Mortgage Payment Calculator
Monthly, biweekly, or accelerated biweekly. Includes CMHC premium estimate for purchases under 20% down. Uses Canadian semi-annual compounding.
The payment estimate uses Canadian mortgage math — semi-annual compounding converted to an effective monthly rate, then applied to an amortization schedule. This is how Canadian mortgages are calculated by law, and it produces a slightly different number than the simple monthly compounding calculators you'll find on US-focused sites.
Most Richmond buyers default to 25 years. That's historically been the standard. In 2024, the federal government extended the maximum insured amortization to 30 years for first-time buyers purchasing new builds — worth checking if that applies to your situation, since the longer amortization lowers your monthly payment (while increasing total interest paid).
A 25-year amortization isn't always the right answer. Some clients deliberately choose a shorter amortization — 15 or 20 years — to pay down the mortgage faster and reduce total interest. Higher monthly payments, but meaningfully less paid overall and you own the property outright sooner. Whether that math makes sense depends on your cash flow situation and what else you might do with the difference in monthly savings.
Regular biweekly payments divide your monthly payment in half and pay it 26 times per year. Accelerated biweekly does the same — but your "half monthly payment" is calculated as the full monthly payment divided by two, not the monthly payment recalculated on a biweekly basis. The result: you make the equivalent of 13 monthly payments per year instead of 12. That one extra payment per year chips away at principal faster, reducing your amortization by several years and saving substantial interest over the life of the mortgage. The monthly cost difference is modest; the long-term savings are real.
Your actual housing cost is larger than your mortgage payment. Property tax in Richmond runs roughly 0.4-0.6% of assessed value annually — on a $1M assessed home, that's $4,000-6,000 per year. Strata fees on a condo add $300-700+/month depending on building and unit size. Home insurance, utilities, and maintenance are separate again. We'd encourage you to factor all of these when you're determining what payment you can actually carry comfortably — not just what a lender will approve.
The calculator shows you what the payment looks like. The pre-approval tells you if you can get it.
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Today's Rates →Common questions
Canadian mortgages are legally required to use semi-annual compounding. The annual rate is converted to an effective monthly rate using the formula (1 + rate/2)^(1/6) - 1. This produces a slightly lower effective rate than simple monthly compounding — which is why a Canadian mortgage at 5% isn't exactly the same as a US mortgage at 5%. Our calculator uses the correct Canadian method.
CMHC default insurance is required when your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price. The premium (4% at 5-9.99% down, 3.10% at 10-14.99%, 2.80% at 15-19.99%) is calculated on the insured loan amount and added to your mortgage principal. You pay it over your amortization period as part of your regular payment — there's no separate upfront payment.
Accelerated biweekly effectively makes one extra monthly payment per year — 26 half-payments versus 24. That extra payment goes straight to principal, reducing your amortization by several years and saving substantial total interest. The difference in cash flow each period is modest but the long-term impact is meaningful.
For planning and scenario comparison, yes — the math is correct. For a real budget and actual approval, you need a specific rate from a specific lender based on your actual file. The calculator uses whatever rate you enter; your actual offered rate may be higher or lower. Book a pre-approval call for numbers you can actually plan a purchase around.
A 15-minute call tells you whether those numbers actually apply to your situation.