Mortgage stress test calculator
See the payment you actually make next to the payment you have to qualify at — the greater of your contract rate plus 2% or 5.25% — and how much that gap trims from the mortgage a federally regulated lender will approve.
Your scenario
Stress-test impact
Rules checked: September 2026. Sources: OSFI minimum qualifying rate · Finance Canada: insured switches
What is the Canadian mortgage stress test?
Federally regulated lenders must qualify you at a rate higher than the one you will pay. For uninsured mortgages the rule is OSFI's minimum qualifying rate under Guideline B-20: the greater of your contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%. Insured (high-ratio) mortgages are held to the same test under the federal government's mortgage insurance rules. The uninsured test has applied since 2018; the 5.25% floor since 2021.
The formula in one line
Qualifying rate = max(contract rate + 2%, 5.25%)
If your contract rate is 4.84%, you qualify at 6.84%. If your contract rate is 3.0%, you qualify at 5.25% (the floor binds). If contract is 7.99%, you qualify at 9.99%.
Why it exists
Mortgage rates in Canada are typically locked for 5 years. The stress test ensures you can still afford the payment if rates rise meaningfully when you renew. The 2-point cushion was calibrated to roughly approximate the difference between a low-point fixed rate and the rate you might face 5 years later in a normal rate cycle.
The downside: it limits how much house you qualify for today. In the example below, the qualifying payment is about 21% higher than the real one, so the largest mortgage your income supports is roughly 17% smaller than it would be at the contract rate. That gap is the point — the trade-off is intentional.
When the stress test applies
- New purchase mortgages with a federally regulated lender, insured or uninsured
- Refinances — including at your current lender when you increase the balance
- Switches at renewal that add money or extend the amortization — those are underwritten as new loans
- Investment property mortgages with federally regulated lenders
When the stress test does NOT apply
- Renewal at the same lender — a straight renewal is not a new origination
- A straight switch to a new lender at renewal — same balance, same remaining amortization. Since November 21, 2024, OSFI no longer requires its minimum qualifying rate on uninsured straight switches, and the federal government lets insured borrowers switch at renewal without a new stress test (Finance Canada). The new lender still underwrites your income and credit.
- Private lenders — not federally regulated, use their own qualification
- Provincially regulated lenders such as most credit unions — not bound by OSFI's B-20, although many apply a similar test of their own
Payment shock — the practical impact
A $720,000 mortgage at a 4.84% contract rate, 25-year amortization, monthly payments — the calculator's default scenario:
- Contract-rate payment: $4,122 / month
- Qualifying rate (6.84%): $4,972 / month
- Gap you must prove you can carry: +$850 / month (21%)
You only ever pay the contract rate while it's in effect — but you have to prove you could carry the qualifying-rate payment. That's the test.
How to lift your stress-test ceiling
- Bigger down payment — reduces the mortgage amount, so the qualifying-rate payment is smaller
- Pay down other debts — frees up TDS room (at a 6.84% qualifying rate over 25 years, every $300 a month of debt payments costs about $43,000 of qualifying mortgage)
- Add a co-signer — see co-signer impact; combined income gets stress-tested as one
- Consider a provincially regulated lender — some credit unions use their own qualifying standard
- At renewal, switch without adding money — a straight switch is no longer re-stressed, so you can shop your renewal even if you would not qualify at today's test
Will the stress test rules change?
OSFI reviews the minimum qualifying rate at least once a year. The 5.25% floor was set in 2021 and has not moved since; the one material change was the November 2024 exemption for straight switches at renewal. OSFI has also shifted weight toward portfolio-level loan-to-income limits on lenders, which do not change your individual qualifying rate. Plan on the current rules.
Related calculators
Brokers: the straight-switch exemption means a lot of your renewing clients can now move without re-qualifying — if you reach them before their lender's renewal letter does. Mortgage360 tracks every maturity date and starts the conversation for you.
Questions about this calculator
- What is the mortgage stress test?
- It is a federal rule requiring lenders to qualify you at a rate higher than the one you will actually pay — the greater of a published minimum qualifying rate or your contract rate plus a set buffer. It applies to federally regulated lenders across Canada, so it does not vary by province.
- Does the stress test apply at renewal?
- Not on a straight renewal with your current lender, and since November 2024 not on a straight switch to a new lender either — same balance, same remaining amortization, insured or uninsured. Add money or stretch the amortization and it is underwritten as a new loan, stress test included.
- Can I avoid the stress test?
- Provincially regulated credit unions and private lenders are not bound by the federal rule, and some apply their own. That flexibility is priced in — you generally pay a higher rate, and often lender or broker fees, for a qualification standard the federally regulated lenders will not offer.
- Does the stress test change what I actually pay?
- No. It only changes the size of the mortgage you are approved for. Your payment is calculated on your real contract rate; the stress test is a qualification hurdle, not a payment.