🔀 Port vs. Break Calculator
Compare the cost of porting your mortgage versus breaking it and getting a new one.
What Is Mortgage Portability?
Mortgage portability is a feature that allows you to transfer your existing mortgage — including its rate, balance, and remaining term — from your current home to a new property when you move. Instead of breaking your mortgage (and paying a potentially large prepayment penalty), you "port" it to the new address.
Almost all Canadian lenders include portability in their standard mortgage contracts. However, portability terms, timing windows, and conditions vary significantly between lenders — and the details matter enormously when you're actually trying to use it.
How Porting Works: Step by Step
- Sell your current home — Conditions on your sale must be firm before most lenders will process a port
- Accept an offer on a new property — The purchase must close within your lender's portability window (30–120 days)
- Apply to port — You must re-qualify for the mortgage at the stress test rate (income, credit, property appraisal)
- Top-up if needed — If the new mortgage is larger, the additional amount is at current market rates (blend-and-extend)
- Close both transactions — Often coordinated on the same day or within a short bridge period
Portability Windows: The Most Overlooked Detail
Every lender's portability clause specifies a window — the time between closing your sale and closing your purchase — within which the port is valid. If your timelines don't fit within this window, you lose the portability benefit.
| Lender Type | Typical Portability Window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Big Banks (TD, RBC, BMO) | 30–120 days | Varies by product; confirm in writing |
| Monoline lenders | 30–90 days | Often more rigid; check policy |
| Credit unions | 30–180 days | Generally more flexible |
In a hot market where purchase conditions and closing timelines are compressed, a 30-day window can be extremely tight. In a slower market where your purchase may not close for 60–90 days after your sale, a short window could expire before you close. Always confirm the exact portability window in your mortgage contract before listing your home.
Blend-and-Extend: When You Need a Larger Mortgage
Most homeowners moving up in the market need a larger mortgage on their new property than they're carrying on the old one. Portability handles this through a "blend-and-extend" — the existing balance is ported at the original rate, and the additional funds are advanced at the current market rate. The two amounts are blended into a single new rate for a new term.
Blend-and-Extend Example
Ported balance: $400,000 at 3.5% (2 years remaining on original 5-yr term)
Additional top-up: $200,000 at 5.2% (new 5-yr fixed market rate)
Blended rate: ($400K × 3.5% + $200K × 5.2%) / $600K = 4.07%
New term: 5 years at 4.07% on $600,000 total
Without porting, a new $600,000 mortgage at 5.2% would cost $327/month more and approximately $19,600 more over 5 years.
When Porting Is NOT the Right Move
Despite the penalty savings, there are situations where breaking your mortgage and getting a new one makes more financial sense:
When You're Downsizing
If your new home requires a smaller mortgage than your current balance, you can only port the new amount — the difference is prepaid (and subject to penalty). If the penalty exceeds the rate savings on the remaining ported balance, breaking makes more sense.
When Your Rate Is Already at Market
If you locked in recently at a rate close to today's market rates, there's little blended-rate advantage to porting. The administrative complexity may not be worth a minimal rate difference.
When Your Timelines Don't Fit
If your sale and purchase closing dates fall outside your portability window, you'll be forced to break the mortgage regardless. In this case, negotiate on the penalty rather than trying to engineer dates around the portability clause.
Bridge Financing: When Sale and Purchase Don't Align
Even with portability, there's often a gap between your sale closing (when you need to vacate) and your purchase closing (when you take possession of the new home). Bridge financing covers this gap — it's a short-term loan secured by your equity in the sold property, typically at prime + 2–3%.
Most lenders that offer portability also offer bridge financing to their porting customers. Confirm availability and cost when arranging your port. Bridge financing typically runs for up to 120 days at a daily interest rate.
Variable Rate Mortgages and Portability
Variable rate mortgage portability works differently. Because there's no locked-in rate to blend, the ported mortgage simply continues at prime minus your original discount. The top-up is at the current prime minus whatever discount the lender offers for new variable mortgages today. Variable rate penalties (3 months' interest) are also much more predictable and usually lower than fixed IRD penalties, so the calculus of port vs. break is different.
Portability Checklist: Before You List Your Home
- Confirm your mortgage contract has a portability clause
- Know your exact portability window (days between closings)
- Get a written prepayment penalty quote from your lender
- Estimate the blend-and-extend rate if you'll need additional funds
- Confirm your lender offers bridge financing if needed
- Re-qualify your income — ensure you can pass the stress test on the new property
- Coordinate your real estate lawyer on both transactions
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