What to check, ask and decide in the months before an Ontario mortgage term ends, whether you renew, negotiate or switch lenders.
⚖️ This is general information, not legal advice. It can't account for your specific situation. Use it to get oriented, then confirm the details with a licensed Ontario lawyer.
A renewal is the easiest event in a mortgage's life and the one people prepare for least. The balance is due at maturity; the lender offers a new term; most people sign what arrives. This checklist starts four months out and runs through the day the renewal or the switch takes effect. It covers the documents to gather, the questions to ask, the comparison to make, and the title check at the end. It does not recommend a lender, a rate or a product; it makes sure you know what you are signing.
Four months before maturity
- Find the maturity date on your mortgage statement or your original commitment letter and put it in your calendar.
- Pull your standard charge terms. You are renewing a contract, and the terms you are renewing are in that document, not in the renewal letter.
- Check your parcel register or ask us to. A collateral charge or a secured line of credit changes what a switch involves.
- Note whether your mortgage is insured. Insured mortgages can usually be switched on the same balance; refinancing to a larger amount is generally not available.
- Decide what you want the next term to do: a shorter term because a move is likely, a longer one for certainty, a change in payment frequency, a larger privilege.
Three months before: the renewal offer
- For banks, the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations require the renewal disclosure at least twenty-one days before maturity; most arrive earlier. If yours has not come, ask.
- Read the whole offer, not the rate. Compare term, prepayment privileges, penalty method, payment frequency and any fee against your current terms.
- Look for the default outcome. Many offers say the mortgage renews automatically into a short or open term if you do not respond by a date.
- Ask whether the offered rate is the lender's best for that term. The first offer often is not.
- Ask whether anything else has been added: a new collateral charge, a linked line of credit, a change in the penalty formula.
Two months before: shop or negotiate
- Ask a broker or two other lenders for a switch quote on the same balance and a comparable term. A rate hold for a switch is normally available well before maturity.
- Ask who pays the switch costs: the old lender's assignment or discharge fee, and the new lender's legal or title, and appraisal costs. Get the answer in writing.
- Ask the new lender whether it will take an assignment of your existing charge or requires a payout and a new registration. A collateral charge usually means the latter.
- Check whether you must requalify. A switch to a federally regulated lender is a new underwriting; check OSFI's current guidance on how switches are treated.
- Take the best quote back to your lender. Matching is common, and nothing about it needs a lawyer.
Six weeks before: decide
- Renew: sign the renewal agreement. Nothing is registered on title and there is no penalty.
- Switch: accept the new lender's commitment. It will instruct a lawyer or title company to register the assignment or the new charge and to discharge the old one.
- Early renewal or blend: if your lender offered to renew before maturity, use the renewal-versus-switch calculator to compare the blend with waiting.
- If you have a secured line of credit, decide whether it is being closed, moved or left; the old charge cannot be discharged while a balance is secured by it.
Documents for a switch
- Two pieces of government identification for each borrower.
- Current mortgage statement and the renewal offer.
- Most recent property tax bill and proof it is paid.
- Proof of fire insurance naming the new lender.
- Income documents if the new lender requires requalification.
- Spouse's identification if the home is a matrimonial home and the spouse is not on title; section 21 of the Family Law Act requires their consent to the new charge.
After maturity
- On a renewal, confirm the first payment under the new terms matches the agreement.
- On a switch, check the parcel register a few weeks after closing: the old charge discharged, the new one registered for the right lender and amount.
- File the new agreement or commitment with your standard charge terms. You will need both at the next renewal, and if you ever break the mortgage.
How Treadstone Law can help
A renewal is a new contract, not a formality. Read the offer against the terms you already have, compare it with a switch on the same basis, and check title at the end.
Treadstone Law handles real estate matters on a transparent flat fee, with online intake and a real lawyer on your file, across Ontario.
- Start your file online at treadstonelaw.ca/start-file
- See flat-fee pricing at treadstonelaw.ca/pricing
- Learn more about our real estate services at treadstonelaw.ca/real-estate
- Or call us: 1-844-900-1070
This is not legal advice
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Ontario laws and government programs change, and how the law applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, speak with a licensed Ontario lawyer. Treadstone Law is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario — reach us at 1-844-900-1070 or start a file online.