Alberta Mortgage Rates

From mountains to prairies to desert badlands, Alberta is the fourth largest province in Canada with over 4.6 million people. Most Albertans live in the major cities of Calgary and Edmonton, with 80% of Alberta’s population expected to live in the Edmonton-Calgary corridor by 2046. This includes cities such as Red Deer and Airdrie.

Alberta had the second largest year-over-year population growth among Canada’s provinces in 2022. The province is a growing real estate market, and buying a house in Alberta could be a great decision.

As of October 2023, the average price of a home in Alberta was $455,891. That’s significantly cheaper than the price of homes in Ontario and British Columbia, with Ontario’s average home price at $855,990 and British Columbia’s average home price at $968,786. The lower home prices in Alberta are a draw for homebuyers looking for an affordable place to live.

Source: CMHC

Meanwhile, average mortgage payments made by Albertans are higher than the national average. In 2022, the average monthly mortgage payment in Calgary was $1,487. In comparison, the average in Ottawa was $1,393, in Montreal it was $1,251, and the national average was $1,459.

Source: CMHC

On the other hand, the size of Albertan mortgages hasn’t grown as quickly as the rest of the country. In 2022, the average Alberta mortgage was $339,854, compared to the national average of $363,654.

From 2011 to 2021, home prices in the Calgary and Edmonton housing markets have risen, but they have also lagged behind price growth seen in Toronto or Vancouver. According to Royal LePage, condo prices in Calgary and Edmonton saw almost no growth over this ten year period, while detached homes grew by close to 3% per year. That’s below the 7% annualized price growth for detached homes seen in Vancouver.

Since 2021, home prices in Alberta have seen mixed results. Single-family detached homes in Calgary now have a median price of $705,000, up from $590,856 in 2021. Meanwhile, condos in Calgary have only seen their median price increase from $234,301 to $243,300 over the same time period.

Edmonton’s housing market has also been fairly stagnant. Single-family detached homes in Edmonton increased in median price from $456,680 in 2021 to $466,000 in 2023. Condos stayed almost the same, rising from $195,121 in 2021 to $195,300 in 2023.

Canada’s Big Banks can be found throughout the country, and include RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC, and BMO all having branches in Alberta. There are 13 credit unions in Alberta with a total of over 622,000 members. Competitive credit union mortgage rates in Alberta offer a low-interest alternative to the major banks.

The largest credit union in Alberta is Servus Credit Union, which is also the fourth largest credit union in Canada. ConnectFirst Credit Union and Vision Credit Union are Alberta's second and third-largest credit unions. There are many credit unions in Alberta, which you can find in our article about all credit unions in Canada.

Banks headquartered in Alberta include Bridgewater Bank in Calgary and Canadian Western Bank in Edmonton. ATB Financial is a provincial crown corporation and is the only financial institution in Canada owned by a province. ATB Financial only operates within Alberta.

Mortgage Lenders with Branches in Alberta

Branch data as of June 2023.

There are 2,692 licensed mortgage brokers and associates in Alberta as of 2022, up from 2,326 brokers in 2021. This includes members of the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association (AMBA). Some members of the AMBA include nationwide brokers such as Invis, Mortgage Intelligence, Mortgage Alliance, and Verico, who are all part of the M3 Financial Group, the largest non-bank mortgage originator in Canada.

Other mortgage brokers in Alberta include Axiom, Apex Mortgage, MMG Mortgages, Trilogy Mortgage Corporation, and Quantus Mortgage Solutions. Many of these brokers also offer land loans to help you buy land in Alberta.

The Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) regulates and licenses mortgage brokerages in Alberta. Through their Real Estate Assurance Fund, RECA paid out $41,000 from 2021 to 2022 in claims to consumers to compensate for fraud or breaches of trust in real estate and mortgage transactions. Provincially regulated financial institutions, such as credit unions, are overseen by the Alberta Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

Owned by the Province of Alberta, and with 174 branches, ATB Financial is one of the largest financial institutions in Alberta. ATB offers mortgages with terms from 6 months to 7 years and offers up to 1% cashback for certain mortgage amounts. With an ATB mortgage, you can renew 90 days early, port your mortgage to a new home, and blend and extend your ATB mortgage rates. ATB also lets you build residential outbuildings with your mortgage. This includes adding a garage or suite to your residential property.

