Qualifying rate calculator

Your contract rate in, the rate lenders test you at out, with both payments.

Bank of Canada average, insured 5-year+ fixed: 4.12% (2026-08).
Amortization
0123456789105.25% floor6.12%QUALIFYING RATE · CONTRACT 4.12%
You're tested at6.12%4.12% + 2 points (above the 5.25% floor).
Payment you'd make
$2,396
monthly
Payment the lender tests
$2,911
monthly
Difference
$515
21% higher
Income it takes (GDS only)
$89,579
mortgage alone at 39%

Estimate, not advice. Educational estimate only, not financial, mortgage, tax or legal advice. Lenders, insurers and governments set their own rules and can change them; confirm with a licensed professional before you decide.

Qualifying rate 6.12%; tested payment $2,911 versus $2,396.

Assumptions & sources

Assumptions

  • Qualifying rate = max(contract + 2, 5.25%), the same for fixed and variable rates.
  • Payments: monthly, semi-annual compounding (the Canadian convention for fixed rates).
  • The last stat counts only the mortgage payment; property tax, heating and condo fees also go into GDS.

Sources

  1. OSFI — Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages (effective January 29, 2026). Checked .
  2. Department of Finance Canada — Statement on the insured mortgage stress test (December 2023) (effective December 12, 2023). Checked .
  3. Justice Laws — Interest Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-15, s. 6. Checked .
  4. Bank of Canada — Effective rate on new insured fixed mortgages, 5 years and over (series V122667780) (effective August 1, 2026). Checked .
Qualifying rate and tested payment per $100,000 (25 years)
Contract rateQualifying rateSet byPayment at contractPayment tested
2.50%5.25%5.25% floor$447.97$595.92
3.00%5.25%5.25% floor$473.25$595.92
3.25%5.25%rate + 2$486.17$595.92
3.50%5.50%rate + 2$499.27$610.39
4.00%6.00%rate + 2$526.02$639.81
4.50%6.50%rate + 2$553.47$669.82
5.00%7.00%rate + 2$581.60$700.42
5.50%7.50%rate + 2$610.39$731.55
6.00%8.00%rate + 2$639.81$763.21
6.50%8.50%rate + 2$669.82$795.36
7.00%9.00%rate + 2$700.42$827.98

Below a 3.25% contract rate the floor sets the test; from 3.25% up it's your rate + 2.

Want a person to check these numbers?

Get help with your numbers

Free. A person from the MITEY network team replies by email; your message doesn't go to the site you're on.

Sent to the MITEY network team at MortgageStressTestCalculator.ca. We use it only to answer you. See the privacy notice.

Qualifying rate calculator · Powered by MortgageStressTestCalculator.ca · MITEY