At renewal you can renew, negotiate with competing offers or switch lenders. Start a few months early, compare the full terms and costs, and remember the new lender has to approve you.
If your mortgage is coming up for renewal, you do not have to stay with the same bank. People often assume that moving to another lender is complicated, risky or expensive, and that is why many simply sign whatever their current lender sends. In practice the process is straightforward when you know the steps. This guide walks through how switching a mortgage works in Canada, what to compare, what it costs and when it is worth doing. It builds on our guides to switching lenders at renewal and what switching costs.
Yes, you can switch your mortgage to another bank or lender. At renewal you can renew with your current lender, negotiate a better rate using competing offers, or move to a new lender. The new lender has to approve your application, you will usually meet a lawyer or notary to sign the registration documents, and there can be setup, appraisal and discharge costs, which some lenders will cover. Start a few months before your term ends.
According to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, at renewal you can renew with your current lender or pay off the balance in full, negotiate a lower rate than the one in your renewal letter by sharing competing offers, or switch to another lender if its terms suit you better. These are not mutually exclusive. Many borrowers collect a competing offer first and then decide whether to use it to switch or to negotiate.
1. Start a few months early. The FCAC advises starting to shop a few months before your term ends, and not waiting for the renewal letter. Federally regulated lenders must send a renewal statement at least 21 days before the term ends, but that is too late to compare properly.
2. Compare offers. Get offers from several lenders and from mortgage brokers. A broker can show you offers from many lenders at once, which is part of our Switch & Save refinance service.
3. Tell your current lender. Share competing offers and provide proof if needed. Sometimes your lender matches, and staying is then the simplest result.
4. Apply with the new lender. The new lender must approve your application, and it may use different criteria than your original lender. A straight switch no longer has to pass the stress test again between federally regulated lenders, as we explain in our guide to switching at renewal, but the lender still reviews your income, credit and property.
5. Sign the registration documents. This may mean meeting a lawyer or notary. The new lender's mortgage is registered on your property, and the old one is discharged.
The FCAC suggests thinking about more than the rate. Compare whether your budget can handle higher payments to pay the mortgage off sooner, the payment frequency, whether you expect to make extra payments, how satisfied you are with your current lender's service, whether you want to consolidate higher-interest debts into the mortgage, and whether you still need optional insurance. A slightly lower rate is not worth much if the other terms do not fit.
The FCAC lists setup fees from the new lender, which can include discharge, registration, transfer or assignment fees from your current lender, an appraisal fee if one is needed, other administration fees, a new mortgage loan insurance premium if your loan amount increases or you extend the amortization, and possible fees to remove and re-register a collateral charge. It also says you can ask whether the new lender will cover some or all of these costs. Switching in the middle of a term is different, because it can trigger a prepayment penalty. We explain how it is calculated in what it costs to switch mortgage lenders.
Extending your amortization is one way to lower your payment when you switch, but the FCAC cautions: think twice before extending your amortization to lower your payments, because the extra interest can run to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. A lower payment feels good today and costs more over the life of the mortgage.
If your mortgage is registered as a collateral charge, moving it can involve removing and re-registering the charge, which can add fees and take longer. The FCAC suggests allowing a few months before the renewal date. If you are not sure what kind of charge you have, ask your lender or lawyer.
It depends on the numbers. Switching tends to make sense when a competing offer is meaningfully better, the costs are covered or small, and you are at renewal, so there is no prepayment penalty. Staying tends to make sense when your lender matches the offer, when the savings would not cover the costs, or when your income, credit or property has changed in a way that could make a new lender say no. If that happens, you still have options, which we cover in what a bank decline actually means.
Switching your mortgage at renewal is a normal, well-worn process: start early, compare, negotiate, apply, sign. The real work is in comparing the full terms and costs, not only the rate. If you would like a second set of eyes on your renewal offer, contact us and we will compare it with what the market is offering. This article is general information as of October 2026, not legal, tax or mortgage advice.
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