ATB's cashback mortgage offer for 5-year terms include $2,000 cashback for mortgage amounts between $200,000 to $299,999, a $3,000 cashback offer for mortgages between $300,000 and $499,999, and $4,000 cashback for mortgages of $500,000 or more.

As of March 2023, ATB had over $16.8 billion in residential mortgages. 59.6% of ATB mortgages are insured by CMHC, Sagen, or Canada Guaranty, while 40.4% are uninsured. The proportion of insured mortgages with ATB decreased slightly from 2020, when 64.3% were insured.

Most ATB mortgages have an amortization period that is less than 25 years. Only 4% of ATB mortgages had an amortization of 25 years to 35 years. Looking at the average loan-to-value ratio (LTV), the average LTV of an ATB mortgage was 68%. For HELOCs, ATB’s average LTV was 58%.

Headquartered in Edmonton, Canadian Western Bank has branches in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. Most of Canadian Western Bank’s business is outside of Alberta. In 2022, 31% of CWB's loans were made in Alberta, while 33% were in British Columbia, 24% in Ontario, and 12% in the rest of Canada.

CWB works extensively with mortgage brokers. In 2020, 47% of CWB's residential mortgages were alternative mortgages sourced through brokers using CWB Optimum.

CWB offers fixed, variable, and convertible Alberta mortgage rates. CWB's HOMEWORKS allows you to consolidate your mortgage and other debt into one HELOC, with the option of blending fixed and variable mortgage rates.

Servus Credit Union is the fourth largest credit union in Canada with 384,000 members and $18 billion in assets. With 105 branches throughout Alberta, Servus has the highest number of branch locations out of any other credit union in Canada outside of Quebec. Servus has 22 branches in Edmonton, 14 branches in Calgary, and 6 branches in Red Deer, making Servus accessible for both urban and rural customers.

Servus Credit Union only allows Alberta residents that are within 75 kilometres of their nearest branch to join. A Servus membership equity share costs $1 to join, with the ability to purchase up to $40,000 in Servus shares.

Servus offers high-ratio-insured mortgages in addition to conventional mortgages. One of the unique features of being a Servus member is their Profit Share program, which gives dividends that are used to directly pay down your mortgage principal balance. This helps you to pay off your Servus mortgage faster while paying less in mortgage interest. Servus members also receive a 10% discount off an annual membership to Servus Place, a 320,000 square feet community centre located in St. Albert, Alberta.

The amount that you are eligible for under the Servus Profit Share program depends on the balance of your accounts that you hold with Servus. As an example, a $500,000 Servus mortgage would have received a $750 cash back payment in 2023.

Servus's Profit Share has paid $700 million since 2009. In 2022, Servus paid $32 million in cash as Profit Share rewards back to members. An additional $28 million dividend was paid to shareholders as a dividend.

connectFirst Credit Union has 42 branches across Alberta, and offers fixed and variable rate mortgages for properties within Alberta. For first-time homebuyers in Alberta, connectFirst offers a low-rate high-ratio insured mortgage. connectFirst’s insured mortgages are insured by CUMIS, a subsidiary of The Co-operators.

connectFirst offers residential, commercial, and agricultural mortgages and loans. In 2022, connectFirst had $2.83 billion in residential mortgages, of which 25% were insured and 75% were uninsured. There was also $1.76 billion in commercial mortgages and $400 million in agricultural mortgages.

A look at connectFirst's mortgage securitization gives us a sneak peek at their cost of funds, which affects their Alberta mortgage rates. Their secured borrowings in the Canadian Mortgage Bond (CMB) had a pricing yield of 1.0268% to 1.0464%, while their National Housing Act Mortgage-Backed Securities (NHA MBS) had a pricing yield of 1.0268% to 4.7680%, for up to 5-year maturities.

On November 1, 2021, connectFirst merged with SPARK credit union. The merger resulted in one of Canada’s largest credit unions. Together, they serve 130,000 members across 44 different communities in Alberta. Additionally, they now employ roughly 750 Albertans and oversee $7.2 billion in assets.

Vision Credit Union offers residential, commercial, and agricultural mortgages. Vision Credit Union’s Profit Shares gives back on average 25% of mortgage interest paid, and boosts savings interest by 25%.

