Home / Lenders / BMO Mortgage Rates After The October Hike

BMO Mortgage Rates After The October Hike

BMO mortgage rates sat near 4.84% for an advertised 5-year fixed special around October 28, 2026, while the Bank of Canada posted 5-year rate stood at 6.19%. On October 28 the Bank of Canada raised its policy rate to 2.50%, and BMO moved prime from 4.45% to 4.70% effective October 29. One catch for shoppers today: when checked on October 29, BMO's own rate page still displayed the old 4.45% prime.

This page is an independent rate board. It is not affiliated with BMO, does not lend, and does not broker. The bank name appears only to identify whose rates are shown. Figures come from the October 28 snapshot, the Bank of Canada, and offers borrowers posted to r/MortgagesCanada, which feed the rate board directly.

BMO Mortgage Rates After October 28

The Bank of Canada hiked its overnight target by 25 basis points on October 28, 2026, to 2.50%, the first increase since July 2023. All of the Big Five, BMO included, raised prime from 4.45% to 4.70% effective October 29. Prime now sits 2.20 points above the overnight target, the usual spread.

BMO's own rate page had not caught up when checked on October 29: it still showed 4.45% prime. So the working figures on this page come from the October 28 snapshot of advertised specials and from Bank of Canada data, not from a live BMO page. For the full picture of what the prime move means for variable payments, see the prime rate page and the guide to what prime at 4.70% does to a variable payment.

FigureValueSource and date
BMO prime4.70%BMO release, effective Oct 29, 2026
BMO advertised 5-year fixed special (snapshot)about 4.84%Aggregator snapshot around Oct 28, 2026
Bank of Canada conventional posted 5-year6.19%Bank of Canada, late Oct 2026
Policy rate (overnight target)2.50%Bank of Canada, Oct 28, 2026
Next BoC decisionDec 9, 2026BoC schedule

Treat the 4.84% figure as an advertised rate around October 28, not a quote. What a borrower actually gets depends on the file: insured or not, purchase or renewal, and how hard the person negotiates. On a $500,000 mortgage over 25 years, 4.84% costs $2,862.65 a month at the payment math Canadian lenders use.

5-Year Fixed: Advertised Specials Against the Posted Rate
Lowest advertised, insured4.49%
BMO special4.84%
CIBC special4.84%
RBC special4.89%
Scotiabank special4.90%
TD special5.39%
Posted conventional 5-year6.19%

Advertised around October 28, 2026: big-bank specials from canadianrates.ca, the lowest insured 5-year from rate aggregators, the posted conventional 5-year from the Bank of Canada. Advertised rates are not quotes; insured files usually price lowest.

BMO's Advertised 5-Year Fixed In Context

Against the other big banks' advertised specials around October 28, BMO's 5-year fixed was tied for the lowest of the group.

LenderAdvertised 5-yr fixed specialMonthly payment, $500K, 25 yr
BMOabout 4.84%$2,862.65
CIBCabout 4.84%$2,862.65
RBCabout 4.89%$2,876.79
Scotiabankabout 4.90%$2,879.63
TDabout 5.39%$3,020.02

Advertised specials are not the floor. The lowest advertised 5-year fixed rates on aggregators around October 28 ran about 4.34% to 4.59%, mostly insured, with uninsured roughly 4.5% to 5.14%. That gap is why a single bank page is never the whole market. More on that in 5-year fixed mortgage rates in Canada today and in whether 4.84% is a good renewal offer.

What Borrowers Say BMO Offered

The board's BMO rows paint a different picture from the advertised page, and a more useful one. On October 28, a 3-year fixed at 4.44% was posted as available at BMO, well under the 5-year special. The same day, a borrower reported a BMO approval for a 5-year variable at 3.45%. That variable was quoted against the old 4.45% prime, which works out to roughly prime minus 1.00. At the new 4.70% prime, the same discount would be about 3.70% if the spread holds.

Earlier in October, a 5-year variable at 4.00% posted as a BMO offer on October 6 shows how much the discount, not the headline, varies by file. Here is the live table of every BMO row the board is tracking, updated as borrowers report them.

RateTermHow it was describedInsurancePostedSource
4.44%3-year fixedposted as availableNot stated2026-10-28source
3.45%5-year variableapprovalNot stated2026-10-28source
3.58%5-year variablerenewal offerInsured2026-10-13source
4.79%5-year fixedrenewal offerInsured2026-10-13source
4.54%3-year fixedrenewal offerInsured2026-10-13source
4.00%5-year variableposted offerNot stated2026-10-06source

Notice the spread between the 3.45% variable approval and the roughly 4.84% advertised 5-year fixed. That is more than a full point on the same day, at the same bank. If you are deciding between the two structures, the guide on fixed or variable after a rate hike walks through the math, and variable mortgage rates in Canada right now shows where BMO's discounts land against monoline lenders.

