TRENDING: How An Ottawa Office Conversion Ended Up In Receivership

Mortgage Portability

Explore mortgage portability in Canada, how it works, and how homeowners can transfer their mortgage to a new property while preserving favorable terms.

Mortgage Portability

May 22, 2025


What is Mortgage Portability?

Mortgage portability is a feature that allows homeowners to transfer their existing mortgage to a new property without incurring prepayment penalties or renegotiating rates.

Why Mortgage Portability Matters in Real Estate

In Canadian real estate, mortgage portability helps homeowners retain favorable mortgage terms when moving to a new home. This is especially useful when interest rates have increased since the original mortgage was signed.

Key benefits:
  • Avoids early termination fees
  • Maintains current interest rate and mortgage term
  • May simplify the financing process on a new purchase

Most lenders offer portability for fixed-rate mortgages, but terms vary. Some allow partial porting (adding new funds to the existing mortgage), while others require the new home to close within a specific timeframe (usually 30–120 days).

Buyers should check with their lender about:
  • Eligibility requirements
  • Applicable fees
  • Time limits and new home criteria

Understanding mortgage portability allows homeowners to move with less financial disruption and preserves favorable loan terms in changing markets.

Example of Mortgage Portability

A homeowner sells their current home and uses mortgage portability to carry over their 2.8% rate to a new property, avoiding higher current market rates.

Key Takeaways

  • Lets you transfer your mortgage to a new home.
  • Avoids rate hikes and prepayment fees.
  • May require lender approval and timing alignment.
  • Common in fixed-rate mortgages.
  • Helps maintain affordability when relocating.

Related Terms

Additional Terms

Public Realm Improvements

Public realm improvements are enhancements to public spaces such as sidewalks, parks, plazas, and streetscapes, often funded or contributed by. more

Mortgagee in Possession

A mortgagee in possession is a lender who takes control of a property after borrower default, but before foreclosure or power of sale. The lender. more

Lease Surrender Agreement

A lease surrender agreement is a negotiated contract between a landlord and tenant that ends a lease before its scheduled expiration. Terms may. more

Green Infrastructure

Green infrastructure refers to natural or engineered systems that manage stormwater, reduce heat, and improve sustainability in developments.. more

Escrow Holdback

An escrow holdback is a portion of funds withheld at closing and held in escrow until specific conditions are met, such as completion of repairs,. more

Underused Housing Tax

The Underused Housing Tax (UHT) is a federal annual 1% tax on the value of vacant or underused residential property owned by non-resident,. more

More For You

Only 18% Of Young Canadians Fully Confident About Homebuying Finances: Survey

Only 18% Of Young Canadians Fully Confident About Homebuying Finances: Survey
Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock

Just 18% of Canadians aged 18 to 34 say they feel confident navigating all financial aspects of buying a home, according to the 2026 Zown Homeownership & Financial Confidence Survey, released Wednesday.

That compares with 35% of those aged 35 to 54 and 50% of those 55 and older.

Keep ReadingShow less

Bank Of Canada Raises Policy Rate To 2.5% In First Hike Since 2023

Bank Of Canada Raises Policy Rate To 2.5% In First Hike Since 2023

The Bank of Canada raised its target for the overnight rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, bringing it to 2.5% and marking the first increase since July 0f 2023.

The Bank Rate now sits at 2.75%, and the deposit rate at 2.45%.

Keep ReadingShow less

Millennium Ups Proposed Kitsilano Rental Tower To 26 Storeys, Adding Hotel

Millennium Ups Proposed Kitsilano Rental Tower To 26 Storeys, Adding Hotel

The proposal for 2158-2170 W 1st Avenue in Vancouver. (Chris Dikeakos Architects, Millennium Development)

Vancouver-based Millennium Development has submitted a new rezoning application for their project in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, according to a rezoning application published by the City of Vancouver last week.

The subject site of the project is 2158-2170 W 1st Avenue, two parcels that form an internal site between Yew Street and Arbutus Street on the southern side of W 1st Avenue, a few blocks south of Kitsilano Beach.

Keep ReadingShow less

Costly Construction, Decades Of Delays: Canada’s Project Leaders Get A New Playbook

Costly Construction, Decades Of Delays: Canada’s Project Leaders Get A New Playbook

Tino Ferreira/Unsplash

For much of the past two decades, Canada approached major projects with a simple idea: write the contract well enough, and the project would essentially look after itself. Each risk sat with a party ready to handle it, so when something went wrong, everyone knew who to turn to.

But it hasn’t worked out that way. Canada is one of the most expensive places in the world to build, and paying top dollar still doesn’t keep projects from running late (and over budget). That’s a problem at any time, but an even bigger one today, with the transportation, water, energy, natural resource, military and information technology projects currently being planned carrying multi-billion-dollar price tags — not to mention stakes in trade, sovereignty, national unity, and climate change. For developers and city-builders, these are the projects that determine where and how growth happens.

Keep ReadingShow less

Sutton Group Announces Strategic Partnership With Ace Project Marketing

Sutton Group Announces Strategic Partnership With Ace Project Marketing
An aerial view of Kelowna, British Columbia.
(Stan Jones/Shutterstock)

Led by entrepreneur Ross McCredie, Vancouver-based Sutton Group has announced that they are partnering with Kelowna-based Ace Project Marketing, the latest move by the McCredie-led real estate company as it continues to expand its horizons.

The partnership will see Ace’s project marketing expertise and experience working with developers join forces with Sutton’s national network of over 6,000 agents in a way that the two say will benefit developers, real estate agents, and homebuyers.

Keep ReadingShow less

District Energy Wants The Mechanical Room (And To Give Your Rooftop Back)

District Energy Wants The Mechanical Room (And To Give Your Rooftop Back)

Oakridge Park (via Corix)

Every residential tower gives up part of itself to equipment. From early plans, mechanical systems typically claim a room in the basement and a penthouse on the roof (the latter being prime real estate, mind you). This approach means that square footage is spoken for before the first suite is laid out.

Developers pay to build that space, but can’t sell or rent it. And today, with construction costs high and interest rate hikes back on the table, that cost is increasingly difficult to absorb.

Keep ReadingShow less

Amazon-Leased Ajax Facility Listed As Part Of 3-Building Industrial Portfolio

Amazon-Leased Ajax Facility Listed As Part Of 3-Building Industrial Portfolio

789 Salem Road North, 689 Salem Road North, and 210 Kerrison Drive East in Ajax, Ontario. (Colliers)

Markets speak, and the commercial real estate market in the Greater Toronto Area is indicating that there is a demand for institutional-grade industrial properties, according to yet another new listing for a high-profile industrial property that came online this week.

After a TELUS-leased industrial property and a Tesla-leased industrial property were listed in recent weeks, this time around it is an industrial property leased to Amazon, among others.

Keep ReadingShow less

GTA High-Rise Sales Sink To A September Record Low

GTA High-Rise Sales Sink To A September Record Low
Toronto

Builders in the Greater Toronto Area sold 820 new low-rise homes in September, 17% above the 10-year average for the month. It’s the sixth month in a row low-rise sales have cleared that bar, which covers every month since the HST rebate program launched.

High-rise went the other way. Just 129 new high-rise units sold in September, according to new figures from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market data. That’s the lowest September on record for the segment, down 40% from September 2025 and 90% below the 10-year average. (BILD’s high-rise category includes units in low-, medium- and high-rise buildings, plus stacked townhouses.)

Keep ReadingShow less
Privacy PolicyAbout UsTerms of UseAdvertise with UsJobsContact UsRSS Feed
All rights reserved SiteMedia © 2026.