Break, blend or stay? Refinance decision calculator

Four routes, an estimated penalty using your lender's method, every fee, the same time frame. Nothing leaves your browser.

Try a scenario:
Your mortgage today
Rate type
30 months left on your term as of Nov 2026.
Your lender and its penalty method
Posted rate − your discount. Typical posted rate for the time left (Bank of Canada 1/3/5-year, read between terms). Use when your lender is a big bank not listed, or to compare.
Typical big-bank posted 5-year rate in May 2024: 6.84% (Bank of Canada). Your discount: 1.45%. Your commitment letter shows the real figure.
Typical posted rate for 30 months: 5.91%, read between the Bank of Canada's 1-, 3- and 5-year posted rates (2026-10-28). An estimate: banks also post 2- and 4-year rates.
Discount the IRD to present value?
Paying your yearly lump sum before you break shrinks the penalty base (FCAC). Ask whether your lender allows it on a discharge.
Usually clawed back pro rata to the time left (FCAC).
The new mortgage
Default: Bank of Canada average for new uninsured 5-year+ fixed mortgages, 4.58% (2026-08). Use your quote.
Stretching the amortization lowers the payment but adds interest; the comparison counts it.
Most a refinance could raise on this value: $220,000; a HELOC: $220,000.
Not sure? Revalued.ca explains appraisal vs assessment.
Would you qualify? (optional)
Leave at 0 to skip the stress-test check.
Car, student loans, card minimums, lines of credit, support. Leave out debts the refinance pays off.
Fees, renewal rate and HELOC
You pay interest on them for years; the comparison includes it.
If you stay, your term ends inside the time frame and renews at this rate.
Prime 4.70% (from Oct 29, 2026) + 0.5 (our default).
Over 5 yearsBreaking doesn't pay; blend and extend is only $191 cheaper than staying
Est. penalty
$9,765
interest rate differential
Break-even
never
not within 5 years
Rate you'd need
4.42%
for breaking to pay off

Cost of each route over 5 years (interest + penalty + fees)

Stay until renewal5.39% · $2,705/mo$97,081
Break and refinance now4.58% · $2,518/mo$100,338
Lowest costBlend and extend4.99% · $2,611/mo$96,891
Cost = payments + what you still owe at the end − what you owe today − cash taken out, plus anything paid up front. The lowest cost leaves you with the most.
MeasureStay until renewalBreak and refinance nowBlend and extend
Cost$97,081$100,338$96,891
Paid up front$0$11,765$250
First monthly payment$2,705$2,518$2,611
Owed after 5 years$359,897$357,519$360,007
Three months' interest
$5,660
Interest rate differential (5.39% − 4.46% on $420,000, 30 months)
$9,765
Comparison rate: posted 5.91% − your discount 1.45%
4.46%
Fees on a refinance (after any lender credit)
$2,000
Qualifying rate on the new mortgage
6.58%
Payment you must qualify at
$2,992/mo

The penalty is an estimate from the method you picked and published rates. Only your lender's payout statement is exact.

Mitey

Mitey's next step

Ask your lender for a blend-and-extend quote and how it calculates the rate (FCAC says it must tell you). Our estimate is 4.99%; if the quote is higher, enter it under "Blended rate your lender quoted".

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.

Breaking doesn't pay; blend and extend is only $191 cheaper than staying. Estimated penalty $9,765 (interest rate differential).

