How term length works
When you sign a mortgage, you commit to that lender, that rate, and those terms for the length of the term. During the term, the lender can't change your rate (if it's fixed), and breaking the mortgage early triggers a penalty calculated against the remaining term length.
At maturity, you have full flexibility: stay with your current lender at their renewal rate, switch to a different lender, refinance for a different amount, change the amortization, change fixed-to-variable, or pay it off entirely. There's no penalty for any of these moves at renewal.
Roughly 60% of Canadian borrowers choose 5-year fixed terms. The other 40% spread across 1-3 year shorter terms (often when rates are expected to fall) and longer 7-10 year terms (when borrowers want extreme rate certainty).
The 5-year term: why it's the default
Five-year fixed is the most popular term for several reasons. It's the longest term that's price-competitive — beyond 5 years, the spread between term length and rate widens significantly, so a 7-year fixed is meaningfully more expensive than a 5-year, with diminishing returns on the additional certainty.
Five years is also long enough to ride out most short-term rate volatility while short enough to allow you to renegotiate without waiting forever. The federal stress test and most prepayment privileges are also calibrated against 5-year terms.
A 5-year fixed is rarely the wrong answer. It's usually the right answer when you can't decide between term lengths.
Short terms (1-3 years)
Short terms make sense when you expect rates to fall meaningfully within the next 1-3 years, OR when you're planning to sell or restructure within that window. The math works because you're paying a slightly higher rate now in exchange for the option to renew at a lower rate sooner.
Short terms also fit borrowers in transitional life stages — a job change pending, a divorce in progress, a major life decision that might change your mortgage needs. Locking in for 5 years when your circumstances might change in 2 doesn't serve you.
The risk of short terms is renewal-rate risk. If rates rise during your term, you renew into the new (higher) rate sooner. The break-even calculation: short-term rate + projected renewal rate vs current 5-year rate.
Long terms (7-10 years)
Long terms make sense when you expect rates to rise meaningfully and you want maximum certainty. You're paying a higher rate now in exchange for the protection of not having to renew for 7 or 10 years.
Historically, long terms have under-performed shorter ones — borrowers who consistently chose 5-year over 10-year saved money on average over decades. But "on average" doesn't help if you happen to land in a period of dramatically rising rates.
The other consideration: 10-year mortgages have unique federal break-penalty rules. After year 5, the maximum break penalty drops to 3 months' interest, which makes a 10-year mortgage essentially behave like a 5-year for prepayment purposes from year 5 onward — but with the longer rate guarantee.
Variable rate as an alternative to term choice
Variable-rate mortgages don't lock in a fixed rate at all — your rate fluctuates with prime, usually as Prime - X% or Prime + X%. The term is still 5 years (typically), but the rate moves up and down over that period.
Variable can save money in falling-rate environments and cost money in rising ones. Historically, variable has beaten fixed about 75% of the time, but that statistic includes long stretches of declining rates — in rising-rate periods, fixed wins. The decision is partly a forecast, partly a risk-tolerance question.
Most variable products allow conversion to fixed mid-term at no penalty (you accept the lender's posted fixed rate at conversion time). This is a useful safety valve — you can start variable, watch rate signals, and lock to fixed if you become uncomfortable.