Making Sense of Your Ottawa Mortgage

A rate hold just reserves a rate for 90–120 days — it isn't a real approval. A pre-approval actually verifies your income, employment, credit, and down payment, and gives you a real maximum purchase price.

Make sure you get the pre-approval, not just the rate hold, before you start touring Ottawa listings.

Both have a place. A fixed rate gives you payment certainty for the term (usually 5 years). A variable rate typically starts lower but moves with the Bank of Canada's overnight rate.

The right pick depends on your risk tolerance, how stable your income is, and how long you plan to stay in the home.

A broker shops your file across multiple lenders — banks, monolines, credit unions — usually at no cost to you. A bank can only offer its own products.

Most Ottawa buyers go with a broker to see more of the market, especially if they're self-employed, buying new construction with a long rate hold, or have income that doesn't fit a standard mould.

All Canadian high-ratio mortgages (under 20% down) and most uninsured mortgages have to qualify at whichever is higher: your contract rate plus 2%, or the federal benchmark rate (5.25% as of 2026). This is the government's way of checking you can handle a rate increase.

In practice, it cuts your maximum borrowing by roughly 15–20% compared to the headline rate — so plan your budget around the stress-tested number, not the advertised one.

Required on any mortgage with under 20% down. Premiums range from 2.8% to 4.0% of the mortgage amount and are added to your loan. The 8% Ontario PST on that premium is paid in cash at closing.