Rent vs Buy Calculator Canada

It totals your out-of-pocket ownership costs (mortgage payments, property tax, insurance, condo fees, maintenance) over your chosen time horizon, then subtracts the net proceeds you'd get from selling the home at the end. That net ownership cost is compared against total rent paid over the same period, with rent increasing annually at your entered rate.

It's the first year in your time horizon where cumulative ownership cost drops below cumulative renting cost. The calculator re-runs the comparison year by year to find it. If you expect to move before that year, renting can be the financially safer choice even if buying looks better over the long run.

No. Unlike this site's dedicated mortgage and mortgage-affordability calculators, this comparison calculates your mortgage payment at your entered contract rate only — it does not add a CMHC premium if your down payment is under 20%, and does not apply the OSFI stress-test qualifying rate. If your down payment is below 20%, your real mortgage balance and payment would be somewhat higher than shown here.

It's what your down payment could have earned if invested elsewhere — for example in a TFSA or RRSP portfolio — instead of being put into a home. This calculator shows that potential investment growth separately, as a reference figure alongside the main ownership-cost comparison.

The biggest drivers are home price, mortgage rate, down payment, annual rent increase, home appreciation rate, property taxes, and how long you plan to stay in the home. Small changes in these assumptions — especially appreciation rate and time horizon — can move the break-even year significantly.