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Mortgage Stress Test Calculator: Will You Qualify? (2026)

Updated

The mortgage stress test checks that you could still afford your payments at a higher rate than the one you’ll actually pay. Enter your figures to see your qualifying rate and whether your debt ratios pass at that rate.

Annual Gross Income
Home Price
Down Payment
Contract Interest Rate
Monthly Property Tax
Monthly Heating
Monthly Debt Payments
Stress Test Result
Contract Rate
Qualifying Rate (stress test)
Mortgage Amount
Payment at Contract Rate
Payment at Qualifying Rate
GDS at Qualifying Rate
TDS at Qualifying Rate
Stress Test

The qualifying rate

  • You qualify at the greater of your contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%.
  • It applies to uninsured mortgages (20% or more down) at federally regulated lenders, under OSFI Guideline B-20.
  • Insured mortgages (under 20% down) are qualified at the same rate under the federal mortgage insurance rules, the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations made by the Minister of Finance.
  • Your debt service ratios are calculated at that qualifying rate, not your actual rate.

The floor only matters when rates are low: it sets the qualifying rate only for contract rates under 3.25%. Some examples:

Contract rateQualifying rate
3.00%5.25%
4.05% (average new insured 5-year fixed, July 2026)6.05%
4.49% (average new uninsured 5-year fixed)6.49%

The test has applied to insured mortgages since October 17, 2016 and to uninsured ones at federally regulated lenders since January 1, 2018; the 5.25% floor dates from June 1, 2021.

What the test adds to the income you need

Lenders measure your debt ratios against the payment at the qualifying rate, not the one you will make. The gap between those two payments, divided by CMHC’s 39% housing-cost limit, is the extra income the test asks for. With the minimum down payment, at the average insured contract rate and this site’s tax and heat assumptions:

Home price, minimum downPayment at the contract ratePayment at the qualifying rateIncome needed with the testIncome needed at the contract rateExtra income the test asks for
$400,000$2,090$2,540$93,000$79,100$13,900
$600,000$3,107$3,777$136,200$115,600$20,600
$800,000$4,097$4,980$178,400$151,200$27,200
$1,000,000$5,086$6,184$220,500$186,700$33,800

At every price the qualifying payment is the same share higher than the real one, so the extra income scales with the loan. On a $600,000 home the test asks for about $20,600 a year more than the actual payment would. A household with exactly the income in the fourth column could still keep its housing costs within the 39% limit at a 6.05% rate.

Renewals and switches

Moving a mortgage to a new lender at renewal is where the rules get specific:

  • A refinance is stress-tested like a new mortgage: since November 21, 2024, OSFI exempts a stand-alone uninsured mortgage from the test only when it moves at renewal from one federally regulated lender to another with no increase in the remaining amortization and no increase in the loan amount beyond $3,000 for the costs of the move (a straight switch).
  • The straight-switch exemption covers only a stand-alone uninsured mortgage: one that amortizes, isn't readvanceable and isn't part of a combined loan plan.
  • In a straight switch the balance can rise by up to $3,000 to cover costs of the move such as penalties or fees, but no equity can be taken out.

The stress test guide covers the history and the rules in more detail.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 25, 2026 and October 2, 2026. How we check facts.