han at their last renewal. Yet the national mortgage delinquency rate was still just 0.24% in the last quarter of 2025, up slightly from 0.21% a year earlier and below pre-pandemic levels. One reason is Canada’s mortgage stress test: many borrowers who took loans in 2021 had to qualify at rates of at least 5.25%, giving them some built-in buffer. Another is behavior: instead of walking away, households are reshuffling cash flow by cutting discretionary spending, postponing renovations, or extending amortizations so the payment is spread out over more years.
Why should I care?
For you: A 0.24% delinquency rate can hide a bigger squeeze on monthly budgets.
When a mortgage renews at a higher rate, more of the same payment goes to interest, leaving less to pay down the balance. That’s why you can see 38% of borrowers expecting higher payments while delinquencies remain low: many people protect the mortgage first and adjust everything else. The fixes Royal LePage highlights – spending less, delaying big-ticket home projects, or stretching the loan over a longer period – are all ways to make room for the new payment without missing one. The pinch is likely to be most visible in higher-cost markets like Toronto and Vancouver, where larger loan sizes can turn small rate changes into meaningfully bigger monthly bills.
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