RateLens, Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate, Indi The Independent Mortgage Company Ltd. o/a Indi Mortgage

5-year variable

5-year variable mortgage rates

A variable rate is a formula: prime minus a discount you lock in for the whole term. You negotiate the discount. Prime is the part that moves.

Hold this discountOr see all our rates

No credit check, and no commitment.

Today's 5-year variable

Featured rate
Rate
3.55%
APR
3.60%

Prime − 0.90% · prime is 4.45%

Payment on $500,000
$2,517
You’d be qualified at
5.55%
Rate hold
120 days

Rates as of September 21, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. MT, subject to change without notice. O.A.C. Payment assumes a 25-year amortization with monthly payments and excludes property taxes, heat and condominium fees.

Rates as of September 21, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. MT

More than 24 hours old

Prime 4.45% · policy rate 2.25% (held September 2, 2026)

Compare it with our other published rates

We calculate every payment ourselves, on $500,000 over 25 years. The qualifying column is the greater of the contract rate plus 2 percentage points or 5.25%.

2 rates

Filtered by

  • 5 year variable

    insured
    Rate
    3.55%
    APR
    3.60%

    Prime − 0.90%

    Payment on $500,000
    $2,517
    You’d qualify at
    5.55%
    Hold this rate

  • 5 year variable

    uninsured
    Rate
    4.20%
    APR
    4.25%

    Prime − 0.25%

    Payment on $500,000
    $2,695
    You’d qualify at
    6.20%
    Hold this rate

Rates shown are current as of September 21, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. MT and are subject to change without notice. Rates are available on approved credit (O.A.C.) only, are subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable lender, and may vary based on your credit history, income, down payment or equity, loan-to-value, property type and location, occupancy, amortization, and whether the mortgage is insured, insurable or uninsured.

Annual percentage rates (APR) shown assume a mortgage amount of $500,000, an amortization of 25 years with monthly payments, and include no lender or brokerage fees. Fixed rates are compounded semi-annually, not in advance, as required under section 6 of the federal Interest Act; variable rates are compounded monthly. Payment figures exclude property taxes, heating, condominium fees and default insurance premiums unless stated. Insured rates require mortgage default insurance and are available only on qualifying transactions.

Rates may contain errors or omissions and do not constitute an offer of credit, a rate hold or a pre-approval. Not all applicants will qualify. Contact Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate, to confirm the rate available to you. Daniel De Sousa is licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) and registered with Indi The Independent Mortgage Company Ltd. o/a Indi Mortgage.

At 3.55%, you’d be qualified at 5.55%

Lenders don’t approve you at the rate you pay. Under OSFI Guideline B-20, they approve you at the minimum qualifying rate: the greater of your contract rate plus 2 percentage points, or 5.25%. It’s the most common reason a pre-approval comes back lower than a buyer expected.

Run the stress test

What a variable rate means for your payment. With a variable-rate mortgage your interest rate moves with your lender’s prime rate. Depending on the product, either your payment changes with the rate, or your payment stays the same and the split between principal and interest changes. With a fixed-payment variable mortgage, if rates rise far enough your payment may no longer cover all the interest you owe. That point is called your trigger rate. Past it, your balance can grow instead of shrink. This is called negative amortization, and your lender will typically require you to increase your payment or make a lump-sum payment. We’ll show you your trigger rate before you choose a variable product, and we’ll tell you what happens if you reach it.

Compare a fixed and a variable side by side with your own numbers, including the rate path where they break even.

What you lock in with a variable rate

With a variable mortgage, you lock in the discount and let the rate float. If you sign at prime minus 0.90% and prime moves, your rate moves with it. The 0.90% discount stays yours for the full term, whatever the lender offers new customers next month. That's why we show the formula beside every variable rate on this site.

Two variable mortgages with the same starting rate can still be different products if they reference different lender prime rates or carry different discounts. Compare the full formula and the lender's terms, along with the starting percentage.

Adjustable-payment and fixed-payment variables

There are two kinds of variable mortgage in Canada, and the difference matters. On an adjustable-rate mortgage, your payment changes when prime changes. On a fixed-payment variable, your payment stays the same and the split between interest and principal moves instead.

The fixed-payment version feels safer, but it carries a specific risk. If rates rise far enough, the payment stops covering the interest. That point is your trigger rate, and past it your balance grows instead of shrinking. We show you your trigger rate before you choose a variable product. If the number makes you uneasy, that's worth knowing before you sign.

  • Adjustable payment: the rate and the payment both move, so your budget has to absorb the change.
  • Fixed payment: the payment holds and the amortization stretches. Watch the trigger rate.
  • Either way, the penalty to break a variable is 3 months of interest, which is usually much less than a fixed-rate penalty.

