Quebec Mortgage Rates
| Term | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lenders | Insured Rates | Fixed Rate | Variable Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
What are the best mortgage rates in Québec?
As of December 20, 2024,
- The best 1-year fixed insured mortgage rate is 5.94%, which is offered by RBC
- The best 2-year fixed insured mortgage rate is 4.74%, which is offered by nesto
- The best 3-year fixed insured mortgage rate is 4.49%, which is offered by nesto
- The best 4-year fixed insured mortgage rate is 4.49%, which is offered by nesto
- The best 5-year fixed insured mortgage rate is 4.14%, which is offered by nesto
- The best 5-year variable insured mortgage rate is 4.30%, which is offered by nesto
Quebec at a Glance
Quebec is home to 8.8 million people as of 2023 and is the largest province in Canada by land area. The Montreal Metropolitan Area accounts for just under half of Quebec’s population with a population of 4.3 million. From 2006 to 2019, Montreal had the highest growth rate in the province, at an annual growth rate of 1.56%, while regions such as the North Shore and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine saw negative population growth. Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, and has over five times the population of Quebec City.
The Organisme d'autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) is the regulatory authority of real estate brokerages in Quebec. Only those licensed by the OACIQ can use the term real estate broker or real estate agency in Quebec. There are 17,037 real estate license holders in Quebec, with 6,948 residential real estate brokers and 9,097 mixed residential and commercial real estate brokers. That’s up from 15,921 real estate license holders in 2021, when there were 5,519 residential real estate brokers in the province. Almost half of license holders are in the Montreal area.
Mortgage Lenders in Quebec
Canada’s Big Banks (RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC, BMO, and National Bank) all operate in Quebec. Being Canada’s oldest bank, the Bank of Montreal was established in Montreal in 1817, and eventually moved their headquarters to Toronto in 1977. Laurentian Bank is also mainly located in Quebec with 85 branches. However, the largest share of mortgages in Quebec is held by Desjardins (34% of mortgages as of Q2, 2024).
Quebec is home to Caisse Desjardins, which is the country’s largest federation of credit unions, also known as caisse populaires. Quebec has the highest number of credit union members in Canada, with 4.5 million being members of a credit union in 2018, and is equivalent to over 50% of Quebec’s population. This is the highest rate of credit union members in the country, but is lower than in 2002 when it reached 69.3%. There are just under 300 caisse populaires in Quebec, with 985 caisse populaires branches, compared to 1,110 bank branches.
Caisse populaires in Quebec are allowed to sell and promote insurance products, such as auto, home, and life insurance. In comparison, not all provinces in Canada allow credit unions to sell and promote certain insurance products. For example, Ontario only allows credit unions to sell credit, mortgage, and travel insurance, although this restriction may change in the future.
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is the financial regulator in Quebec. In 2018, the AMF proposed that credit unions and caisse populaires in Quebec must introduce mortgage stress tests. Previously, only federally regulated institutions, such as banks, were required to conduct stress tests.
Desjardins
Desjardins (Fédération des Caisses Desjardins du Québec) is the largest financial institution in Quebec, has Quebec's largest network of ATMs, and can be found in 183 towns and villages. Desjardins had a strong 2020, acquiring Purplebricks Canada and DuProprio, expanding their presence in real estate sales services, along with acquiring La Capitale's Quebec mortgage loan portfolio worth $474 million in February 2020. In 2022, Desjardins acquired Guardian Capital, an insurance and savings provider.
Desjardins Group was Quebec's largest residential mortgage lender in 2022, with $123 billion worth of mortgages in Quebec's mortgage market. With 96% of Desjardins’ residential mortgage loans being in Quebec, Desjardins has a strong regional presence in the province.
Desjardins offers a variety of mortgage products that you can customize to fit your financial situation. Desjardins hybrid mortgages allow you to mix fixed and variable mortgage rates. For example, their Closed 5-in-1 Yearly Rate Resetter Mortgage has a fixed mortgage rate that resets once per year for 5 years, while the Desjardins Closed Protected Variable-Rate has a variable mortgage rate that has a ceiling limit.
For those needing assistance with closing costs, Desjardins offers cash remittance on their mortgages, which will cover up to $10,000 in closing costs or 5.5% of your mortgage, in exchange for your Desjardins mortgage rate being higher.
For borrowers looking for a construction loan, Desjardins' Green Homes Program provides cashback bonus, a rebate on your property insurance, and other benefits when receiving Desjardins financing towards a new construction home that meets certain environmental standards.