Ahead or behind staying, month by monthEach route's cost so far minus staying's. Lines start above zero by the penalty and fees; below zero means that route has cost less so far.
  • Break and refinance now
  • Blend and extend
Show the numbers
Cost so far minus stay until renewal (positive = behind)
MonthBreak and refinance nowBlend and extend
Now$11,765$250
3 mo$10,932-$166
6 mo$10,102-$581
9 mo$9,273-$995
12 mo$8,447-$1,408
15 mo$7,623-$1,821
18 mo$6,801-$2,232
21 mo$5,982-$2,642
24 mo$5,165-$3,050
27 mo$4,351-$3,458
30 mo$3,540-$3,864
33 mo$3,511-$3,490
36 mo$3,481-$3,117
39 mo$3,452-$2,746
42 mo$3,424-$2,376
45 mo$3,395-$2,008
48 mo$3,367-$1,641
51 mo$3,339-$1,276
54 mo$3,312-$912
57 mo$3,284-$551
60 mo$3,257-$191
What breaking saves (or costs) vs staying
New rate ↓ / Months left →6 mo12 mo24 mo36 mo48 mo
3.83%−$4K−$973+$2K+$7K+$11K
4.08%−$5K−$2K+$84+$4K+$7K
4.33%−$5K−$3K−$2K+$1K+$3K
4.58%−$6K−$4K−$4K−$2K−$888
4.83%−$6K−$5K−$6K−$5K−$5K
Rows: the new rate. Columns: months left on your term. Positive = breaking saves money over the time frame. Your scenario is highlighted.

Your saved scenarios

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Assumptions & sources

Assumptions

  • Penalty: the higher of 3 months' interest or the interest rate differential on a closed fixed mortgage; 3 months' interest on a closed variable one (FCAC; RBC; TD). Lender methods come from each lender's own page; posted rates are the lender's own where shown, otherwise the Bank of Canada's typical posted rates read between terms. It's an estimate.
  • Posted rate when you signed: the Bank of Canada's typical big-bank posted 5-year rate that month (history from 2015). Your commitment letter shows the real one.
  • Blend-and-extend: your old rate for the months left and the new rate for the extra months, weighted by time, unless you enter a quote. With cash out, the extra money is at the new rate.
  • HELOC: interest-only at prime + 0.5; your mortgage continues unchanged. Limits: 80% of value for all mortgages combined (Bank Act s. 418), 65% for the HELOC (OSFI B-20).
  • Stress test: the shared MITEY qualification engine: the higher of the new rate + 2 points or 5.25% (OSFI), within GDS 39% and TDS 44% (CMHC), half of condo fees counted. Fees are our estimates unless you change them.

Sources

  1. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Reduce mortgage prepayment penalties (3 months' interest or the IRD; posted-rate method; prepayment privileges; porting) (effective October 15, 2025). Checked .
  2. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Breaking your mortgage contract (fees, cash-back clawback, blend-and-extend) (effective October 15, 2025). Checked .
  3. RBC Royal Bank — Understanding mortgage prepayment charges (posted rate less your rate reduction; present value). Checked .
  4. TD — TD explains: what is an IRD? (posted rate for a similar mortgage minus your discount) (effective August 19, 2020). Checked .
  5. Justice Laws — Bank Act, s. 418: 80% limit on uninsured residential loans (including refinances) (effective September 1, 2026). Checked .
  6. OSFI — Guideline B-20: Residential mortgage underwriting (HELOC limit 65% of value) (effective October 31, 2017). Checked .
  7. OSFI — Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages (contract + 2 points or 5.25%) (effective January 29, 2026). Checked .
  8. CMHC — Calculating GDS / TDS (39% / 44%). Checked .
  9. Bank of Canada — Target for the overnight rate (series V39079): 2.50% from October 29, 2026 (effective October 29, 2026). Checked .
  10. Bank of Canada — Posted conventional mortgage rate, 1-year (series V80691333) (effective October 28, 2026). Checked .
  11. Bank of Canada — Posted conventional mortgage rate, 3-year (series V80691334) (effective October 28, 2026). Checked .
  12. Bank of Canada — Posted conventional mortgage rate, 5-year (series V80691335) (effective October 28, 2026). Checked .
  13. Bank of Canada — Effective rate on new uninsured fixed mortgages, 5 years and over (series V122667786) (effective August 1, 2026). Checked .
  14. Bank of Canada — Effective rate on new uninsured fixed mortgages, 1 to <3 years (series V122667784) (effective August 1, 2026). Checked .
Breaking doesn't payPenalty $10KNo break-even
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