Many of those renewing would 'be coming off the lowest-of-low interest rates from five years prior'
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The increase in interest rates has been especially hard for younger Canadian homeowners, as they are allocating as much as 70 per cent of their monthly household budget to their mortgage, according to a new survey by Rates.ca.
Of those aged 18 to 34, 56 per cent said they are now dedicating anywhere from half to almost three-quarters of their monthly household budget to their mortgages. Ninety per cent of those who renewed their loans said they were now paying higher interest rates, according to the survey of about 1,500 adults conducted by Leger in late July.
“These findings show just how little financial flexibility some homeowners have after renewing,” Victor Tran, Rates.ca mortgage and real estate expert, said in a press release. “When half or more of a household’s monthly budget is going toward the mortgage, there’s much less room to absorb other expenses or an unexpected financial setback.”
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But younger people aren’t the only ones feeling the squeeze, the survey said.
Of those who have renewed their mortgages since January 2025, 82 per cent said they are on the hook for a different rate, with most of the increases reportedly in the range of two per cent to 4.99 per cent, while 45 per cent said their mortgage payments accounted for more than half of their monthly budget, Rates.ca said.