The table below is a great way of estimating a monthly mortgage payment for Canadian mortgages. Why it is cool is that we just calculate the payment per $100,000 borrowed. Then you can easily do the math for, say, a $200K mortgage - just double the payment factor!
Example: To figure out your monthly payment per $100,000 
borrowed, find the column with the number of years the loan will be repaid or "amortized" over. For example, your payment per $100,000 loan amount at 4.0% amortized over 30 years would be $476/month. For a $300K loan, $476x3=$1,428/mo.
Canadian Mortgage Payment Factors
| Monthly Payment per $100,000 borrowed amortized over X years. Use the table to the right for current rates. |
| |
|
|
|
| I% Rate |
20 years |
25 years |
30 years |
| 3.0% |
$ 554 |
$ 473 |
$ 421 |
| 3.5% |
$ 579 |
$ 499 |
$ 448 |
| 4.0% |
$ 604 |
$ 526 |
$ 476 |
| 4.5% |
$ 630 |
$ 553 |
$ 504 |
| 5.0% |
$ 657 |
$ 582 |
$ 534 |
| 5.5% |
$ 684 |
$ 610 |
$ 564 |
| 6.0% |
$ 712 |
$ 640 |
$ 595 |
| 6.5% |
$ 741 |
$ 670 |
$ 626 |
| 7.0% |
$ 769 |
$ 700 |
$ 659 |
| 7.5% |
$ 799 |
$ 732 |
$ 691 |
| 8.0% |
$ 828 |
$ 763 |
$ 725 |
A couple of important points:
- First Time Buyers will find it easiest to qualify on a 5 Year fixed-rate contract, so that's the best rate to use from the chart to your right
- A 30 year amortization is popular with first time buyers as it means you can qualify for a larger loan for a given income level. Then, as your budget permits, increase your payments to decrease the amount of time it takes to pay of your mortgage and the amount of lifetime interest you will pay.
- You have to renew your mortgage and interest rate at the end of every contract term.
- Keep in mind that interest rates fluctuate all the time. Will you be able to afford your payments if interest rates have gone up by 2% at renewal? Do some "what-if" analysis.
- For more comprehensive calculations, check out our mortgage calculators page.
What Other Monthly Payments Will You Have?
Besides your monthly mortgage payment from above, you will need to account for the following items in your monthly budget:
- Property taxes, usually printed on the MLS listing sheet for properties listed with Realtors.
- Homeowners insurance – use a factor of $2.00/$1,000 in value
- Mortgage Default Insurance (for down payments <20%) varies and is added to the loan amount in calculating your monthly payment. For example, with 5% down and a loan amortized over 30 years, roughly 2.95% or $2,950 is added to your mortgage balance for each $100,000 borrowed, which will increase your monthly payment marginally.
- Utilities. Ask Realtor/Seller to supply historical information, but expect at least $300 on average per month for gas, power, water & sewer. Plus more for telephone, cable TV, Internet, etc.
