Average mortgage rates in Canada, 2026

Key numbers

Most "today's rates" lists show what lenders advertise. These numbers show what borrowers signed. They come from monthly reports that chartered banks file with their regulator, which the Bank of Canada publishes; the latest month available on Oct. 7, 2026, is July.^1,2 They are national averages. We found no official average for Ontario or B.C. (more on that below).

1. Bank of Canada policy rate

   2.25%, unchanged since October 2025

   The Bank of Canada cut its policy rate to 2.25% on Oct. 29, 2025, and has held it at every decision since, most recently on Sept. 2, 2026. The next decision is Oct. 28, 2026, along with a new Monetary Policy Report, then Dec. 9.^3,4 Prime at the big banks is 4.45%.⁵

   2.25%policy rate; next decision Oct. 28
2. Average rate on new and renewed mortgages

   4.29% uninsured, 4.16% insured

   Those are the average rates chartered banks charged on residential mortgage money they advanced in July 2026, the latest month published. The figures cover new loans, renewals and refinancing, across every term.^1,6

   4.29%uninsured average, July 2026
3. Five-year fixed, as signed

   4.49% uninsured, 4.05% insured

   Fixed terms of five years or more averaged 4.49% for uninsured borrowers and 4.05% for insured borrowers in July 2026. Variable rates averaged 3.86% and 3.75%.¹

   4.49%uninsured 5-year-plus fixed, July 2026
4. Posted five-year rate

   6.09%, a rate few people pay

   The posted 5-year conventional rate the Bank of Canada tracks at the six largest banks has been 6.09% since May 2025.⁵ By our calculation, it sat 1.60 percentage points above the average uninsured five-year-plus rate in July 2026.¹

   6.09%posted 5-year, Sept. 30, 2026

Average mortgage rates in Canada today

The table shows the average interest rate chartered banks charged in July 2026, by term. "Funds advanced" counts every dollar lent that month: new purchases, renewals and refinancing. Each loan is filed under the term it was given at signing.^6,2 Insured mortgages are backed by mortgage default insurance; uninsured ones are not.

Month-end weighted averages for July 2026, in percent. Source: Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada table 10-10-0006-01.^1,6 The data cover chartered banks only; federally regulated credit unions and subsidiaries of non-bank lenders are excluded.¹

Two things stand out. Insured borrowers paid less than uninsured borrowers on every term in July 2026, by 0.02 to 0.44 percentage points by our count. And fixed terms under three years cost more than five-year terms. The Bank of Canada data don't say why, so treat the short-term figures with care.¹

The last row is the rate on all mortgages still on the books, including ones signed years ago. It has crept up as cheap pandemic-era loans renew. For uninsured fixed terms of five years or more, the average rate on outstanding balances rose from 2.56% in December 2021 to 4.27% in July 2026.¹

Posted rates vs what borrowers pay

The "5-year conventional mortgage rate" the Bank of Canada publishes each week is a posted rate: the most common rate the six largest banks post, not an average of loans.⁵ FCAC, the federal consumer agency, explains the difference: lenders advertise posted rates, and the rate in your contract may be higher or lower. A lower one is called a discounted rate.⁷

Posted 5-year rate vs the average rate paid

Percent. Posted: typical rate at the six largest banks, last Wednesday of the month. Paid (green): average rate on uninsured fixed mortgages with terms of five years or more, funds advanced. Source: Bank of Canada.

• Jan. 2022posted4.79%
• Jan. 2022paid2.61%
• Jan. 2023posted6.49%
• Jan. 2023paid5.20%
• Jan. 2024posted6.89%
• Jan. 2024paid5.67%
• Jan. 2025posted6.49%
• Jan. 2025paid4.59%
• Jan. 2026posted6.09%
• Jan. 2026paid4.33%
• July 2026posted6.09%
• July 2026paid4.49%

0%2%4%6%8%

The gap has stayed wide. By our calculation, the posted rate was 2.18 percentage points above the average rate paid in January 2022, and 1.60 points above it in July 2026.^5,1 On a $500,000 mortgage amortized over 25 years, a 6.09% rate means a monthly payment of about $3,226; at 4.49% it is about $2,765. Over a five-year term, the higher rate costs about $38,500 more in interest. Those are our calculations, with interest compounded twice a year.