Variable mortgages are cheaper to break

The penalty to break a variable-rate mortgage is 3 months of interest at almost every lender. The penalty to break a 5-year fixed is the greater of 3 months of interest or the interest-rate differential, which on a mid-term break often runs to 5 figures.

If there's any chance you'll move, refinance or sell during the term, the exit cost is often worth more than the rate difference. That case for a variable doesn't depend on predicting the Bank of Canada.

Your rate

Why your rate may differ from the one above

The rates on this page are for a clean, standard file. These 5 things change the rate you're offered, and we'll tell you where your file stands before you apply.

  • Your down payment

    Under 20% down means an insured mortgage. Insured mortgages usually get lower rates because the lender's loss is covered, so putting more money down can mean a higher rate.

  • Insured, insurable or uninsured

    Each one is a separate price tier. A refinance can never be insured, so it's always priced in the top tier, no matter how much equity you have.

  • Your amortization

    Going past 25 years moves an insured file into a higher premium band and pushes some files out of the insured tier altogether. A 30-year amortization is available to first-time buyers and on new builds.

  • The property and how you use it

    The benchmark is an owner-occupied detached home in Edmonton. A rental, a second home, an acreage over about 10 acres, a rural water supply or a small condo unit each narrow the list of lenders and usually add to the rate.

  • Your credit and income profile

    Your Beacon score, how long you've had credit, and whether your income is salaried, commission, self-employed or rotational decide which lenders will look at your file. That's what sets the price.

Rate holds

What a rate hold is

A rate hold is a lender's commitment to honour today's rate for a set period (up to 120 days) while you shop, wait for a closing, or count down to your renewal.

It's free

There's no fee and no commitment to that lender. A single credit check through a brokerage won't damage your credit file.

It works one way

If rates fall before you close, you take the lower rate. If they rise, you keep the rate you held.

It isn't an approval

A hold reserves pricing. It doesn't confirm your income, down payment or the property. The pre-approval and then the full application do that.

Hold today’s rate

No credit check, and no commitment.

Get an email when this rate moves

Pick a target and we’ll email you when our published rate reaches it, or every time it changes. Daniel can also check what lenders are charging today for a file like yours. Renewing? Plan your renewal

Set a rate alert

Today’s 5-year variable, insured rate is 3.55% (3.60% APR), as of September 21, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. MT. We’ll email you when it moves.

Email me

Today it's 3.55%. We'll email you when it's at or below your target.

Rate alert emails

We check once a day after we publish rates and send at most one email per move. We use your email only for these alerts. See our Privacy Policy.

Rate history

Rate history from verified snapshots only

This chart uses our own published rate board, month by month. None of those monthly snapshots has been approved for publication yet, so the chart stays empty until one is. Ask Daniel for current offers and the history behind them.

Policy rate

Bank of Canada and prime

Variable rates move with your lender's prime rate, and prime moves with the Bank of Canada's policy rate. Fixed rates follow the bond market instead, which usually moves first.

When the Bank holds, variable payments stay where they are. A cut lowers a variable payment. On a fixed-payment variable product, the payment stays the same and more of it goes to principal. Neither changes a fixed rate you’ve already signed. If you’re within 120 days of a renewal, keep an eye on these announcement dates.

See past Bank of Canada decisions
Policy rate
2.25%
Held September 2, 2026
Prime rate
4.45%
As of September 15, 2026
Next scheduled announcement
October 28, 2026

 

Questions about these rates

Will a variable rate save me money right now?
There's no way to know that in advance, and anyone who says otherwise is guessing. Over full rate cycles, variable has historically cost less, at the price of not knowing your future payments. What you can know today is the starting gap between fixed and variable, your trigger rate, and the penalty: 3 months of interest to break a variable against the interest-rate differential on a fixed.
What is my trigger rate?
It's the rate at which your fixed payment no longer covers the interest you owe, so your balance starts growing instead of shrinking. It depends on your rate, your payment and your balance. We calculate yours and show it to you before you choose a variable product, along with what your lender will require if you reach it.
Can I convert a variable to a fixed later?
Usually, yes. You can convert into a fixed term of equal or greater length than what's left, at the lender's rates on the day you convert (not the rates you saw when you signed). It's a useful option, but it has a cost: lenders rarely offer their sharpest fixed rate to a borrower who's converting.
Does the stress test treat variable differently?
No. You're generally qualified at the greater of your contract rate plus 2 percentage points or 5.25%, whether the contract rate is fixed or variable. A lower contract rate can lower the qualifying rate, which can matter on a tight application.

Related rate pages

More rate pages

By term

By type

By location

Rate data

Mortgage help in Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove and the rest of Alberta.

Sharp rates. The full picture.

Get this rate priced for your file

It's 6 questions and takes about two minutes, with no credit check to start. Daniel will come back with the rate your file prices at and its monthly payment.

Hold this discountOr talk to Daniel

No credit check, and no commitment.