The quick answer
Mortgage guides in one place, starting with the question every borrower eventually faces: fixed or variable. Fixed trades away any shot at savings for a payment that never moves. Variable trades that certainty for a rate that's historically run cheaper over time, tracking the Bank of Canada through your lender's prime rate. Neither one is automatically "right" — the guide below walks through how to tell which fits your situation.
- Breaking a fixed mortgage early usually costs more — the interest rate differential penalty tends to be steeper than what you'd pay to break a variable one.
Centsable's editorial team, fact-checked and updated July 2026.