Rates Explained
Where rates come from, what actually decides yours, and why the number you are quoted depends far more on which pricing category your file lands in than on which lender you walk into.
Bank of Canada rate announcements
- Jan28Scheduled+ MPR
- Mar18Scheduled
- Apr29Scheduled+ MPR
- Jun10Scheduled
- Jul15Scheduled+ MPR
- Sep2Scheduled
- Oct28Scheduled+ MPR
- Dec9Scheduled
The Bank of Canada sets its policy rate on eight pre-scheduled dates a year, all at 9:45 a.m. ET. Four of them (marked + MPR) come with the quarterly Monetary Policy Report. Variable-rate mortgages and lines of credit move with these decisions; fixed rates follow the bond market and can move any day. Schedule: 2026. Overnight rate read live from the Bank of Canada.
Why you won’t find a rate table here
Most broker sites lead with a number. I would rather tell you the truth about what that number is worth.
Lender pricing moves constantly, sometimes more than once in a week, and it is never a single figure. The same borrower can be quoted several different rates on the same day depending on which pricing category their file falls into, how their income is documented, what the property is, and which lender the file is placed with. A table showing one rate would be out of date quickly, and even while it was current it would not tell you what you would actually be offered.
There is also pricing that never appears on any website. Promotional rates come and go, often with short windows and their own conditions attached, and they cannot be held or guaranteed in advance. Those are frequently the best option on the table, and you only find out about them by asking.
Tell me what you are trying to do and I will give you a real number for your actual situation, usually the same day, along with what it would look like at a couple of different lenders. That is a more useful answer than anything a table can give you, and it costs you nothing to ask.
Which pricing category applies to you
This is the part that actually moves the number, and it is worth understanding before you start comparing quotes. Which category your file lands in depends less on your credit score than on what you are doing and how much you are putting down. The gap between the top and the bottom of this list is far wider than the gap between any two lenders inside one of them.
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01
Lowest rates
Insured
Less than 20% down on a purchase. You pay a default insurance premium, which is added to the mortgage. Amortization runs to 25 years, or 30 years for first-time buyers and newly built homes. A transfer to a new lender keeps this insured pricing, for the life of the mortgage, as long as the original insurance certificate still stands: it was insured at purchase and has never been refinanced.
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02
Lowest rates
Low ratio: 35% or more down
A purchase with at least 35% down, or a transfer where you now have more than 35% equity in the home. No insurance premium applies, and pricing comes back to insured levels.
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03
Slightly higher
Insurable conventional
A purchase with between 20% and 35% down, on a property valued under $1,000,000, with a 25-year amortization or less, meeting standard insurer guidelines. It also covers a transfer that carries no insurer certificate and has less than 35% equity. You pay no premium, because the lender insures the file in bulk on its own side.
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04
Higher
Uninsurable conventional
Purchases that cannot be insured, and every refinance. Also any amortization over 25 years: if you put 20% down and want a 30-year amortization, you are here even as a first-time buyer, because the 30-year option only exists on insured files. Add properties valued at $1,000,000 or more, most rentals, and any file that doesn’t meet standard insurer guidelines such as GDS and TDS ratio limits.
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05
Higher still
Alternative (B lender)
Self-employed income that doesn’t fit standard guidelines, credit that needs rebuilding, or an unusual property. Normally a one or two year term with a lender fee, used as a bridge back to A pricing rather than a permanent home.
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06
Highest
Private lending
Equity-based rather than income-based, usually a one year term with lender and broker fees. For tight timelines, properties no A or B lender will touch, or a specific problem that needs solving before moving back into standard financing.
Banks price every conventional mortgage as one category. Monoline lenders, the ones you cannot walk into and have to be placed through a broker, split it into insurable and uninsurable and price them separately. That means the identical file can land in meaningfully different pricing depending on where it goes. Knowing which door to send you through is most of the job.
What else moves your number
Even once your category is settled, the rate you are offered turns on details no table could account for:
- Your down payment. It decides your category before it decides anything else.
- Your credit and income. How your income is documented matters as much as how much of it there is.
- The property. Owner-occupied, rental, and unique properties are not priced the same.
- Your amortization. Going past 25 years moves you out of insurable pricing entirely. The 30-year option exists only on insured files, meaning less than 20% down, for first-time buyers and newly built homes.
- The term and features. Prepayment privileges and portability can be worth more than a few basis points.
Rates move constantly, and the lowest advertised rate is rarely the best overall fit. I’d rather look at your actual situation and tell you what you genuinely qualify for, including where a slightly higher rate with better terms saves you more over the term.
About this page: No mortgage rates are quoted here. The pricing categories described above are general guidance on how lenders price mortgages in Canada, not advice on your specific file, and not an offer of credit. Any rate discussed with you individually is subject to qualification, property type, and lender approval, and can change without notice. The Bank of Canada overnight rate shown at the top is read live from Bank of Canada Valet data series V39079, Target for the overnight rate. Prime is set independently by each lender and is not published by the Bank of Canada.
Sources for the pricing categories: The $1,000,000 property value limit for low-ratio (insurable) mortgages and the $1,500,000 limit for high-ratio insured mortgages are from Canada Gazette, Part II, SOR/2025-55: Regulations Amending the Insurable Housing Loan Regulations and the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations. Mortgage default insurance eligibility, the $1.5 million insured price cap, and the 30-year amortization for first-time buyers and newly built homes are from Department of Finance Canada, Delivering the Boldest Mortgage Reforms in Decades and Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, How much you need for a down payment. The treatment of straight switches, which keep their original insurance, is described in Department of Finance Canada, “Straight Switches” and portfolio insurance. Category definitions follow standard Canadian mortgage industry usage as described by Ratehub and nesto. The overnight rate is read from Bank of Canada Valet data series V39079, Target for the overnight rate. Announcement dates are from Bank of Canada publishes its 2026 schedule for policy interest rate announcements and other major publications and Bank of Canada publishes its 2027 schedule for policy interest rate announcements and other major publications.