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Canadian Mortgage Calculator

The Canadian Mortgage Calculator is mainly intended for Canadian residents and uses the Canadian dollar as currency, with interest rate compounded semi-annually by law.

$
years
%
Compounded semi-annually
$ /year
$ /year
$ /year
$ /year
Monthly Pay Semi-Annual Compounding
$3,722.27
Interest is compounded semi-annually according to the Canadian Bank Act. (Effective monthly rate: 0.4124%)
Item Monthly Total
Mortgage Payment $3,722.27 $1,116,681.57
Property Taxes $200.00 $60,000.00
Home Insurance $208.33 $62,500.00
Other Costs $500.00 $150,000.00
Total Out-of-Pocket $4,630.61 $1,389,181.57
House Price $800,000.00
Loan Amount $640,000.00
Down Payment $160,000.00 (20%)
Total of 300 Mortgage Payments $1,116,681.57
Total Interest $476,681.57
Mortgage Payoff Date Oct. 2051
  • Mortgage Payment 80%
  • Property Taxes 4%
  • Other Costs 11%
  • Home Insurance 4%

Amortization schedule

$0 $279K $558K $838K $1.1M 01325 Year
  • Balance
  • Interest
  • Payment
Year Date Interest Principal Ending Balance
1 10/26-9/27 $31,373 $13,294 $626,706
2 10/27-9/28 $30,700 $13,967 $612,738
3 10/28-9/29 $29,993 $14,675 $598,064
4 10/29-9/30 $29,250 $15,417 $582,646
5 10/30-9/31 $28,469 $16,198 $566,448
6 10/31-9/32 $27,649 $17,018 $549,430
7 10/32-9/33 $26,788 $17,880 $531,550
8 10/33-9/34 $25,883 $18,785 $512,766
9 10/34-9/35 $24,932 $19,736 $493,030
10 10/35-9/36 $23,932 $20,735 $472,295
11 10/36-9/37 $22,883 $21,784 $450,511
12 10/37-9/38 $21,780 $22,887 $427,624
13 10/38-9/39 $20,621 $24,046 $403,578
14 10/39-9/40 $19,404 $25,263 $378,314
15 10/40-9/41 $18,125 $26,542 $351,772
16 10/41-9/42 $16,781 $27,886 $323,886
17 10/42-9/43 $15,370 $29,298 $294,588
18 10/43-9/44 $13,886 $30,781 $263,807
19 10/44-9/45 $12,328 $32,339 $231,468
20 10/45-9/46 $10,691 $33,976 $197,492
21 10/46-9/47 $8,971 $35,696 $161,795
22 10/47-9/48 $7,164 $37,504 $124,292
23 10/48-9/49 $5,265 $39,402 $84,890
24 10/49-9/50 $3,270 $41,397 $43,493
25 10/50-9/51 $1,175 $43,493 $0

Canadian Mortgage Calculator Guide

The Canadian Mortgage Calculator incorporates Canadian banking conventions, notably the semi-annual compounding of fixed-rate mortgage interest required by the Canadian Interest Act, tiered down payment thresholds, and CMHC mortgage default insurance frameworks.

1. Semi-Annual Compounding in Canada

Under Section 6 of the Canadian Interest Act, interest on fixed-rate residential mortgages in Canada is compounded semi-annually, not in advance. This differs fundamentally from US mortgages which compound monthly.

Effective Monthly Interest Rate Formula:
i = (1 + r / 2)1/6 - 1
Where r is the annual nominal contract rate. For example, at 5%: i = (1 + 0.05 / 2)^(1/6) - 1 ≈ 0.41239% monthly rate.
Monthly Payment Formula:
PMT = Principal × [ i / (1 - (1 + i)-n) ]

Because semi-annual compounding compounds only twice a year rather than 12 times, the monthly rate and resulting payment are marginally lower than on an equivalent US loan.

2. Canadian Minimum Down Payment Requirements

In Canada, the minimum allowable down payment depends on the total purchase price of the property:

Purchase Price Tier Minimum Down Payment
$500,000 or less 5% of purchase price
$500,001 to $1,500,000 5% on first $500,000 + 10% on remainder
$1,500,000 or more 20% of purchase price (conventional mortgage)

3. CMHC Mortgage Default Insurance

When the down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price, Canadian regulations require mortgage default insurance (often provided by CMHC, Sagen, or Canada Guaranty). Insurance premiums are calculated as a percentage of the total loan and are rolled into the mortgage principal:

  • 5.00% to 9.99% Down Payment: 4.00% premium
  • 10.00% to 14.99% Down Payment: 3.10% premium
  • 15.00% to 19.99% Down Payment: 2.80% premium
  • 20.00% or greater: No mortgage default insurance required

4. Mortgage Term vs. Amortization Period

In Canada, the amortization period is the total duration required to pay off the mortgage entirely (standard is 25 years). The mortgage term is the length of time your mortgage agreement, interest rate, and terms remain in effect (most commonly 3 or 5 years). At the expiration of each term, borrowers renew their mortgage at prevailing interest rates.

Understanding your calculation

Method, example and limitations

How the calculation works

The Canadian fixed-rate convention modeled here converts a nominal annual rate compounded semiannually into an equivalent monthly rate before calculating payments.

Example to check

For a nominal annual rate j, the monthly rate is (1 + j/2)^(1/6) − 1. At zero interest, 120,000 over 120 months is 1,000 per month.

Before using the result

The mortgage term and amortization period are different. Variable-rate products, accelerated payments, renewal rates and lender contracts can use different assumptions.

Calculation methodology · Report a result that needs review