Posted rates still matter after you sign. When you break a fixed mortgage early, the penalty is usually the higher of three months' interest or the interest rate differential, and some lenders work out the differential with posted rates and the discount you were given.⁷

Policy rate at month end; prime and posted 5-year rate on the last Wednesday of the month; paid rates are month-end averages for uninsured mortgages at chartered banks. Sources: Bank of Canada.^8,5,1

The Bank of Canada rate and what comes next

The Bank of Canada raised its policy rate from 0.25% in early 2022 to 5% in July 2023, then cut it in steps from June 2024 to 2.25% on Oct. 29, 2025.^8,3 It has held at 2.25% at the seven decisions since. In its Sept. 2, 2026, opening statement, the Bank said "the upside risks to inflation have increased, while new tariffs make growth prospects more uncertain."^9,10

Bank of Canada policy rate

Target for the overnight rate, percent, at the end of each year and on Oct. 5, 2026. Source: Bank of Canada.

• Dec. 2021before the hikes0.25%
• Dec. 20224.25%
• Dec. 2023peak, set July 20235.00%
• Dec. 20243.25%
• Dec. 20252.25%
• Oct. 2026unchanged2.25%

0%2%4%6%

The next announcements are Oct. 28, 2026, at 9:45 a.m. Eastern with a new Monetary Policy Report, and Dec. 9, 2026.^3,4 The policy rate reaches variable mortgages through prime. Banks set prime with an eye on the policy rate.⁵ Prime at the big banks has been 4.45% since the October 2025 cut, and the average uninsured variable rate in July 2026, 3.86%, was 0.59 points below it by our count.^5,1 Fixed rates don't move in lockstep with the policy rate: it didn't change between April and July 2026, yet the average uninsured fixed rate for five years or more rose from 4.17% to 4.49%.^1,3

Mortgage renewals in 2026 and 2027

CMHC, the federal housing agency, says more than 1.5 million households have already renewed at higher rates, and another million are set to sign new terms in the coming year.¹¹ It expects 13% fewer borrowers to renew in 2026 than in 2025. It also says average rates fell from around 4.8% in January 2025 to around 4.2% in January 2026, so people renewing after a five-year term face a payment shock similar to last year's.¹²

In its May 2026 Financial Stability Report, the Bank of Canada estimated what happens to payments at renewal compared with December 2025:¹³

Compared with December 2025 payments, using market expectations for interest rates as at May 19, 2026. Source: Bank of Canada, Financial Stability Report 2026, Chart 8.¹³

The Bank says the last of the five-year, fixed-payment mortgages taken out during the pandemic will renew over the next 12 months, and that by the second half of 2027 nearly all borrowers facing large increases will have renewed. It says the stress test cushioned the blow: more than 90% of people who renewed in the past year did so at rates below the rate they had qualified at.¹³

A worked example shows the size of the jump. Take a $500,000 mortgage signed in January 2022 at 2.61%, that month's average for uninsured five-year-plus fixed terms, over 25 years. The payment was about $2,267 a month. After five years about $424,100 is left. Renewing at July 2026's 4.49% average with 20 years remaining takes the payment to about $2,671, a 17.8% increase. Stretching the amortization back to 25 years holds the increase to 3.4%, but adds five years of payments. These are our calculations.¹

Many borrowers took that route. CMHC says most chose a longer amortization at renewal to lower their payments.¹¹ In CMHC's 2026 survey of 4,112 mortgage consumers, 35% of renewers said changing interest rates had put more pressure on their finances, and their payments rose by $375 a month on average.¹⁴

Average mortgage rate in Ontario and B.C.

We found no official monthly series of average mortgage rates for Ontario or British Columbia. The Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada rates on this page are national figures for chartered banks, and CMHC's downloadable mortgage industry data has no interest rate or provincial fields.^1,6,15 If a site quotes an "average Ontario mortgage rate", check where the number comes from.

What the official data do show is that Ontario and B.C. borrowers are under more strain:

• Arrears are rising fastest in Ontario. Canada's 90-day mortgage delinquency rate edged up to 0.24% in the fourth quarter of 2025, from 0.21% a year earlier. Delinquencies rose 35% year over year in Ontario and 45% in the Toronto area.¹⁶
• Toronto and Vancouver are the markets to watch. CMHC's analysis names them as the most at risk of further increases in arrears; it says delinquency risk in Montréal remains stable.¹¹
• Falling prices limit options at renewal. The Bank of Canada says price declines have been most pronounced in Ontario and B.C. At current prices, it estimates about 4% of borrowers nationally could not refinance at renewal in 2027, and about 9% in the Toronto area.¹³
• The most stretched group is small. Toronto-area borrowers who took out a mortgage in 2022 or 2023 with a large balance relative to income show the most stress, but hold about 2% of outstanding balances.¹³

