Rates
The stress test qualifying rate
A borrower at a federally regulated lender does not qualify at the rate on the contract. The lender must test the borrower at the greater of the contract rate plus two percentage points, or a floor of 5.25 percent.
What a borrower at the board's lowest rates is tested at
Each row takes the lowest contract rate for the term confirmed at a named lender's own published source, with the lender and date, and applies the rule to it. A borrower's own qualifying rate follows from their own contract rate by the same arithmetic.
| Term | Lowest contract rate confirmed at a lender | Published by | As of | Contract rate plus 2 points | Qualifying rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-year fixed | 4.09% | Steinbach Credit Union | Rates are current as of November 15, 2026 | 4.09 + 2.00 = 6.09% | 6.09% |
| 2-year fixed | 4.09% | Steinbach Credit Union | Rates are current as of November 15, 2026 | 4.09 + 2.00 = 6.09% | 6.09% |
| 3-year fixed | 4.09% | Steinbach Credit Union | Rates are current as of November 15, 2026 | 4.09 + 2.00 = 6.09% | 6.09% |
| 4-year fixed | 4.19% | Steinbach Credit Union | Rates are current as of November 15, 2026 | 4.19 + 2.00 = 6.19% | 6.19% |
| 5-year fixed | 4.29% | Steinbach Credit Union | Rates are current as of November 15, 2026 | 4.29 + 2.00 = 6.29% | 6.29% |
| 5-year variable | 3.75% | FirstOntario Credit Union | 3.75 + 2.00 = 5.75% | 5.75% |
The floor, and where it is published
The floor has stood at 5.25 percent since June 1, 2021, when the Department of Finance and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions replaced the old benchmark, which had been built from the Bank of Canada's posted five-year series, with the greater-of formula and the floor. The 5.25 percent floor is published in OSFI's Guideline B-20 as part of the minimum qualifying rate. The floor binds only when a contract rate falls below 3.25 percent. At every contract rate on the current board it does not bind, and the qualifying rate is simply the contract rate plus two points, which is why the arithmetic above is printed in full.
The posted five-year rate behind the old benchmark
Before June 2021 the benchmark arm of the test was the Bank of Canada's benchmark rate, built from the posted five-year rates of the large banks. That series still matters: posted rates frame the penalty calculations on the mortgages already written. The estate holds it in full as the posted five-year series, whose latest point is 6.19 percent on 2026-11-11, read from the Bank of Canada (series V80691335) and confirmed against the Bank's own published reading on 2026-11-15. The qualifying rate on this page is a living figure in the only sense that matters: its floor is republished here whenever the rule changes, and its contract arm is recomputed from the capture at every rebuild.