As a rates expert, two numbers caught my eye this morning as I read the new mortgage consumer survey from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
- 88 percent said they compare interest rates
- 33 percent admit to using tariff comparison portals
To the 12 percent who skip the ritual of comparing rates: Congratulations, you are exactly the customer that lenders dream about between coffee breaks.
There are few things that increase a lender’s margin more than consumers who don’t shop around and simply sign on the dotted line.
Admittedly, some borrowers don’t have enough capital or enough remaining time on their mortgage to worry about this, or they have a product or relationship that ties them to their bank, or they simply can’t qualify elsewhere and just hope for the best.
For everyone else with real credit, skipping rate comparisons essentially means writing your lender a thank-you check—of $1,431 for every $300,000 you borrow, for every 10 basis points more you pay over a standard five-year term.
As for the second number, the idea that only one in three borrowers consult rate comparison sites is truly puzzling, especially among prime borrowers who have every reason to look.
And that share is down from 38 percent last year, which is going in the wrong direction.
I suspect the number is higher because interest rate sites dominate mortgage searches in Canada and almost everyone who can open a browser uses the Internet to research mortgages.
However, for the sake of argument, we will assume that these survey results are reasonably accurate.
If so, then not enough Canadians are using rate sites.
Here’s the thing…
Unless your daily job is to track mortgage prices, there are only two ways to find out where the real interest rate market is:
- Ask someone
- Check the Internet
If you take the human path, that person should be well informed, watch your every step with fanatical attention, and have the helpful quality of telling you the truth.
Many mortgage brokers meet these requirements – especially those that do not only offer a small group of lenders.
Asking a lender that only sells its own brand of mortgages is a bit like asking a chef if his restaurant is the best in town.
The exception is if the lender you contact really has the strictest terms and features at that point. But I would put that chance at one in 50 for most people, given how many competitors are out there.
If you resort to the Internet instead, the places you check matter tremendously.
The most obvious places are interest rate comparison sites like Wowa, Ratehub or (since I work here) FP’s daily updated mortgage rates.
You can also browse forums like Reddit or RedFlagDeals, search broker websites, scroll social media or query AI chatbots, which 16 percent of mortgage buyers now do, according to CMHC.
A quick side note: AI numbers are currently increasing. Among other things, more people will use AI agents to search the internet for the cheapest deals, potentially reducing existing rate sites to data feeds rather than having the final say on the lowest rates.
This will undoubtedly be the most significant change in tariff shopping since the advent of the Internet.
One downside, however, is that some of the best deals never see the light of day.
Case in point: Last week, two brokers shared offers with clients from a major bank that included an uninsured three-year fixed interest rate of 3.79 percent.
At the time, the lowest advertised offer in Canada for the same mortgage was 3.99 percent, which was a spectacular interest rate in itself.
The only way for a customer to get this 3.79 percent deal was to get a quote directly from the lender, which meant either calling them or signing up to their mailing list.
Of course, few borrowers have the time to call every lender in the country, and for many, the potential savings of 10 to 20 basis points simply doesn’t justify the effort.
Look beyond the price…
These days, comparing quotes on interest rate sites should be the bare minimum amount of research for well-qualified borrowers, even though CMHC’s numbers suggest only one in three Canadians actually bother.
But that’s just a starting point, and it’s more important than ever to compare things.
Comparison sites, brokers, forums and AI chatbots each see a different part of the market, and no single source covers everything.
In fact, big rate websites specifically avoid showing the best deals because not every lender pays them.
Once you’ve narrowed the field down to a shortlist of offers, there’s definitely more homework to do.
The best interest rate does not necessarily mean the lowest loan costs. So many other things can increase your effective cost of credit, such as poor advice, restrictive terms and conditions, penalties and fees.
Additionally, the lowest number on a screen is not always the lowest number a lender will quote. Haggling still works if you make the effort, and that’s not something the average pricing site supports.
Robert McLister is a mortgage strategist, interest rate analyst and editor of MortgageLogic.news. You can follow him on X at @RobMcLister.
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