Rates
Six lenders, one table — and the fine print out loud
This is why a broker exists: the spread between the sharpest and slowest lender on the same file is often half a percent. Illustrative rates as of July 2026; every lender below is fictional.
Rate comparison table
| Lender | 3-yr fixed | 5-yr fixed | 5-yr variable | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurier Trust Monoline lender | 4.29% | 4.19% | 4.45% | Sharpest insured rates on the panel; strict on documentation and debt ratios. |
| Boreal Lending Group Monoline lender | 4.39% | 4.29% | 4.40% | Fair-penalty mortgages — IRD calculated on posted-vs-contract, not inflated posted rates. |
| Northbank Financial Bank | 4.44% | 4.34% | 4.50% | 20/20 prepayment privileges and a strong HELOC readvanceable product. |
| Prairie Sky Credit Union Credit union | 4.49% | 4.39% | 4.55% | Provincially regulated — can qualify some conventional files at the contract rate. |
| Tallwood Financial Bank | 4.54% | 4.44% | 4.70% | Flexible on rental portfolios and vacation properties; slower turnaround. |
| Grandline Capital Alternative (B) lender | 5.34% | 5.24% | 5.60% | Self-employed and bruised-credit files banks decline; expects a 1% lender fee. |
Variable rates shown as effective rates against an illustrative prime of 5.20%. Grandline Capital is an alternative (B) lender: its pricing assumes non-traditional income documentation and includes an expected 1% lender fee — brokerage fees on B files are disclosed here.
Why we publish a table our lenders might not love: because you'll qualify at the stress-test rate, not these — the higher of your contract rate + 2% or 5.25%. A rate you can't qualify for is an advertisement, not an option.
The honesty section
“Your rate depends on…” — the list, in full
Any site can print a low number with an asterisk. Here's the whole asterisk. When we quote you, the quote already accounts for all six.
01
Insured vs. uninsured
Counter-intuitively, putting less than 20% down often gets a LOWER rate — the default insurance you pay for removes the lender's risk. Uninsured (20%+ down) rates typically run 0.10–0.30% higher.
02
The property itself
Owner-occupied vs. rental, house vs. high-rise condo, city vs. rural acreage — lenders price them differently, and some won't touch certain property types at all.
03
Your amortization
Rates quoted usually assume 25 years. Stretching to 30 (where allowed) can nudge the rate up and, on insured files, adds 0.20% to the insurance premium.
04
Credit profile & ratios
The advertised number assumes strong credit and debt-service ratios inside GDS 39% / TDS 44% at the stress-test rate. Thinner files price higher or move to alternative lenders.
05
Closing timeline
Quick-close specials (30–45 days) are often the sharpest rates on the sheet. A 120-day rate hold for a spring closing is worth paying a few basis points for.
06
What you give up
The lowest rate on our own table has the tightest prepayment terms of the six. Restrictions on prepaying, porting, or discharging are real costs that never appear in the headline number.
Want the payment behind any of these numbers? The calculator runs the real math, stress test included.
A rate hold costs nothing.
Pre-approval locks today's rate for 90–120 days. If rates drop, you float down; if they rise, you're protected.