Fixed or variable

CMHC says that in February 2026 variable rates were the most popular choice for mortgages extended at chartered banks, at 42%, and only 11% took the traditional five-year fixed term. Variable rates at chartered banks had fallen below fixed rates, which CMHC says had not happened since 2022.¹² By our count, variable mortgages were 42.7% of the uninsured dollars chartered banks advanced in July 2026.⁶

In July 2026 the average uninsured variable rate (3.86%) was 0.63 points below the five-year-plus fixed average (4.49%).¹ The trade-off is that a variable rate moves with your lender's prime rate, which banks set with the policy rate in view.⁵ Whichever you choose, the stress test applies to new uninsured mortgages at federally regulated lenders: you qualify at the greater of 5.25% or your contract rate plus 2 points.¹⁷ At 4.49%, that is 6.49%; at 3.86%, it is 5.86% (our calculations).

How to get a better mortgage renewal rate

• Mark the date. A federally regulated lender, such as a bank, must send your renewal statement at least 21 days before your term ends, and must tell you 21 days ahead if it won't renew.¹⁸ If your lender isn't federally regulated, ask it what notice it gives.
• Use the averages as a yardstick. In July 2026, uninsured borrowers paid 4.49% on average for five-year-plus fixed terms and 3.86% for variable.¹ An offer close to the 6.09% posted rate is far above what most people sign.⁵
• Shop other lenders. OSFI, the federal banking regulator, does not expect lenders to apply the stress test when you move an uninsured mortgage to another federally regulated lender at renewal, as long as you don't add to the loan or the amortization.¹⁷
• Price a longer amortization before you take it. It lowers the payment but adds years of interest. Bank of Canada staff estimate about 70% of borrowers who have refinanced since 2022 extended their amortization, by six years on average.¹³
• Ask about the penalty before you renew early or switch mid-term. Ask whether your lender's interest rate differential uses posted rates and your original discount.⁷

What renewing borrowers report

We read 10 r/PersonalFinanceCanada threads posted between July 29 and Oct. 6, 2026, in which people posted renewal offers and asked whether to take them. These are anecdotes, not a survey, and we could not check the rates people reported. Three patterns came up.

The first offer is often not the last

Several people said their bank came down after they called, pushed back or showed a competing quote. One poster said TD opened at 3.89% on a five-year variable and went to 3.69% after negotiation; others in the same thread reported lower numbers.

Staying put doesn't guarantee your old discount

Variable-rate borrowers who signed at deep discounts to prime described smaller discounts at renewal. One poster's lender offered prime minus 0.55% to renew a mortgage that had been at prime minus 1.05%. A commenter who said they were a broker called prime minus 0.75% to 0.9% "the going rate" for owner-occupied homes; we could not verify that.

Renewal can bring a higher rate or a lower one

What renewal does to your payment depends on when you signed. People coming off pandemic-era rates face increases, while posters paying more than 5% described offers below their current rate. That matches the Bank of Canada's estimate that payments jump for five-year fixed borrowers from the pandemic years and change little, on average, for everyone else.¹³

Commenters in September also said lenders had been raising fixed rates for weeks. The Bank of Canada's lending data only run to July, so we can't confirm that yet. Between April and July, the average uninsured fixed rate for five years or more rose 0.32 points.¹

Before you trust a rate you see online

• An advertised rate is an offer, not an average. It is one lender's price on one day for a borrower it chooses. The averages on this page are weighted by the money banks lent.¹
• Check insured or uninsured. In July 2026 the gap on five-year-plus fixed terms was 0.44 points by our count.¹
• Check the date and the term. Average uninsured fixed rates for five years or more moved by 0.32 points between April and July 2026 alone.¹
• Don't read the posted rate as the going rate. The 6.09% posted rate is a list price.^5,7

This page doesn't list any lender's current offer. Rates change daily and depend on your credit, down payment, property and term. Use the averages to judge an offer, then compare written quotes.

Common questions

How we did this

We used official data only for the rates on this page. Policy rate decisions, prime and posted rates come from the Bank of Canada's website and its Valet data service. The rates borrowers paid come from the Bank of Canada's monthly table of rates charged on new and existing lending by chartered banks, also published by Statistics Canada as table 10-10-0006-01, using the July 2026 release, the latest available on Oct. 7, 2026. Renewal estimates come from the Bank of Canada's 2026 Financial Stability Report and CMHC's research. Qualification and disclosure rules come from OSFI and FCAC.

Our calculations are labelled. Payment examples assume monthly payments, interest compounded twice a year, and no prepayments. We did not use lender rate ads or broker quotes, and no lender paid for a mention. For first-hand accounts we read 10 r/PersonalFinanceCanada threads about renewal offers, posted between July 29 and Oct. 6, 2026; they are anecdotes, not a survey, and we did not verify the rates people reported. We will update the averages each month when the Bank of Canada publishes new data, and after the Oct. 28 and Dec. 9 rate decisions.

