TRENDING: How Return-To-Office Mandates Are Impacting Toronto's Office Market

Amortization

Explore amortization in Canadian real estate, how it affects mortgage repayment, interest costs, and homeownership planning.

Amortization
Escrow – Definition, Meaning, and Examples in Canadian Real Estate

May 22, 2025


What is Amortization?

Amortization refers to the process of gradually repaying a mortgage through regular payments over a fixed period of time.

Why Amortization Matters in Real Estate

In Canadian real estate, the amortization period determines the length of time it will take to fully pay off a mortgage. It impacts the size of monthly payments and total interest paid over the life of the loan.

Typical amortization periods:

  • 25 years for insured mortgages
  • Up to 30 years for uninsured mortgages

Amortization is distinct from the mortgage term, which defines the current contract period. The mortgage is typically renewed multiple times within the amortization schedule.

Understanding amortization helps buyers compare mortgage options and manage long-term affordability.

Example of Amortization

A homeowner selects a 25-year amortization and a 5-year term. They will renew the mortgage several times until the full loan is repaid.

Key Takeaways

  • Total time to repay a mortgage in full.
  • Affects monthly payment size and total interest.
  • Different from mortgage term.
  • Can be extended or shortened with refinancing.
  • Crucial for long-term budget planning.

Related Terms

Additional Terms

Recourse Loan

A recourse loan is a type of loan where the lender can pursue the borrower’s personal assets, beyond the collateral, in the event of default.. more

Pari Passu

A pari passu clause is a contractual provision ensuring that multiple creditors share equally in repayment priority from the borrower’s assets.. more

Non-Recourse Loan

A non-recourse loan is a type of loan where the lender’s only remedy in case of default is to seize the collateral property; the borrower is not. more

Net Operating Income

Net operating income (NOI) is the total income generated by a property after operating expenses are deducted but before taxes and financing costs.. more

Mechanic's Lien

A mechanic’s lien is a legal claim by a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier for unpaid work or materials provided for a property.. more

Lis Pendens

Lis pendens is a legal notice filed in the land registry indicating that a property is subject to ongoing litigation that may affect its title.. more

More For You

Inside The Underline: The Bentway’s Sister Project In Miami Is A Case Study For Success

Inside The Underline: The Bentway’s Sister Project In Miami Is A Case Study For Success

The Underline / © Sam Oberter

As Toronto continues to make progress on the Gardiner Expressway’s rehabilitation, there is a groundswell of support for retrofitting the under-highway as well—including spaces like the Bentway that transform overlooked infrastructure into vital public space. While transformation of the Gardiner’s understory is a long-term ambition, it’s important to reflect on the concept itself, and where that concept has already found success.

Miami’s The Underline is somewhat of a “sister project” to The Bentway, an ongoing effort to reimagine the 10-mile stretch of land beneath the city’s elevated Metrorail into a network of parks, trails, flexible programs, and public spaces.

Keep ReadingShow less

Quality, Assured: How One Company Leads The Property Management Game

Holt Meadow

It’s no secret that the real estate industry has been historically slow to change with the times. But, with today’s evolving end-user expectations, change is inevitable. This is even more true when it comes to the modern tenant experience – especially in our current purpose-built rental boom.

But on the flip side, there’s still something significant to be said about good old-fashioned customer service (and real human connection).

Keep ReadingShow less

Will Build Canada Homes Actually Build Homes, Or Just Hope?

Will Build Canada Homes Actually Build Homes, Or Just Hope?
Mark Carney/X

This article was written and submitted by Carl Laffan, a Toronto-based architectural design manager specializing in office, residential, mixed-use projects.

On September 14th, the federal government launched Build Canada Homes (BCH) — the “one-stop shop for affordable housing” that promises a “bold new approach and unprecedented investments to increase the housing supply in Canada.” The new federal agency has already proposed several positive initiatives and immediate investments that promise to deliver up to 45,000 new factory-built homes.

