Mortgage Renewal
The renewal letter arrives, the rate looks acceptable, and signing takes thirty seconds. That convenience is exactly what it’s designed to buy.
Your lender’s offer may be perfectly reasonable. Convenience doesn’t always mean suitable. A renewal is the one moment you can change rate, payment structure, prepayment privileges, amortisation, or use the opportunity to consolidate debt or access equity — without a prepayment penalty. It’s the cheapest decision point in the entire mortgage cycle, and most people spend the least time on it.
The answers in this centre
- My renewal letter arrived. Should I just sign it?
- Can I switch lenders at renewal, and will it cost anything?
- Do I need to requalify or pass the stress test again at renewal?
- My situation has changed. Can I still renew?
- Should I choose a fixed or variable rate at renewal?
Start early
The single most useful thing on this page. Reviewing your renewal months before maturity, rather than days, is what creates options — time to compare, time to switch, time to fix anything that needs fixing first.
Leave it to the last week and the only realistic choice is the one in front of you.
If switching doesn’t help, we say so
Sometimes the existing lender’s offer, properly negotiated, is the right answer. Where that’s the case, I’ll help you negotiate with them rather than move you for the sake of it.
That’s advice you can rely on precisely because it sometimes points away from a transaction.
What to do next
Send me the renewal offer with your balance, maturity date and current rate. I’ll tell you whether renewing, negotiating or switching makes the most sense for you.
Talk it through → · Back to all answers →
General information about Ontario mortgages — not financial, legal or mortgage advice. Lender and regulatory requirements at renewal vary and change. Every file is reviewed individually.