National Bank
National Bank (Banque Nationale) was founded in 1859 and opened their first office in Quebec City. Today, National Bank of Canada is headquartered in Montreal and is the sixth largest bank in Canada.
Along with fixed rate and variable rate mortgages, National Bank also offers hybrid mortgages that combine fixed and variable rates, along with capped variable rates. National Bank's self-employed mortgages allow self-employed workers or business owners to borrow up to $600,000 with a 10% minimum down payment.
Laurentian Bank
Laurentian Bank was founded in Quebec over 175 years ago, and still operates primarily in Quebec today, with 43% of their loans being made in Quebec.
Laurentian Bank's Homeowner's Kit allows you to combine multiple financing products into one package. With the Homeowner's Kit, you can have multiple mortgage terms and multiple HELOCs all with different mortgage rates. This can be especially useful for those looking to borrow money from their home equity to invest, and would like to bundle it into a mortgage term. Laurentian Bank also offers convertible rate mortgages.
Bank of Montreal
While Bank of Montreal’s operational head office is in Toronto, BMO’s legal head office is still in Montreal. In addition to traditional mortgages, BMO offers convertible mortgages, readvanceable mortgages, and one of the longest mortgage rate holds in Canada when applying for a fixed rate mortgage.
Mortgage Brokers
Mortgage brokers were regulated by the OACIQ until April 2020, when the AMF started governing the sector as of May 1, 2020. Quebec is the only province in Canada that allows realtors to receive a referral fee for referring mortgage clients to a bank. These realtor referral fees are usually 0.5%.
National mortgage brokers that operate in Quebec include Dominion Lending Centres, Mortgage Architects, nesto, and CanWise. A few mortgage brokers that also operate in Quebec include Multi-Prêts Mortgages, North East Mortgages, Hypotheca, and apoint Hypothèque.
nesto
nesto is a digital mortgage brokerage firm that is based in Montreal. EQ Bank partnered with nesto to create an online mortgage marketplace that allows borrowers to get prequalified in minutes, get the lowest rates up without any negotiation needed, and to compare pre-negotiated rates from lenders across Canada. EQ Bank’s online mortgage marketplace is only available to EQ Bank account holders.
nesto only provides mortgages for residential properties, and does not offer construction loans, land loans, or financing for mobile homes. Nesto also only works with borrowers that have a good credit score of at least 680, with no recent bankruptcies or consumer proposals. By being completely digital, nesto can offer low Montreal mortgage rates. nesto also reduces their finder's fee by 33% to 50%, which allows them to reduce their Montreal mortgage rates by 0.10% to 0.20%.
Multi-Prêts Mortgages
Multi-Prêts Mortgages is among one of the largest mortgage brokerages in Canada, and works with 20 mortgage lenders to get you the best Quebec mortgage rate all with no brokerage fee. Over 400 mortgage brokers work for Multi-Prêts Mortgages within Quebec. Outside of Quebec, Multi-Prêts operates as the Mortgage Alliance Group in all other provinces.
Part of M3 Mortgage Group, Canada's largest non-bank mortgage originator, Multi-Prêts Mortgages acquired Invis and Mortgage Intelligence in October 2016 to firmly cement itself as Quebec's fastest growing mortgage brokerage.
The Invis and Mortgage Intelligence purchase boosted Multi-Prêts from 2,000 full-service mortgage brokers across Canada and $13 billion in annual mortgage originations to over 3,000 mortgage brokers and $22 billion annually in mortgages in 2016. A recent case study by Dialekta, a Montreal-based marketing agency, worked with Multi-Prêt in 2018 with their over 6,000 franchised mortgage brokers and $44 billion annually in mortgages to enhance their marketing strategy.
Multi-Prêts Mortgages also works with alternative mortgage lenders such as Pentor, a Quebec-based lender that specializes in mortgages for borrowers that have defaulted on their mortgage, have a lien against their home, or need to consolidate their debt. Multi-Prêts has 60 office locations in Quebec, from Abitibi-Témiscamingue to the Eastern Townships (Estrie), with a large number of offices in Laurentides, Montreal, and Quebec City.
