Is 4.84% A Good Renewal Offer?

A renewal offer of 4.84% is about what BMO and CIBC were advertising for a five-year fixed around October 28, 2026, so it is a typical big-bank number, not a bargain. The lowest advertised five-year fixed rates were roughly 4.34% to 4.59%. On $400,000 over 20 years, 4.84% costs $2,594.06 a month, which is $106.17 more than 4.34%.

Whether that matters depends on what you compare it with, and the comparison has more than one version. A renewal letter is not the market rate. It is the offer your lender wrote on the assumption that most borrowers sign without shopping. The question for 4.84% is whether it leaves money on the table, and the numbers say it likely does.

Where 4.84% Sits On The Board

Around October 28, the canadianrates.ca list of big-bank advertised five-year fixed specials showed RBC at about 4.89%, BMO and CIBC at about 4.84%, Scotiabank at about 4.90% and TD at about 5.39%, with posted rates from 6.09% to 6.49%. So 4.84% ties BMO and CIBC as the lowest of the big-five specials, by a hair. A letter at that level has not been discounted below what the bank shows anyone who looks.

On the borrower side, the board has a BMO renewal letter reported on October 13 at 4.79% for a five-year insured fixed, and a TD renewal at 4.89% for a three-year fixed reported on October 28. Both are within 0.05 points of 4.84%. Cheaper reports exist: a 4.24% five-year fixed renewal offer posted October 21 with the lender not named, and a B2B five-year fixed broker quote at 4.54%, from a rate sheet dated October 21.

What The Gap Costs Per Month

Take $400,000 with 20 years of amortization left. Payments use Canadian semi-annual compounding.

Over a five-year term, the interest paid on $400,000 at 4.84% is $88,216.70. At 4.44% it is $80,719.26 and at 4.34% it is $78,849.51. That is a difference of $7,497.44 and $9,367.19 respectively. Those figures are for the same amortization and a straight month-by-month simulation, and they ignore fees. But they put 4.84% in dollars: the offer is several thousand dollars dearer over the term than the cheapest advertised five-year rate, if a rate that low is actually written for the file.

Not every borrower gets the lowest advertised rate. The lowest rows are mostly insured, which means a smaller down payment and mortgage default insurance, and advertised uninsured rates around October 28 ran roughly 4.5% to 5.14%. If your mortgage is uninsured, the realistic comparison is the uninsured band, and 4.84% falls inside it. The insured or uninsured guide covers why status shifts the rate.

Fixed Term Matters As Much As The Rate

A five-year at 4.84% and a three-year at 4.54% are not interchangeable. The three-year rows on the board run lower, 4.44% at BMO and RBC for example, and the lowest advertised three-year fixed was about 4.44% around October 28. The shorter term comes back to the market sooner, which is a risk if rates rise. The Bank of Canada raised its policy rate to 2.50% on October 28 and said a further increase may be needed. For how that choice works, see two-year or five-year fixed, and for fixed versus variable after the hike, read the fixed or variable guide.

Fixed rates have also been moving. The five-year Government of Canada bond yield, which fixed rates price off, was about 3.0% to 3.1% in June 2026 and 3.57% on October 27, according to the Bank of Canada. Banks raised advertised fixed rates by about 5 to 20 basis points on various terms in October. So an offer in the 4.8s did not come from nowhere. It came from a market that moved up.

The Switch Path If You Want Lower

If the letter is 4.84% and a lower rate is written down somewhere else, the path is short. Your lender must send the renewal statement at least 21 days before the term ends, and many lenders let you hold or renew a rate about 120 days early. Since November 21, 2024, an uninsured straight switch, meaning the same loan amount and no longer amortization at a federally regulated lender, does not need to pass the stress test again. Insured switches were already exempt. A new lender will still ask for ID, pay stubs, T4s, Notices of Assessment, your current mortgage statement and property tax details. The full list is on the mortgage renewal rates page.

The simplest first move is to ask your current lender whether 4.84% is its best written rate, and to say you are comparing. One RBC renewal thread on the board, from October 23, was titled around room to negotiate, with a three-year fixed reported at 4.40%. The second move is to have a licensed mortgage broker price the same term and status. You can request cheaper rates and ask for a five-year fixed at your insured status, then compare it with the 4.84% in your hand.

What Would Make 4.84% Fine

There are honest reasons to accept it. If you carry a large unpaid balance on a line of credit with the same bank and moving would trigger a discharge fee, that cost could cancel the saving. If your file is unusual and few lenders would write it, the lender you have may be your best option. And if a variable rate worries you and a longer fixed term suits your plans, 4.84% is within the range the largest banks offer. What a fair decision needs is a written alternative to compare, not a guess about what is out there.

Run your own balance through the mortgage renewal calculator to see the payment jump and the gap versus a shopped rate, and check the renewal timing guide for how early to start.

A Short Checklist Before You Sign

Write the offered rate, term, payment and insured status on one line. Find the matching term in the table above. Ask your lender for its best written rate, and ask a broker for the same term. Check the prepayment penalty method on each, since a cheaper rate with a worse penalty clause can cost more if you break early, and the mortgage penalty calculator shows how large that difference can be. The checklist is done when two written numbers are in front of you.

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