Affordability calculator
What a lender will actually lend you.
Not what you think you can afford — what passes the two debt-service ratios, at the stress-tested rate rather than the rate you will pay.
Lenders do not ask what you can afford. They apply two ratios, and the smaller answer wins.
This calculator applies both, qualifies you at the stress-tested rate rather than your contract rate, and accounts for property tax, heating and condo fees — the costs that quietly consume your borrowing room.
Estimated maximum purchase price
$697,569
Limited by the GDS ratio. Qualified at 6.50%, not the rate you entered.
- Qualifying rate (stress test)
- 6.50%
- Max mortgage
- $577,569
- Down payment
- $120,000
- Housing budget (GDS 39%)
- $4,550 / mo
- After other debts (TDS 44%)
- $4,733 / mo
- Mortgage payment room
- $3,869 / mo
- Est. property tax allowed for
- $581 / mo
Estimate only. Lender criteria vary and this is not an approval. Figures verified July 2026 · OSFI — Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages.
How this works
The maths, in plain language.
The two ratios
Gross Debt Service compares your housing costs — mortgage payment, property tax, heating and half of any condo fees — against your gross income. The common guideline ceiling is 39%.
Total Debt Service adds every other debt payment: car loans, credit card minimums, lines of credit, student loans. The common ceiling is 44%. Whichever ratio produces the smaller mortgage is the one that binds.
Why a car payment costs so much house
Because debt consumes ratio room rather than money pound for pound. Try setting other monthly debts to a few hundred dollars and watch the maximum price fall by tens of thousands.
There is a subtlety worth understanding: if GDS was already the binding ratio, a new debt payment only reduces your housing budget by the amount TDS falls below GDS — not by the full payment. The effect is still large, but it is not linear.
What this cannot tell you
It is an estimate against common guideline ratios, not an approval. Individual lenders apply their own criteria, treat income differently, and may allow higher ratios for strong applicants or lower ones for weaker files.
It also assumes your income is straightforward to document. If you are self-employed, the income a lender counts may be considerably lower than what your business earns.
Common questions
About this calculator.
Why am I qualified at a higher rate than I will pay?
The stress test requires lenders to check you could still afford payments at the greater of your contract rate plus two percent, or 5.25%. It is a deliberate buffer against rates rising before your renewal.
Should I pay off my car loan before applying?
Often yes, and the effect is usually larger than people expect. Clearing a payment frees ratio room, which translates into materially more borrowing capacity. Run it both ways above.
Does this account for my down payment being small?
Yes. If your savings cannot support the price your income allows, the calculator flags that the down payment is the limiting factor and caps the answer at what your savings legally support.
Want these numbers checked by a person?
A calculator does not know your credit, your income structure or which lenders would actually take your file. Twenty minutes on the phone will tell you what this cannot.