borrow.