Mortgage payoff timeline
How long until you're mortgage-free at your current pace? Toggle the payment slider to see what a $100 extra per month buys you.
Your scenario
Result
Confirm prepayment privileges with your lender before increasing payments above contract.
How payoff timeline math works
Given a balance, interest rate, and monthly payment, this calculator computes how many months until the balance hits zero — and the total interest paid over that period. The math uses Canadian semi-annual compounding (Bank Act convention) — the same convention every Canadian lender uses internally.
The "what if I add $100" experiment
Try this: lock the balance + rate, then move the payment slider up by $100 and watch the years-to-free drop. On a typical $400k balance at 5%, an extra $100/month cuts roughly 2 years off the timeline and saves $40,000+ in interest. Adding $250/month often cuts 4-5 years.
Why payment increases compound so hard
Every extra dollar of payment goes 100% to principal (no interest portion). That principal then stops generating interest for the entire remaining life of the loan — so a small extra payment in year 1 saves interest in years 1, 2, 3, ..., 25. The effect is exponential.
What this calculator assumes
- Fixed interest rate for the entire payoff period (your real mortgage will renew at new rates)
- No rate changes from BoC / variable resets
- No lender prepayment privilege limits — confirm yours allow the larger payment
- No tax / insurance escrow components
Related
Questions about this calculator
- How do I pay off my mortgage faster in Canada?
- Three levers, in rough order of power: switch to accelerated bi-weekly payments, raise the regular payment by whatever percentage your contract allows, and make an annual lump sum. All three apply entirely to principal within your prepayment privileges.
- How much time does an extra payment actually save?
- More than most people expect, because the saving is interest avoided over every remaining year. On a 25-year amortization, accelerated bi-weekly payments alone typically remove three to four years without any additional cash.
- Should I pay off the mortgage or invest the money?
- Paying down the mortgage is a guaranteed, tax-free return equal to your rate. An investment must beat that after tax and after risk. The higher your rate and the shorter your horizon, the stronger the case for paying down.
- Is there a penalty for paying off my mortgage early?
- Within your annual prepayment privileges, no. Paying the whole balance out mid-term is a different matter and triggers a prepayment charge — three months' interest on a variable, or the interest rate differential on a fixed, which is usually far larger.