The 10 Reddit threads we read

• Mortgage renewal for uninsured r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Oct. 6, 2026
• Mortgage Renewal in March, Coast Capital not budging on rate r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Oct. 3, 2026
• 5 year Variable/closed mortgage renewal rate with TD at 3.69% r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Oct. 2, 2026
• Mortgage up for renewal, is 4.29% a good rate? r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Oct. 2, 2026
• Renewing mortgage 4.45% fixed 3 year r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Sept. 29, 2026
• Mortgage Renewal - checking in on rate r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Sept. 25, 2026
• Lender Renewal Rate is better than Brokers r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Sept. 13, 2026
• Thoughts on a 4.01% 3-year fixed early mortgage renewal? r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Sept. 11, 2026
• CIBC Early Renewal Rates - GTA r/PersonalFinanceCanada, Aug. 31, 2026
• Mortgage renewal interest rate opinions and how to negotiate better? r/PersonalFinanceCanada, July 29, 2026

Sources

Show all 18 sourcesHide sources

1. Bank of Canada. "Interest rates charged for new and existing lending by chartered banks." Monthly data to July 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/banking-and-financial-statistics/interest-rates-for-new-and-existing-lending-by-chartered-banks/
2. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). "Report on New and Existing Lending (A4): reporting instructions." Accessed Oct. 7, 2026. www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/reporting-returns/filing-financial-returns/financial-reporting-instructions/report-new-existing-lending-a4
3. Bank of Canada. "Policy interest rate: recent decisions and 2026 announcement schedule." Accessed Oct. 7, 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/core-functions/monetary-policy/key-interest-rate/
4. Bank of Canada. "Bank of Canada publishes its 2027 schedule for policy interest rate announcements and other major publications." July 27, 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/2026/07/bank-canada-publishes-2027-schedule-policy-interest-rate-announcements-other-major-publications/
5. Bank of Canada. "Interest rates posted for selected products by the major chartered banks (5-year conventional mortgage V80691335, prime rate V80691311)." Weekly data to Sept. 30, 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/banking-and-financial-statistics/posted-interest-rates-offered-by-chartered-banks/
6. Statistics Canada. "Table 10-10-0006-01 Funds advanced, outstanding balances, and interest rates for new and existing lending, Bank of Canada." Accessed Oct. 7, 2026. www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1010000601
7. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). "Mortgage fees: Prepayment penalties." Accessed Oct. 7, 2026. www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/mortgages/reduce-prepayment-penalties.html
8. Bank of Canada. "Target for the overnight rate, daily (series V39079), Valet data." Data to Oct. 5, 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/valet/observations/V39079/csv?start_date=2021-12-01
9. Bank of Canada. "Bank of Canada maintains the policy rate at 2¼%." Sept. 2, 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/2026/09/fad-press-release-2026-09-02/
10. Bank of Canada. "Monetary Policy Decision Press Conference Opening Statement." Sept. 2, 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/2026/09/opening-statement-2026-09-02/
11. CMHC. "Mortgage renewal wave strains some regions and borrowers (Housing Observer)." Feb. 5, 2026. www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/observer/2026/mortgage-renewal-wave-strains-some-regions-borrowers
12. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). "Residential Mortgage Industry Report, Spring 2026 Edition." May 12, 2026. www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/research-reports/housing-finance/residential-mortgage-industry-report
13. Bank of Canada. "Financial Stability Report 2026: Households." May 28, 2026. www.bankofcanada.ca/publications/financial-stability-report/financial-stability-report-2026/households/
14. CMHC. "2026 CMHC Mortgage Consumer Survey." 2026. publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2026/schl-cmhc/NH2-49-2026-eng.pdf
15. CMHC. "Residential Mortgage Industry Data Dashboard and data export, 2015 to 2026." Accessed Oct. 7, 2026. www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-data/residential-mortgage-industry-data-dashboard
16. CMHC. "Renewal wave peaks but still dominates mortgage market." May 12, 2026. www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/media-newsroom/news-releases/2026/renewal-wave-peaks-still-dominates-mortgage-market
17. OSFI. "Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages." Accessed Oct. 7, 2026. www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/supervision/financial-institutions/banks/minimum-qualifying-rate-uninsured-mortgages
18. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). "Renewing your mortgage." Accessed Oct. 7, 2026. www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/mortgages/renew-mortgage.html

Update log

• Oct. 7, 2026First published, with lending data to July 2026 and posted rates to Sept. 30, 2026.

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