Products and terms
Portability
A feature that lets you move your existing mortgage, rate and term to a new property instead of breaking it.
Porting moves your mortgage to your next home. You keep the rate and the remaining term, and you avoid the prepayment penalty completely. On a fixed-rate mortgage with years left, that can decide whether a move works financially.
There are 3 practical limits. There's a porting window, typically 30 to 120 days between the sale and the new purchase, and if you miss it you'll have to break the mortgage. You have to requalify, because it's a new property and a new application. And if you need a bigger mortgage, the extra money comes at today's rate, blended with your existing one.
Not every product is portable. Restricted no-frills mortgages often aren't, because portability is one of the first things dropped to get the rate down.
Read the porting terms before you sign, while you can still pick a product that has the ones you need.
Related terms
Assumability
A feature that lets a qualified buyer take over your existing mortgage at your rate, instead of arranging their own.
No-frills mortgage
A lower-rate product with less flexibility, often including a bona-fide-sale clause that means the only early exit is selling the house.
Blend and extend
A mid-term arrangement with your current lender that blends your existing rate with a new one over a longer term, so you avoid a prepayment penalty.
This definition describes how the term is used in Canadian residential mortgage lending. It’s general information, not advice on your file. Rules, thresholds and rates change. Where a figure is quoted, it’s current as of the date shown on the related guide.
Sharp rates. The full picture.
Ask Daniel about this term
Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate, can walk you through it before you sign anything. Or get a rate quote: 6 questions, about two minutes, and no credit check to start.
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