METHODS & ASSUMPTIONS

The Canadian working, made visible.

A worksheet should let you inspect the calculation and recognize what it cannot tell you.

Principal and monthly payments

Principal equals price minus down payment plus any financed premium or fees entered. At a monthly rate r and n monthly payments, payment = principal × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ). At zero interest, principal is divided by the number of payments.

For this Canadian fixed-rate illustration, r = (1 + annual percentage rate / 200)^(1/6) − 1. This converts nominal semiannual compounding to a monthly rate. Variable-rate products and payment frequencies may use different conventions.

Housing costs and qualification arithmetic

Cash spending includes actual-rate P&I, annual property tax divided by 12, home insurance, heat, full condo fees and any monthly mortgage insurance entered. The illustrated GDS numerator uses P&I at max(contract rate + 2 percentage points, 5.25%), taxes, heat and half condo fees. TDS adds the other monthly debts entered. These are simplified published-framework illustrations, not a universal underwriting policy.

Ratios are undefined when income is zero. Qualifying income and required debt payments must be established by the actual lender; the worksheet cannot verify them. Rental adjustments, support obligations and program-specific debt treatments may change the result.

Cash to close and reserves

Cash to close = down payment + entered closing costs and prepaids. Remaining cash = cash available − cash to close. Chosen housing reserve = entered reserve months × full monthly housing cash cost. Reserve gap = max(0, reserve target − remaining cash). This is a simple cash budget; credits, deposits and transaction-specific adjustments need reconciliation to the actual closing statement.

Annual schedule and comparison

Each month, interest is the prior balance × monthly rate. The rest of the payment reduces principal, capped at the remaining balance. Annual rows show cumulative principal, interest and outstanding balance. Calculations use floating-point precision and display currency rounding; actual contract rounding can differ. A larger-down-payment comparison changes only that amount. Insurance, fees and closing costs remain as entered, so adjust them separately when a lender quote changes.

Your data and choices

Calculation runs in your browser. Save stores a market-labelled plan on this device only; Canada and US plans use different keys. A country switch loads that edition’s fictional example and does not convert or carry financial inputs across markets. Download and print are deliberate actions. Neither submits a lead or creates a mortgage application.