Bank of Canada Decision Dates, 2026 and 2027
  1. Jul 152026Hold 2.25%
  2. Sep 22026Hold 2.25%
  3. Oct 282026Hike 2.50%
  4. Dec 92026Next
  5. Jan 272027With MPR
  6. Mar 32027Decision
  7. Apr 282027With MPR
  8. Jun 22027Decision
  9. Jul 212027With MPR
  10. Sep 82027Decision
  11. Oct 272027With MPR
  12. Dec 82027Decision

Source: Bank of Canada schedule. Announcements at 9:45 a.m. ET. MPR means a Monetary Policy Report is published the same day.

A BMO Renewal Letter, Line By Line

On October 13, a borrower shared a full BMO renewal letter on an insured mortgage. The menu, as described in the renewal offer posted to the board:

  • 5-year fixed at 4.79%
  • 3-year fixed at 4.54%
  • 5-year variable at 3.58%, quoted when prime was 4.45%

Read carefully. The fixed options were close to or above what other lenders were offering in the following two weeks: the board had a 4.59% 3-year from National Bank via a broker and a 4.34% 3-year from B2B on an October 21 rate sheet, plus a 4.54% 5-year from B2B on the same sheet. The variable at 3.58% was prime minus 0.87 at the time. Once prime moved to 4.70%, that same spread pays about 3.83%, so a variable renewal offer printed before October 29 is already stale in payment terms.

On a $500,000 balance over 25 years, the letter's 5-year fixed at 4.79% costs $2,848.54 a month. The board's best 5-year fixed renewal that month, 4.24% from an unnamed lender on October 21, costs $2,695.56. The difference is $152.98 every month, or about $9,179 over five years of payments.

Before signing any renewal letter, it costs nothing to have a licensed mortgage broker re-price the file. Use the request cheaper rates form and ask specifically whether a 5-year fixed under 4.54% or a variable at prime minus 0.90 or better is available on an insured switch at your balance.

BMO Variable Rates And Its January Call

Every BMO variable rate moves with prime, and prime moved on October 29. The 3.45% approval and the 3.58% renewal offer above were both quoted against the old 4.45% prime, so add 0.25 points to get the equivalent pricing today if the discount holds. The mechanics of that adjustment are in is prime minus 1% a good variable rate.

Then there is the direction of the next move. BMO expects another 25 basis point hike in January 2027, taking the policy rate to 2.75%, as reported by Financial Post after the October decision. Desjardins expects one more hike with data-dependent timing, and CIBC sees likely one more and no higher than 2.75%. Those are bank forecasts, not certainties, and this site makes no call of its own. But if BMO expects one more hike, a BMO variable borrower should at least run the numbers on what prime at 4.95% does to the payment. The Bank of Canada's next decision is December 9, 2026, with the January 27, 2027 announcement carrying the Monetary Policy Report; the full schedule is on the announcement dates page, and the thinking is laid out in the mortgage rate forecast.

Comparing BMO With Other Lenders

BMO's October board rows hold up well on variables and 3-year fixed terms, and less well on the advertised 5-year fixed. The 4.44% 3-year on October 28 matched RBC's offer that day and beat TD's 4.89% renewal offer in the same thread. The 3.45% variable approval was among the better bank variables on the board, though broker-quoted monoline variables ran to prime minus 1.10 (3.35% at the old prime) the same day.

Penalties matter too. Fixed-rate penalties at big banks often use a posted-rate IRD calculation, which tends to be larger than the discounted-rate methods used by many monolines and credit unions. If there is any chance you break the term early, price the penalty, not just the rate, with the mortgage penalty calculator. More on the tradeoffs in broker versus bank.

If your BMO term is ending, the timing guide at when to shop a mortgage renewal and mortgage renewal rates cover the 21-day renewal statement rule and the roughly 120-day early renewal window many lenders allow. Whatever the letter says, send the file through request cheaper rates and ask a licensed mortgage broker to beat the 4.79% 5-year fixed or match the variable discount on an insured switch, since straight switches at renewal no longer re-qualify at the stress test rate at federally regulated lenders.

Questions

Did BMO raise prime after the October 28 hike?

Yes. BMO moved prime from 4.45% to 4.70% effective October 29, 2026, matching the other Big Five banks.

What 5-year fixed rate was BMO advertising in late October 2026?

About 4.84% as an advertised special in the October 28 snapshot, while the Bank of Canada posted 5-year rate was 6.19%. Advertised specials are not quotes.

Is a BMO variable rate still priced at the old prime?

Most board rows, including the 3.45% approval and the 3.58% renewal offer, were quoted when prime was 4.45%. With prime at 4.70%, the same discount pays about 0.25 points more.

Does BMO expect more rate hikes?

BMO expects another 25 basis point hike in January 2027, to a 2.75% policy rate, according to a Financial Post report after the October decision.

Can I switch from BMO at renewal without the stress test?

A straight switch at renewal, same amount and no longer amortization at a federally regulated lender, no longer requires re-qualification at the minimum qualifying rate under OSFI's November 2024 rule.

A licensed mortgage broker can price your file at this bank and at other lenders, then you decide.

Request cheaper rates