Mortgage payment calculator

What each input means

• Purchase price or mortgage amount. Start from the price if you are buying; start from the mortgage amount if you are renewing or refinancing and know the balance.
• Down payment. Enter it in dollars or as a share of the price. Under 20% the mortgage must be insured against default, and the insurer's premium is added to the amount you borrow. The premium tier depends on the size of the down payment.
• Interest rate. The rate shown is an example so the arithmetic has something to work with. It is not an offer. Canadian fixed rates compound twice a year, so the payment here is a little lower than a calculator built for monthly compounding would show.
• Amortization. The number of years it would take to pay the whole mortgage off at this payment. A longer amortization means a lower payment and more interest over the life of the mortgage.
• Term. The length of this rate contract, usually one to five years. At the end of the term you renew, and the balance shown is what you would still owe then.

Payment frequency, and what accelerated means

Monthly, semi-monthly, bi-weekly and weekly payments all pay the mortgage off over the same amortization. The payment is simply sized to the number of payments in a year, so the total you pay each year is about the same whichever you pick.

Accelerated bi-weekly takes the monthly payment, halves it, and collects it every two weeks. That is 26 half-payments a year, or thirteen months' worth instead of twelve. Accelerated weekly does the same with a quarter of the monthly payment, 52 times a year. The extra month's worth goes straight to the balance, which is why the balance at the end of the term is lower and the mortgage finishes early.

Whether accelerated suits you depends on how you are paid and what else the money needs to do. It is a question for the call, not the calculator.