🍁 All Canadian mortgage calculators, organized by job

Which calculator answers which question?

Most people land on a mortgage site with one specific question, then waste time in the wrong tool. Use this shortcut. “How much house can I afford?” is an income question — start with the affordability calculator, which works backwards from your salary the way a lender does. “What will my payment be?” is a loan question — the payment calculator takes a price, a down payment, and a rate, and returns the exact payment at every frequency, plus the full amortization schedule. “Will the bank approve me?” is a stress-test question — you are qualified at the higher of 5.25% or your contract rate plus 2%, not at the rate you will actually pay, and the stress test calculator shows that pass or fail clearly. “What cash do I need on closing day?” is two questions: land transfer tax (with Toronto's second, municipal tax if you buy there) and the full Ontario closing-costs estimate, which adds legal fees, appraisal, inspection, and the 8% Ontario PST charged on CMHC premiums. “Should I rent longer or buy now?” belongs in rent vs buy, which compares the true net cost of each path over your time horizon instead of just comparing rent to a mortgage payment.

Two tools are about saving before you buy. The FHSA calculator shows how the First Home Savings Account grows — $8,000 a year of contribution room up to a $40,000 lifetime limit, with a tax deduction on the way in and a tax-free withdrawal when you buy. The RRSP Home Buyers' Plan calculator shows the other first-time buyer program: withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP tax-free and repay it over 15 years. Used together, the two programs can put $100,000 of tax-advantaged money toward one down payment — $200,000 for a couple where both qualify.

Three tools are for people who already have a mortgage. The prepayment calculator shows what an extra $200 a month, or a single lump sum, actually saves in interest and time. The refinance calculator answers whether breaking your mortgage early pays: it estimates the penalty, the new payment, the monthly savings, and the month where you break even. The payment and stress test calculators do double duty at renewal, when a higher rate can change your payment more than most people expect.

Affordability by salary — the most common starting point

If you have a salary in mind rather than a house, the salary pages run the affordability math for you with the standard defaults — 4.49% example rate, 25-year amortization, typical Ontario property tax and heating costs — and show every step. On $60,000 the maximum is about $271,154; on $80,000 about $368,282; on $100,000 about $465,410; on $120,000 about $562,539; and on $150,000 about $708,231. Treat those as ceilings under the stress test, not targets: they assume modest other debts, and your own debts, condo fees, and property taxes move the number quickly. Open the full affordability calculator to run your real figures.

Questions people ask before they calculate

Do I need 20% down? No. The legal minimum in Canada is 5% on the first $500,000 of the price and 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5 million; at $1.5 million and up, 20% is required. Below 20%, your mortgage must be default-insured (CMHC, Sagen, or Canada Guaranty) and the premium is added to your loan — the payment and land transfer tax calculators both show it. Twenty percent down avoids the premium, but it is not an entry requirement.

Why does this site use different math than US calculators? Canadian fixed rates compound semi-annually, not monthly, so the same nominal rate produces a slightly different payment. Canadian qualification also includes the federal stress test and GDS/TDS debt-ratio limits, which most US tools ignore entirely. Every tool here uses the Canadian formula: periodic rate = (1 + rate ÷ 2)^{2 ÷ payments per year} − 1.

Are these results an approval? No. They are educational estimates built from published rules. A lender also reviews your credit history, employment, the property itself, and your full debt picture. Use these numbers to arrive informed — then confirm them with a licensed mortgage broker or agent before you make an offer.

I'm buying outside Ontario — can I still use these? The affordability, payment, stress test, prepayment, refinance, FHSA, and Home Buyers' Plan tools use federal rules that apply across Canada. Land transfer tax, closing costs, and the PST on insurance premiums are Ontario-specific (Toronto adds its own municipal tax), and rent vs buy is tuned for the GTA. If you are in BC, Alberta, or Quebec, the tax pages will not match your province — the rest still will.