Mortgage Calculator Ontario 2026

How a mortgage payment is calculated in Ontario

Every mortgage payment splits into two parts: interest (the cost of borrowing) and principal (the amount that actually pays down your balance). At a positive rate, the interest share decreases as the balance falls. At 0%, every payment goes to principal. The calculator above shows this shift in the schedule.

The one detail that trips people up is compounding. This tool assumes an annual nominal rate compounded twice a year, a common Canadian fixed-rate convention. Confirm the convention in your lender quote, especially for a variable-rate mortgage. That means your annual rate is not simply divided by twelve. The calculator converts the rate using the effective periodic formula: take one plus half the annual rate, raise it to the power of two divided by the number of payments per year, and subtract one. At 5 percent, the effective monthly rate works out to about 0.41239 percent rather than the 0.4167 percent a naive divide-by-twelve would give. Results assume an unchanged rate across the full amortization.

For a useful comparison, make sure both calculators use the same compounding convention, frequency and amortization. A different convention can change the estimate. If you use an AI assistant for this arithmetic, read can ChatGPT calculate a mortgage payment? first.

What affects your mortgage payment

Five inputs move the number, in roughly this order of impact:

• Mortgage amount. The biggest lever. A larger down payment shrinks the amount you borrow and can also eliminate CMHC insurance.
• Interest rate. On a $500,000 mortgage, a change from 5% to 5.5% over 25 years increases the estimated monthly payment by about $144, assuming the same rate throughout. This is why shopping the rate matters.
• Amortization. Stretching from 25 to 30 years lowers the payment but raises total interest. Shortening to 20 does the reverse.
• Payment frequency. Accelerated options quietly pay the mortgage down faster (more on this below).
• CMHC insurance. For an eligible insured purchase, this tool adds the premium to the loan balance, so its estimated payment includes interest on that financed premium.

CMHC insurance: when it applies and what it costs

With less than 20% down, a standard high-ratio purchase needs mortgage default insurance, which protects the lender. Eligibility is a separate check. This tool estimates CMHC premiums for an owner-occupied 1- or 2-unit home with a traditional down payment. It assumes the premium is financed; paying it upfront would reduce the mortgage balance. Non-traditional down payments, rental properties, portability and premium credits need a separate calculation.

Rates above apply to the base loan before the premium. Purchase price must be below $1.5 million for this high-ratio estimate. At $1.5 million or above, this tool requires at least 20% of the whole price. Insured 30-year amortization requires at least one qualifying first-time buyer or a qualifying newly built home; a lender must confirm all other requirements. The 30-year premium adds 0.20 percentage points.

One Ontario-specific catch: the province charges 8 percent provincial sales tax on the CMHC premium, and unlike the premium itself, that PST cannot be added to the mortgage. You pay it in cash at closing. On a premium of $18,000, that is $1,440 due on closing day that must be budgeted separately.

Payment frequency: monthly, biweekly, and accelerated payments

The frequency you choose changes how fast the mortgage disappears. There are five common options, and the difference between two of them is worth real money.

• Monthly. 12 payments a year. The default.
• Biweekly. This calculator solves the amortizing payment using 26 periods per year and the equivalent periodic rate. Some lenders instead use monthly payment times 12 divided by 26; confirm their convention.
• Accelerated biweekly. Your monthly payment divided by 2, paid every two weeks. Because there are 26 biweekly periods, you make the equivalent of 13 monthly payments a year instead of 12. The higher annual payment reduces principal faster.
• Weekly uses the equivalent periodic rate and 52 periods. Accelerated weekly uses one-quarter of the monthly payment, 52 times a year.

Accelerated biweekly pays the equivalent of one extra monthly payment each year. It can reduce interest and shorten repayment, but it requires more cash over the year. Check your budget and lender privileges. The savings box estimates the difference against monthly payments with the same balance, rate and amortization; it assumes the rate stays unchanged.

Ontario closing costs and land transfer tax

Your payment is only part of the picture. CMHC suggests considering closing costs of 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price, but your actual cash requirement depends on taxes, fees and adjustments. These costs are excluded from the payment estimate.

Ontario land transfer tax uses price tiers. A hypothetical $750,000 purchase of a one- or two-family home has $11,475 of provincial land transfer tax before any eligible refund. Toronto also has municipal land transfer tax with its own rules. Do not assume both taxes always match.

Eligible first-time buyers may qualify for land transfer tax refunds, subject to separate program rules. Get current amounts and eligibility from Ontario and Toronto before budgeting a refund. Add quoted legal fees, title insurance, an inspection, adjustments and any insurance-premium tax. The 30-year insurance first-time buyer definition does not automatically establish tax-refund eligibility.

Three hypothetical Ontario examples, run through this calculator

Example 1: First condo, $550,000 in Mississauga, 10% down

Price $550,000, down payment $55,000 (10 percent), so a $495,000 base mortgage. CMHC at 3.10 percent adds about $15,345, for a $510,345 mortgage. At 5 percent over 25 years, monthly is roughly $2,968. Switch to accelerated biweekly and the same buyer pays about $1,484 every two weeks and finishes years early.

Example 2: Family home, $900,000 in Scarborough, 20% down

Price $900,000, down payment $180,000 (20 percent), so a $720,000 mortgage with no CMHC. At 5 percent over 25 years, monthly is about $4,188. Over the full amortization, total interest is well over $500,000, assuming 5% stays unchanged for all 25 years. Compare actual offers and fees rather than assuming a rate reduction is available.

Example 3: Move-up buyer, $1,300,000 in Oakville, 20% down

Price $1,300,000, down payment $260,000, so a $1,040,000 mortgage. At 5 percent over 30 years, monthly is about $5,550; at 25 years it is about $6,049. The roughly $498-per-month difference comes with more interest over the longer repayment path. This illustration assumes the same 5% rate throughout both amortizations and lender availability of the 30-year option.

Qualifying: the stress test still applies

The calculator shows what a mortgage costs. Whether you qualify is a separate question. In Ontario, as across Canada, insured purchases and uninsured purchases at federally regulated lenders generally use the higher of your contract rate plus 2 percent or the qualifying floor of 5.25 percent. So a mortgage quoted at 5 percent is tested at 7 percent. Your payment at the contract rate can be comfortable while the stress test still limits how much you are approved for. To see the maximum purchase price your income supports, an affordability calculation is the right next step.