When your mortgage is up for renewal you do have options.  Believe it or not nearly 85% of Canadians sign their mortgage renewal letter without actually considering other options for a better rate or product.  When you receive a renewal letter from your lender, they (mainly banks) will not offer you the best discount rate.   They are hoping (and in most cases are correct) that the client will just sign the letter and send it back to the lender.  The lenders save allot of money by taken this approach.

Your mortgage on renewal is completely OPEN.  This means you can change lender, product or both.  You are in the driving seat so you do yourself a favour and do not just sign the renewal notice.  You are losing out on thousands of dollars in savings.  You have the option of asking your lender for a different product and rate or you can move to another lender for a different product and a better rate.  Switching a mortgage to a new lender is very straight forward.  Yes you will have to prequalify but unless you are adding on more money there is no legal costs and the process is quick and easy.  On a typical $300,000.00 mortgage a .50% difference in interest rate could save you $10,000.00 over a 5 year term.  That is $10,000.00 in your pocket.

So do yourself a favour and do not just sign your renewal notice without consulting with me first.