The calculators give you numbers; these guides explain the Canadian rules that produce them — with the same worked figures, so you can check every claim in the matching calculator.
A calculator gives you a number. It does not tell you why the number is what it is, which rule produced it, or what you could change to move it. These guides cover the other half of the job: the concepts behind the tools on this site, in plain English, with the same Canadian rules and the same worked numbers the calculators use. Every figure in these guides is computed with this site's own engines, so a number you read here is a number you can reproduce in the matching calculator.
Two federal programs do most of the heavy lifting for first-time buyers, and they work best together. The FHSA vs RRSP Home Buyers' Plan guide compares them side by side — $40,000 of tax-free FHSA room plus a $60,000 RRSP withdrawal is $100,000 per person, $200,000 per couple — and explains which one to fund first and why. The first-time home buyer programs roundup then adds everything else: Ontario and Toronto land transfer tax rebates, 30-year amortizations for first-time buyers, and the GST new housing rebate, each with its cap and eligibility in one table.
Lenders judge you on two ratios, and most buyers have never heard either name. The GDS/TDS ratios guide explains the 39% and 44% limits, what counts in each, and — using the affordability calculator's own $100,000-income example — how a car payment quietly deletes tens of thousands of dollars of house. The CMHC insurance guide covers the premium nobody budgets for: what mortgage default insurance is, the premium table by down payment, and Ontario's 8% PST on the premium that must be paid in cash. The Ontario closing costs guide itemizes everything else that lands on closing day, from land transfer tax to utility hookups, against the 1.5%-to-4% rule of thumb.
The mortgage renewal guide walks the renewal timeline — start six months out, not six days — and does the payment-shock math for a balance renewing from 2.00% to 4.49%: $2,022 a month becomes $2,520. And if life changes mid-term, the prepayment penalties guide explains the difference between a 3-months-interest penalty and an IRD penalty, why the second one can be three times the first, and how to run the break-even math before you break anything.
The guides are organized above by topic, but the site has three other ways in: the master calculator hub lists every tool organized by job; the first-time home buyer hub walks the save-qualify-buy journey in order; the Ontario hub collects everything province-specific, including land transfer tax by city; and the renewal and refinance hub gathers the tools for the end of a term. Everything here is educational — estimates and explanations, not advice about your specific situation.
Who has to buy it, the premium table by down payment, and the 8% Ontario PST due in cash.
Read the guide →$40K + $60K = $100K per person. Which to fund first, and how repayment really works.
Read the guide →Every line item on closing day, typical ranges, and the 1.5%-to-4% rule of thumb.
Read the guide →The 39% and 44% limits lenders judge you by, with a worked $100K-income example.
Read the guide →The six-month timeline, payment-shock math, and the stress-test relief for switching.
Read the guide →3-months interest vs IRD, with break-even math before you break a mortgage.
Read the guide →FHSA, HBP, LTT rebates, 30-year amortizations, GST rebate — caps and eligibility in one table.
Read the guide →Every calculator on the site, organized by the job you are trying to do.
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