Mortgage calculators that include the things other calculators leave out
Most calculators ask for your income and your down payment. Lenders ask for a good deal more than that — which is why the number you get elsewhere is usually higher than the one you get approved for.
These use Canadian rules, not American ones. Semi-annual compounding, the 5.25% minimum qualifying rate, 50% of condo fees in your ratios, and Ontario’s land transfer tax with Toronto’s second one on top. They are estimates for planning, not an approval. Why any calculator overstates →
What can I actually afford?
This is the one worth using. It includes your existing monthly debts, property tax, heat and condo fees — the four things most calculators ignore, and the four things that decide your approval.
What would the payment be?
Canadian mortgages compound semi-annually, not monthly. Calculators built for the US market get this slightly wrong every time.
Land transfer tax — and whether you pay it twice
Inside the City of Toronto you pay two land transfer taxes. Everywhere else in the GTA you pay one. This is cash on closing day and it cannot be added to the mortgage.
What’s the minimum down payment?
The tiers changed in December 2024. A lot of advice still online has not caught up.
The penalty calculator we deliberately haven’t built
You’ll find “mortgage penalty calculators” all over the internet. Most of them are close to useless, and a wrong number here is expensive.
On a variable mortgage the penalty is usually straightforward — around three months’ interest.
On a fixed mortgage it’s the interest rate differential, and every lender calculates it differently. Some use posted rates rather than the rate you actually pay, which can multiply the figure several times over. No calculator that doesn’t know your specific lender’s method can give you a number you should plan around.
What to do instead: phone your lender and ask for your current payout penalty, in writing. They will tell you. It takes one call, it costs nothing, and it is the number the entire decision turns on.
A calculator gives you a number. A pre-approval gives you a number you can act on.
Before you act, talk to Rajiv first.
Estimates only, for planning. Not an approval, and not financial, legal or tax advice. Debt service limits of 39% GDS and 44% TDS reflect CMHC’s published maximums; the minimum qualifying rate used is the greater of your rate plus 2% or 5.25%. Land transfer tax rates are set by the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto — Toronto’s graduated rates for higher-value single-family homes took effect 1 April 2026. All figures stated as at August 2026 and subject to change. Your lawyer and your lender produce the actual numbers for your transaction.