North East Mortgages
North East Mortgages claims to be the #1 mortgage brokerage in Laval , Montreal, and Quebec, with 27 mortgage brokers on their team located throughout the province. They offer residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, rental property mortgages, and reverse mortgages for Montreal and properties throughout Quebec.
apoint Hypothèque
apoint Hypothèque, formally known as Équipe Lupien, has 23 mortgage brokers that operate mainly in French with most not accepting English appointments. Four of Équipe Lupien’s mortgage brokers accept English appointments. Équipe Lupien offers fixed and variable mortgage rates, along with mortgage refinancing and loans for renovations, second homes, and rental buildings.
Dominion Lending Centres
Dominion Lending Centres (DLC) is Canada’s largest mortgage company with 7,856 mortgage brokers and 539 franchises across the country. In Quebec, Dominion Lending Centres has office locations in areas such as Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau, Chicoutimi, Kirkland, La Prairie, and Sherbrooke.
In 2020, Dominion Lending Centres received $4.2 billion in mortgage submissions, representing 21% of Quebec's mortgage broker market when combined with DLC’s brand Mortgage Architects. On its own, DLC has 11% market share in Quebec, and Mortgage Architects has 9% market share. This makes Dominion Lending Centres the second largest regional mortgage broker firm in Quebec, and Mortgage Architects as the third largest, according to Dominion Lending Centres’ 2020 Annual Report.
DLC offers conventional mortgages, along with mortgages for Quebec first-time home buyers, newcomers to Canada, second properties, vacation homes, investment properties, commercial mortgages, and reverse mortgages.
How Much Will a Quebec Mortgage Cost?
Quebec’s and Montreal’s housing markets are cheaper than the national average, which makes mortgages more affordable. Low housing prices means that Montreal and Quebec City mortgages are smaller than average. Meanwhile, Quebec’s competitive mortgage marketplace allows for low mortgage rates in Quebec.
According to the CMHC, the average new mortgage amount in Quebec for mortgages originated in Q1 2023 was $202,014, lower than the newly originated Canadian average mortgage amount of $320,298, and less than half the average mortgage amount of $482,933 in Toronto and $487,045 in Vancouver.
Quebec Average New Mortgage Amount 2023
| Average New Mortgage (Q1 2023) | |
|---|---|
| Montreal | $265,443 |
| Quebec City | $173,540 |
| Sherbrooke | $174,384 |
| Trois-Rivières | $129,546 |
| Saguenay | $136,572 |
| Province of Quebec | $202,014 |
| Canada | $320,298 |
Source: CMHC
Small mortgage balances means that Quebec homeowners can enjoy small mortgage payments. In some areas of the province, such as in Trois-Rivières and Saguenay , the average monthly mortgage payment can be a fraction of the amount seen in more expensive housing markets. For example, the average mortgage payment in Toronto is $2,962, while the average in Vancouver is $2,978.
Changes in Toronto mortgage rates will have a much larger impact on the affordability of a mortgage compared to changes in Montreal mortgage rates or Quebec mortgage rates.
Quebec Average Monthly Mortgage Payment 2023
| Average Monthly Mortgage Payment (Q1 2023) | |
|---|---|
| Montreal | $1,647 |
| Quebec City | $1,106 |
| Sherbrooke | $1,117 |
| Trois-Rivières | $854 |
| Saguenay | $887 |
| Canada | $1,984 |
Source: CMHC
What is an average down payment in Quebec?
Down payments in Quebec are on average slightly smaller as a proportion of property value compared to the rest of Canada. The average loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of new uninsured mortgages made by RBC from October 2021 to October 2022 for Quebec was 72%, compared to 70% in Ontario and 68% in British Columbia and the territories.
This would be equivalent to an average Quebec down payment being 28%, an average Ontario down payment being 30%, and an average BC down payment being 32%.
2022 Average Down Payment by Province (RBC)
| Region | Average Loan-to-Value (LTV) Ratio | Average Down Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec | 72% | 28% |
| Atlantic Canada | 72% | 28% |
| Saskatchewan and Manitoba | 73% | 27% |
| Alberta | 73% | 27% |
| Ontario | 70% | 30% |
| British Columbia and the Territories | 68% | 32% |
| Canada | 71% | 29% |
Source: RBC 2022 Annual Report
Some lenders may have borrowers that make larger down payments. For example, the majority of Laurentian Bank's residential conventional mortgages had a LTV of 65% or less, equivalent to a down payment of 35% or more. For Laurentian’s uninsured mortgages, the average loan-to-value was 48%.
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- Interest rates are sourced from financial institutions' websites or provided to us directly. Real estate data is sourced from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and regional boards' websites and documents.