Buying in Quebec carries one charge that exists nowhere else in Canada in the same form: the droit de mutation, known as the welcome tax, payable to the municipality after closing. Quebec also splits property tax into municipal and school lines, and adds provincial sales tax to mortgage insurance premiums. Each one belongs in the cash you need and the payment you carry.
Does replacing the loan beat keeping it? Net position over the years you will actually stay, the break-even month, and the do-nothing alternative. Everything updates as you type.
The point where a mortgage term ends and the balance comes due. You can renew with the current lender or switch to another; a straight switch keeps the same balance and amortization, so it is not a new purchase.
What is still owed on the loan at a point in time. It is also the payoff amount, before any prepayment penalty or per-diem interest.
Source: Bank of Canada weekly published averages, posted rather than discounted, published Aug 26, 2026. A national average, not your quote.
Paying a loan down to zero through equal scheduled payments. Each payment covers that month’s interest first; the remainder reduces the balance.
The rate your lender could re-lend at for the months remaining.
Insurance that protects the lender when the down payment is under 20%. It is added to the monthly payment and can usually be removed once you reach about 20% equity.
Renewals do not re-trigger default insurance. Financed at the new rate when set.
The interest rate differential is the greater of the two, so it is the binding rule here. Both are shown so you can check your lender’s figure. A bank using its posted rate minus your original discount can arrive at a much larger differential; only its payout statement is exact.
Modeled as paid upfront, not rolled into the loan.
What this counts: every payment made plus the balance still owed at year 5, keeping the current loan against taking the new one, including $93,500 in costs, prepayment charge included. The new payment is $2,781 a month lower. Break-even arrives in month 25.
Simple calculators divide upfront costs by the monthly saving, which lands on month 34. This one also counts the balance each path leaves you with, which is why its month can differ.
•The prepayment charge is an estimate under the interest rate differential rule. Only your current lender can state the exact figure.
Bars below the line: the refinance is behind. Bars above: it is ahead. The sign change is the break-even point.
The refinance pulls ahead of keeping the current loan at month 25, inside the 5-year horizon.
Illustrative comparison only. Not advice and not a lender commitment.
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The rest of this suite. Each answers one question.
The welcome tax, or droit de mutation, is a one-time duty your municipality charges when a property changes hands. It is calculated on brackets of the higher of the purchase price and the municipal assessment, and the bill arrives after closing rather than at the notary. Budget for it separately: it is not part of your down payment and it is not collected with your mortgage payment.
Plain-language definitions of every term this calculator uses.
The month a new loan has repaid its own upfront costs, counting both the payments made and the balance still owed on each path. Before it you are behind; every month after it is money ahead.
What a lender charges to end a closed mortgage before its term is up. Canadian lenders charge the greater of three months’ interest and an interest rate differential; US loans rarely carry one. Only the lender’s payout statement is exact.
A prepayment charge priced as the gap between your rate and a current one, applied to the balance for the months left in the term. Which comparison rate the lender uses, posted or discounted, can change the figure several times over.
The point where a mortgage term ends and the balance comes due. You can renew with the current lender or switch to another; a straight switch keeps the same balance and amortization, so it is not a new purchase.
Re-amortizing an existing loan over its remaining term after a lump-sum payment, which lowers the payment without replacing the loan. Lenders treat it as a separate request from a refinance.
What is still owed on the loan at a point in time. It is also the payoff amount, before any prepayment penalty or per-diem interest.
Paying a loan down to zero through equal scheduled payments. Each payment covers that month’s interest first; the remainder reduces the balance.
The number of years the loan is scheduled to run. Shorter terms mean higher payments and less total interest.
Insurance that protects the lender when the down payment is under 20%. It is added to the monthly payment and can usually be removed once you reach about 20% equity.
The lender’s charge for the borrowed money, calculated each month on the remaining balance.