Start before the date decides for you
Three questions to ask yourself before you reply
Have your plans changed since the last term? Is the amortization shown correct? Do the new term’s conditions fit your horizon?
- The offer and your current mortgage statement
- What’s coming during the next term
- The time you need if you switch the mortgage
The offer that renews itself
A worked example
Your renewal offer arrives 90 days before maturity: 5.4% for five years, $310,000 balance, 19 years of amortization left. You set it aside. With 30 days to maturity, you ask to compare. Another lender offers 4.8%, about $105 less a month, but the switch requires new underwriting, an appraisal, and a discharge, with two to three weeks of lead time. At 30 days, it is doable but tight; at 10 days, the switch is no longer possible and you sign the offer you received, or slide into an automatic renewal at an often worse rate. That is what the 90 days were for.
When it does not apply
If your current lender already offers a rate and terms at market level, comparing ends in a day with a renewal in place, sometimes after negotiating a tenth of a point. If your situation has changed for the worse, lower income, damaged credit, a switch requires new underwriting you might not pass; in that case, the internal renewal, which often requires no new review, is the refuge, and that is worth knowing early too. Finally, a private loan or a reverse mortgage does not renew this way.
The last 120 days, in order
At 120 days from maturity, most lenders will hold a rate: that is when to ask for a quote elsewhere, even if you expect to stay. At 90 days, your lender’s offer arrives; you compare it with what you already hold, not with a vague sense of the market. At 60 days, if you are switching, the file must be filed with the new lender with your proof of income, mortgage statement and tax bill. At 30 days, the notary or the lender prepares the discharge and the new deed; anything missing at this stage costs days. At 10 days, nothing changes anymore. One thing to watch in between: if rates drop after your hold, many lenders adjust downward before funding, but you have to ask.
How Mathieu can help
Sources and review
FCAC — Renewing your mortgage. Reviewed August 12, 2026.