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Guide

How to negotiate your mortgage renewal

In Ontario, your renewal letter is your lender's opening offer. This guide shows how to ask your lender for a better renewal offer, or how to move your mortgage to another lender with a better offer.

Written by Stonefield Mortgage · Reviewed by David Steinfeld, principal broker · Stonefield Mortgage, FSRA mortgage brokerage licence #13722 · [review pending — before this page is indexed]
Published · Updated

In Ontario, start negotiating your renewal about four months before your term ends: get a written offer from another lender and ask your lender to match that offer. At the end of your term, you can switch lenders without a prepayment penalty.

An uninsured straight switch to another federally regulated lender no longer needs the stress test. Before you sign, compare the full terms of each offer: prepayment privileges and penalties, not just the rate.

Your renewal negotiation in five steps

  1. Start about four months before your renewal date

    Many lenders can hold a mortgage rate for about four months. A federally regulated lender must send your renewal statement at least 21 days before your term ends, but 21 days is not much time to compare lenders.

  2. Get a competing offer

    Ask another lender, or a broker, for a written offer for the same balance and amortization. A real alternative offer is what makes your renewal negotiation work.

  3. Ask your lender to match or beat the competing offer

    Call your lender's retention or renewal team, not the branch's general line. Be specific about the term and the rate, and say that you're ready to move your mortgage.

  4. Compare more than the rate

    Prepayment privileges, the penalty formula, portability and any switching costs can outweigh a small rate difference.

  5. Decide before you sign the renewal

    Once you sign the renewal, leaving before the new term ends usually means a prepayment penalty. Before you sign, run both options, renewing and switching, through the renewal vs switch tool.

Decode your renewal letter

Every renewal statement from a federally regulated lender has the same parts. Click a line of the sample letter to see what that line means and what to ask your lender.

Sample renewal letter — click any line

Interest rate offered

The interest rate offered is the rate your lender is offering for the new term. This rate is an offer, not a requirement: the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada notes that if you negotiate, you may qualify for a lower rate than the one in the letter.

Ask your lender:

“Is this the most competitive rate you can offer for this term?”

Renewal checklist

  • Find your renewal date and current balance (latest statement)
  • Note your remaining amortization and current payment
  • Decide what you want: same payment, lower payment, or pay off faster
  • Check whether you'll need extra money (borrowing more is a refinance, not a straight switch)
  • Get at least one written offer from another lender or a broker
  • Ask your lender: their most competitive rate for each term, prepayment privileges, penalty formula
  • Ask about fees to renew, and costs to switch (discharge, legal, appraisal)
  • Compare total cost over the term, not just the payment
  • Decide before the reply-by date — don't let your mortgage renew automatically

Run your numbers with the renewal vs switch tool, or compare your offers. For the terms in a renewal offer, read mortgage terms explained.

Questions about negotiating a renewal

Can I really negotiate a mortgage renewal?

Yes. Your renewal offer is your lender's opening offer. Lenders want to keep good borrowers, and a written competing offer gives you something specific to ask your lender to match.

Do I need to pass the stress test to switch at renewal?

Not for an uninsured straight switch to another federally regulated lender with the same amount and no longer amortization (OSFI, since 2024-11-21). Insured mortgages can also switch without re-qualifying (source: Canadian Mortgage Charter, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada briefing note, checked October 2026). Borrowing more means re-qualifying.

What if my lender doesn't send a renewal letter?

A federally regulated lender must send a renewal statement, or notice that it won't renew, at least 21 days before the term ends. If you haven't heard from your lender a month before your term ends, call your lender and start comparing other lenders.

Rules checked 2026-10-23 (OSFI, FCAC). General information, not advice. Every mortgage is subject to lender approval.

We can review your renewal with you

A licensed mortgage broker reads your renewal offer and the competing offer with you, at no cost to you. The broker tells you whether staying with your lender or switching to the other lender costs you less.

To reach a broker, ask for a call back with the form below, check your offer on Can your bank do better?, or call us at (416) 371-2077.

No cost to talk

Ask us to compare your renewal offer

Send us your renewal details by phone or with the form, and we'll compare your lender's renewal offer with offers from other lenders. There is no cost to talk.

You can also call us at (416) 371-2077.

What are you looking to do?
Roughly how large is the mortgage?

Optional

We use these details to call you back about your mortgage, and store them in Canada. If we introduce you to a partner broker, we tell you first and share only what you have given us here. See our privacy policy. Stonefield Mortgage is a trade name of Stonefield Capital Inc., FSRA mortgage brokerage licence #13722. A pre-approval or quote is subject to lender approval.