Will my bank match a better mortgage offer? (Ontario)

What to bring to your bank, and who to ask

A bank can only match something it can compare. Have:

• A written offer for the same mortgage: the same balance, term, amortization (the total time to pay off the loan) and rate type, fixed or variable. An offer for a different term or a larger amount is not a match request; it is a different mortgage.
• The penalty method and privileges of each offer. On a fixed mortgage the prepayment penalty is usually the higher of three months' interest or the interest rate differential, and lenders may use posted rates to work out the penalty (source: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, checked October 2026). Prepayment privileges, the amount you can pay down each year without a charge, differ between lenders too.
• The expiry date and conditions of the competing offer. A written offer is still subject to lender approval.
• Your renewal statement, with the balance, rate, term and any fees it lists.

The team to ask is usually the lender's retention or renewal team. Our page on the retention desk explains what the desk can and cannot do, with a short script.

Three common outcomes when you ask your bank to match

A match request has three common outcomes, and you generally won't know which one until you ask.

1. The bank matches. You stay, you avoid switching costs and paperwork, and you pay less than the renewal letter.
2. The bank comes close. The bank improves its offer but not all the way. Total cost matters most in a near-match, because it can still be the cheaper choice once switching costs are counted.
3. The bank doesn't move. The bank keeps the renewal letter's terms, or improves them only a little. If your bank doesn't move, you can switch at the end of your term without a prepayment penalty, subject to the new lender's approval.

Compare a near-match on total cost

A rate difference is only part of the picture. Here is a worked example. The figures are illustrative, not a quote.

You owe $500,000 and are renewing for a five-year term, with the same amortization in both offers. The competing offer is 0.20 percentage points below your renewal letter. Your bank comes back at 0.15 points below the letter, so the bank's offer is 0.05 points above the competing offer.

1. The rate gap in dollars: $500,000 × 0.05 ÷ 100 = $250 of interest in the first year, a little less each year after as the balance falls. Over five years, the rate gap comes to a little under $1,250.
2. The cost of switching: switching can mean set-up fees with the new lender and an appraisal fee (source: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, checked October 2026). Say those fees come to $1,000. If you pay the fees, switching saves a little under $1,250 − $1,000, so a little under $250 over five years. If the new lender agrees to cover the fees, and FCAC notes you can ask, switching saves the full amount, a little under $1,250.
3. The terms: one of the two lenders may work out its penalty from posted rates. If you might sell or refinance within the term, the difference between the two penalties alone can run to thousands of dollars, far more than the rate gap.

In this example, a near-match with the better terms can be the cheaper answer. The compare-your-offers tool and the renewal vs switch tool run the same arithmetic on your own numbers; results are estimates only, not an offer or advice.

What happens next when you send us your offer

We put a written offer in front of you, priced for your mortgage with the lenders we work with, subject to lender approval. You take the written offer to your bank.

If your bank matches our written offer, you stay and pay less, and we count a match as a win too. If your bank does not match our offer, we arrange the switch for your maturity date, subject to lender approval.

Since November 21, 2024, OSFI does not expect the stress test to be applied when an uninsured mortgage moves to another federally regulated lender without increasing the amount or the amortization (source: OSFI, checked October 2026). Insured mortgages can also switch without re-qualifying (source: Canadian Mortgage Charter, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada briefing note, checked October 2026). The new lender still approves you on its own criteria.

Timing your match request

Federally regulated lenders must send a renewal statement at least 21 days before your term ends (source: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, checked October 2026). Twenty-one days leaves little time to get a competing offer and an answer.

Asking for a competing offer before the renewal statement arrives gives you more time. Lenders commonly hold a rate for about four months. Many borrowers therefore get a competing offer around four months before maturity, and ask their bank to answer that offer while the hold is still open.

How often banks match our written offers, published monthly

We will publish how often banks matched our written offers, every month, from aggregates only.

Sources

• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Renewing your mortgage, page dated 2025-10-15, checked 2026-10-26.
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Reduce your prepayment penalties, checked 2026-10-23.
• OSFI — Straight switches exempt from the minimum qualifying rate, effective 2024-11-21, checked 2026-10-23.
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — The Canada Mortgage Charter (briefing note, February 13, 2024), page dated 2025-09-09, checked 2026-10-26.
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Improving your credit score, page dated 2026-07-01, checked 2026-10-26.

What to do next

To get a written offer to take to your bank, start at can your bank do better?, or put your renewal letter through the offer check first.