Mortgage calculators for Canada that use the right formula
Canadian fixed mortgages compound semi-annually, not monthly. Most online mortgage calculators use the American formula and quietly overstate your payment. These six do not, whether you are buying in Toronto, Calgary or anywhere else in Canada.
A mortgage calculator for Toronto and a Calgary mortgage calculator should give the same payment for the same rate and amortization, because compounding, the insurance premium and the stress test are all federal rules. What changes by city is land transfer tax and property tax, which is why the affordability calculator asks for the tax on the home you have in mind. It doubles as a down payment calculator for Canada: at any price it shows the minimum down payment under the 5%, 10% and 20% tiers.
The formula. For a Canadian fixed-rate mortgage the periodic rate is (1 + annual rate ÷ 2)2÷n − 1 where n is payments per year, and the payment is P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−N). Every calculator on this site uses it.
Which mortgage calculator do you need?
Start from the question you are actually asking. Each calculator answers one of them, and every one uses the same rate board and the same rules, so the numbers agree with each other when you move between them.
| Your question | Use this | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| How much can I borrow, and how much house can I afford? | Mortgage affordability calculator | Maximum price and mortgage at the stress-test rate, which ratio stops you, minimum down payment and the insurance premium. |
| What will my payment be on a given mortgage? | Mortgage payment calculator | Monthly, bi-weekly, accelerated and weekly payments with semi-annual compounding, plus the balance left at the end of the term. |
| Should I take my bank's renewal offer or switch? | Mortgage renewal calculator | The renewal offer against a switch rate, in dollars over the term, net of the discharge fee. |
| Is it worth breaking my mortgage for a lower rate or to take equity out? | Mortgage refinance calculator | The penalty, the new payment and the break-even month, with the 80% loan-to-value cap applied. |
| Renew as-is, or refinance and restructure? | Renewal vs refinance calculator | Both paths side by side, total cost over the term. |
| Would rolling my debts into the mortgage actually save money? | Debt consolidation calculator | Monthly cash-flow change and total interest, debts kept separate against debts consolidated. |
Every calculator uses the current rate from our published rate board as its default, and every result is a starting point: a lender underwrites your actual income, credit and property, which is what a pre-approval confirms.
Numbers look promising? Let's confirm them.
A calculator uses assumptions. A broker uses your actual credit, income and property — and comes back with a real rate from a real lender.