Keep ReadingShow less

Condo To Rental Pivot Gains Momentum In GTA With ‘Big Behind-The-Scenes Push’

Condo To Rental Pivot Gains Momentum In GTA With ‘Big Behind-The-Scenes Push’
Shutterstock

It may have been a steamy summer at times, but the Greater Toronto Area’s new condo market was anything but, and isn’t showing signs of warming up any time soon. In fact, Tuesday brought a new report from RBC Economist Robert Hogue describing “a deep freeze with pre-construction sales plummeting to levels not seen since the global financial crisis.” Hogue also spoke to a “long road to recovery” that will only come with an improvement in the economy and a sharp drop in supply.

With the region’s condo sector indefinitely stalled, there’s been increasing chatter around pivoting those projects to rental, and many developers have already taken the plunge. According to data provided to STOREYS by real estate analytics firm Urbanation, nine GTA projects that had been actively selling as condo have been converted to rental since the beginning of 2024. That translates to 1,778 individual units.

Keep ReadingShow less

Northcrest Exec Beau Brooker On What Success Means To Him Leading Construction Of YZD

​Northcrest's new Vice President of Construction Beau Brooker
Northcrest's new Vice President of Construction Beau Brooker

As the redevelopment of the defunct Downsview Airport moves through the planning stages and toward construction, Beau Brooker is getting his bearings, having been brought on as Northcrest Developments’ first-ever vice president of construction this past July.

Otherwise known as YZD, the project is unequivocally ambitious, set to transform the 370-acre former Bombardier site into seven interconnected neighbourhoods with tens of thousands new homes, commercial and cultural spaces, and sprawling parks, with a two-kilometre runway reimagined into a public street running through it all. It's the master plan of all master plans that will be realized over the next 30 years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Northcrest's Beau Brooker On What Success Means To Him Leading Construction Of YZD

GTA New Home Market At "Rock Bottom" With Sales 80% Below Historic Average

GTA New Home Market At "Rock Bottom" With Sales 80% Below Historic Average
Shutterstock

After "eclipsing" the 1990s downturn this July, Greater Toronto Area (GTA) new home sales plunged 42% year over year last month, with a mere 300 transactions recorded, according to the latest data from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD). This put sales 81% below the ten year average, contrasting starkly with the historical average for new home sales in August, which would typically be around 1,595 units.

This continued downtrend in new home sales comes as economic uncertainty combines with a general lack of affordability, both to buy and to build new homes. And while completions are coming online in record numbers, new projects are becoming increasingly obsolete as Toronto enters its lowest level of housing starts in 30 years.

Keep ReadingShow less

Meet The Agent: Taylor Townley, Chestnut Park Real Estate

Taylor Townley, Chestnut Park Real Estate

Welcome to Meet the Agent, an ongoing series profiling real estate agents from across Canada. With more than 150,000 agents, brokers, and salespeople working in 75 different boards and associations across the country, we thought it was about time they had a place to properly introduce themselves.

If you or someone you know deserves the same chance, email agents@storeys.com to apply.

Keep ReadingShow less

Diamond Kilmer Revises Chester Public School Heritage Redevelopment With New Heights

Diamond Kilmer Revises Chester Public School Heritage Redevelopment With New Heights
Left: 954 - 958 Broadview Avenue/Graziani + Corazza Architects, Right: Looking north-west towards the subject site, 1905/Toronto Public Library via ERA Architects Inc.

In a joint venture, DiamondCorp and Kilmer Group are teaming up to restore and redevelop Chester Public School in East York — an 1891 brick school house designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. The redevelopment would preserve certain elements of the historic building while delivering a 26-storey mixed-use condo development with over 300 new residential units, retail at grade, and a new public park.

Plans were filed in early September and comprise an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) and Zoning By-law Amendment (ZBA) application to permit the newly proposed height, density, and uses on site. This application follows previous approvals for the site granted in February 2023 in favour of a 14- and four-storey mixed-use development containing 207 residential units, and aims to build upon those plans in light of recent planning framework developments.

Keep ReadingShow less
Privacy PolicyAbout UsTerms of UseAdvertise with UsJobsContact UsRSS Feed
2025 © STOREYS Publishing Inc. | All Rights Reserved