For example, a $300,000 mortgage that pays $12,000 in mortgage interest in 2022 at a 4% mortgage rate would receive $3,000 in profit shares patronage allocation. 10% of your profit share balance can be cashed out every year. This helps to reduce your Alberta mortgage rate.

On August 1, 2021, Vision Credit Union merged with Pincher Creek Credit Union. The purpose of the merger was to provide members with more product offerings and specialized expertise. Together, the two credit unions serve over 27,000 members across 18 branches. Additionally, there are now 185 employees overseeing $1.68 Billion in assets.

Lakeland is an emerging credit union located in Bonnyville and Cold Lake, Alberta. Lakeland offers mortgage terms ranging between 1 year to 5 years. Lakeland also offers home equity and RRSP loans. Their RRSP contribution loan allows you to maximize your annual RRSP contribution and save on your Alberta income tax.

As of December 2022, Lakeland had $682 million assets under management and 11,000 members. Lakeland offers AgriInvest accounts for agricultural producers. Each year, producers can receive a matching contribution from the Canadian government for deposits made into an AgriInvest account.

• ABCU Credit Union
• Bow Valley Credit Union
• Calgary Police Credit Union
• Christian Credit Union
• connectFirst Credit Union
• 1st Choice Savings and Credit Union
• Khalsa Credit Union (Alberta)
• Lakeland Credit Union
• Rocky Credit Union
• Servus Credit Union
• TransCanada Credit Union
• Vermilion Credit Union
• Vision Credit Union

Just like other provinces, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSI) regulates federal banks in Alberta, and customers of these banks are protected by the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) for eligible deposits.

Since ATB Financial is a provincial financial institution, not a federal one, ATB is provincially regulated through the ATB Financial Act, Financial Administration Act, Government Accountability Act and Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act. ATB's investor services are still regulated federally by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

Credit unions in Alberta are provincially regulated through Alberta’s Credit Union Act, and are overseen by the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation (CUDGC) and the provincial trade association Credit Union Central Alberta (Alberta Central).

The CUDGC guarantees all deposits at Alberta credit unions with no limits, excluding investments. For ATB Financial, the Government of Alberta guarantees all deposits. This is unique from some other provinces in Canada that have limits, such as Ontario covering up to $100,000 or Quebec up to $250,000.

Alberta-regulated financial institutions (ARFIs) are also supervised by the Office of the Alberta Superintendent of Financial Institutions (ASFI), similar to the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada (OSFI).

Mortgage brokers are regulated through the Real Estate Act of Alberta, and are administered by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA).

Alberta has among the highest mortgage delinquency rates in Canada. In early 2023, 0.3% of Alberta mortgages were delinquent, meaning that they were 90 days past due or more, compared to the Canadian average of 0.15%. This history of higher than average mortgage defaults can be seen through to 2016, where Alberta had a delinquency rate higher than the Canadian average for every year since then.

Source: CMHC

Alberta’s Law of Property Act includes mortgage rights and foreclosure proceedings. Before a lender can sell a property, a redemption period gives the borrower time to repay the mortgage. For farm land, the redemption time is one year, while all other property is 6 months.

If the foreclosure sale does not cover the mortgage, a deficiency judgment may force the borrower to repay the remaining amount to the lender.

Alberta is a very friendly province for landlords in Canada. There are benefits to being a landlord when purchasing a property, receiving rental income, and dealing with tenants.

Land transfer tax in Alberta is made up of a mortgage registration fee and a property registration fee, which starts at $50 plus $1 for every $5,000 of the mortgage or purchase price amount. This makes closing costs in Alberta among the lowest in Canada. In comparison, purchasing a home in the Toronto housing market involves a land transfer tax starting at 0.5% of the purchase price for the provincial portion of the tax.

Alberta also has a favourable income tax rate. Up until 2015, Alberta had a flat tax rate of 10%. This means that your average tax rate would not increase with your income. However, Alberta still has a reasonable tax rate with only 10% being charged on roughly the first $142,292 of your income, with marginal rates up to 15% for income over $341,502. This is beneficial to real estate investors who will pay less tax on their rental property income.

Finally, Alberta has the fastest process of evicting a tenant in Canada. The process only takes between 1 - 14 days.