If your renewal date has started creeping up on you, you are in exactly the right place, and you are early enough to do something useful with it.
Here is the short version. Start looking four to six months before your term ends, treat the letter your lender sends you as an opening offer rather than the final word, and know that at the end of a term you are free to move without paying a penalty. Most people sign the letter simply because it is the easiest thing sitting in front of them, and that one habit is usually the most expensive decision they make all year.
Here is how the whole thing goes, month by month, so you always know what is coming and when.
1. Six months out: gather your numbers
This part is genuinely small. You need four things, and they are all on your most recent statement: your current rate, your balance, the date your term ends, and who your lender is. Write them down somewhere you will find them again and the homework is done.
If you are a planner by nature, this is also a lovely moment to ask whether the next term should look like the last one. Perhaps a shorter amortization appeals, or you have been quietly curious about fixed against variable, or there is a project the house could help you fund. None of it has to be decided today. It is just worth knowing the door is open while your file is.
2. Four to six months out: hold a rate
Most lenders will hold a rate for you for 90 to 120 days, at no cost, with nothing owing if you walk away from it. Putting one in place this early is pure insurance. If rates rise between now and your renewal date, you keep the one you held. If they fall, you simply take the lower one.
A rate hold costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. It is the first thing I do on every renewal I work on, and there is no version of it that leaves you worse off.
3. When the letter arrives, send it to me first
Your lender has to send you a renewal statement, and it usually turns up somewhere between a few weeks and a few months before your date. It will have a signature line on it, and it will feel like the only option on the table. It is not.
That first printed rate is rarely the best your lender can do, for the straightforward reason that the person who signs the easy way does not need convincing. So send me a photo of it before you sign anything. If your lender's offer really is the strongest thing out there, I will tell you so plainly, and you can sign it feeling good about it.
4. If you decide to move, here is what that involves
At the end of your term there is no penalty to leave, which surprises almost everybody. A straight switch, meaning the same balance over the same amortization, is mostly paperwork: an application, your income documents, and some signatures. The new lender will often cover or credit the transfer costs as part of taking you on.
If you want to change the mortgage itself, add money to it or stretch the amortization out, that is a refinance rather than a switch, and it comes with legal fees attached. Both are completely doable. It is simply easier to work out which one you actually need if we talk early, so nothing has to be decided in a hurry.
A few things worth steering around
Signing the letter without looking. The easy option tends to be priced like the easy option, and checking it costs you nothing at all.
Starting two weeks before the deadline. Everything is still possible at that point. You just have fewer doors open and less room to move.
Chasing the rate and nothing else. A slightly lower rate attached to a harsh penalty formula can work out worse over the term. The conditions matter as much as the number does.
Forgetting that life has changed. A new job, a new baby, plans to renovate. Renewal is the cheapest moment to restructure any of that, because your file is already open on my desk.
Renewal is also a natural moment to think about a refinance or an equity takeout if there is something the house could help you fund. And if your renewal is still a year or more away, the renewals page has a reminder form on it. Tell me your renewal month and I will nudge you at exactly the right time, so it never has the chance to sneak up on you.
Questions people ask me
When should I start shopping my mortgage renewal in BC?
Four to six months before your term ends. That is the window where lenders will hold a rate for you, which protects you if rates move up while you are comparing your options.
Is there a penalty to switch lenders at renewal?
No. At the end of your term there is no prepayment penalty to leave. A straight switch usually costs very little, and the new lender will often cover or credit the transfer fees. Changing the mortgage itself, like adding funds to it, is a refinance and that one does involve legal costs.
Do I have to requalify if I switch lenders at renewal?
Yes. A new lender looks at your income, your credit and the property fresh. Your current lender does not usually requalify you for a simple renewal, so if your situation has shifted since you signed, staying put can be the easier road. That trade-off is worth talking through together before you decide.
