Updated: April 2025  |  bremo.io financial guides

Mortgage Portability in Canada — Taking Your Mortgage With You

If you have a great mortgage rate and need to move to a new home before your term ends, you don't necessarily have to break your mortgage and pay a penalty. Many Canadian mortgages offer a feature called portability — the ability to transfer your existing mortgage to a new property. Here's how it works and when it's worth using.

What Is Mortgage Portability?

Mortgage portability allows you to take your current mortgage — including its rate, remaining term, and outstanding balance — and transfer it to a new property when you sell your existing home and buy another. Instead of breaking the mortgage (and paying a penalty), you "port" it to the new property.

This is especially valuable when you have a low fixed rate and would face a large Interest Rate Differential (IRD) penalty to break it. Porting lets you keep the rate and avoid the penalty.

When Portability Matters Most

Portability is most valuable when:

• You have a low fixed rate on your current mortgage that you'd lose by breaking it
• You're mid-term (breaking the mortgage would trigger a large IRD penalty)
• Current market rates are significantly higher than your existing rate

How the Porting Process Works

1. You list and sell your current home
2. You find and make an offer on a new home
3. You notify your lender you want to port your mortgage
4. The lender re-qualifies you for the new property (income, credit, property appraisal)
5. The mortgage is transferred to the new property with the same rate and remaining term

Porting When You're Buying a More Expensive Home

If your new property costs more than your current home, you'll need additional financing beyond what you're porting. The additional amount is typically provided at the current market rate, creating a blended rate on the total mortgage.

For example: you port $300,000 at 2.5% and borrow an additional $150,000 at today's rate of 4.5%. Your lender calculates a blended rate on the combined $450,000 balance. The blended rate will be between 2.5% and 4.5%, proportional to each amount.

Timing Requirements

Portability has strict timing requirements. Most lenders require that:

• The sale of your existing home and purchase of your new home close within a specific window (typically 30-90 days, depending on the lender)
• Both transactions happen simultaneously or very close together

Not All Mortgages Are Portable

Portability is a feature, not a universal right. It must be explicitly included in your mortgage contract. When shopping for a mortgage, always ask whether the product is portable if there's any chance you might move before the term ends.

Mortgages that are generally not portable:

• Some monoline lender products
• Certain variable-rate products
• Some low-rate promotional products

The Re-Qualification Requirement

Even if your mortgage is portable, your lender will re-qualify you for the new property. They'll review your current income, debts, and credit, and appraise the new property. You must still pass qualifying requirements — though the stress test requirement on a ported mortgage at the same lender can vary. Check with your lender whether a new stress test is required for your specific situation.

When Portability Isn't Worth It

Sometimes breaking the mortgage and getting a new one at current market rates is actually better than porting. If rates have dropped significantly since you locked in, breaking and re-financing at a lower rate could save more money than porting would preserve. Run the numbers before assuming portability is always the best option.