CBC reported this week that B.C. homeowners are feeling the squeeze as pandemic-era mortgages come up for renewal. I’m seeing the same thing at my desk in Surrey. The calls started in the spring and they haven’t slowed down.
Here is the shape of it. In March 2020 the Bank of Canada cut its rate to 0.25% and prime sat at 2.45%. A five-year fixed under 2% was easy to get in 2021. Those terms end this year, with prime now at 4.45%. CMHC counts roughly 1.15 million Canadian mortgages renewing in 2026 and another 940,000 next year.
One Port Moody builder told CBC he expects to pay $600 to $1,200 more a month depending on the rate he gets. That range matches what I’m seeing.
What the jump actually looks like
Take a Fleetwood townhouse with $520,000 left on the mortgage. At 1.9% over the remaining amortization the payment was about $2,180 a month. Renew the same balance at today’s rates and it lands closer to $2,900. That is $700 a month, every month, for the next term.
No one plans for that. People plan for a hundred dollars.
Your three options, in the order I’d look at them
-
Renew with your current lender, but not at the first number they send. The letter that arrives 90 days out is rarely their best rate. Ask for it in writing, then ask again. A broker can usually beat it, and your lender knows that.
-
Switch lenders. At renewal there is no penalty to move. Legal and appraisal costs are often covered. If your income and credit are in reasonable shape, this is where most of my renewal clients end up saving the most.
-
Restructure. If the payment still doesn’t fit, we look at stretching the amortization back out, or at a second mortgage to clear the cards and lines of credit that built up alongside the mortgage, so the renewal only has to carry one payment. That second route is private money and it costs more, so it’s a bridge, not a home.
The mistake I see most
Waiting for the letter. The credit counsellors and brokers CBC spoke to all said the same thing I say: the earlier you talk to someone, the more options you have. TransUnion’s August report shows B.C. among the three provinces where mortgage delinquencies rose most this year, and the Lower Mainland has already logged 946 court-ordered listings. Almost every one of those started as a payment nobody dealt with early.
Call me at the four-month mark. We pull your credit once, I shop the file, and you walk into the renewal date with a number already in hand. The next Bank of Canada announcement is October 28; whichever way it goes, the plan above still holds.
If you want to see your own figures first, run them through the mortgage calculators on this site, then send me the screenshot. Ten minutes on the phone and you’ll know which of the three doors is yours.
