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Next, we’ll show you quotes from 50+ Canadian banks and brokers. It’s free, with no commitment.
When you find the best quote, secure your Alberta mortgage rate by talking to a licensed broker or agent.
We know that hunting for the best mortgage rates in Alberta can be a challenge.
Don’t worry — we’re here to save you time during your search for cheap mortgage rates in Alberta, and to save you money on your mortgage payments. LowestRates.ca brings Albertans the best mortgage rates from top banks and brokers across Canada.
Our free, no-obligation service does the legwork by comparing the market and bringing you a selection of the lowest rates currently offered in your area. In just a few minutes, you can see who has the best mortgage rates in Alberta on any given day.
Keep reading to learn more about the state of Alberta’s housing market and how you can benefit from comparing Alberta mortgage rates on LowestRates.ca.
Check out today's best mortgage rates in Canada by type and term.
| Insured ? | 80% LTV ? The rates in this column apply to mortgage amounts between 65.01% and 80% of the property value. The home must be owner-occupied and have an amortization of 25 years or less. You must have purchased it for less than $1 million. These rates are not available on refinances. Refinances require "Uninsured" rates. | 65% LTV ? The rates in this column apply to mortgage amounts that are 65% of the property value or less. The home must be owner-occupied and have an amortization of 25 years or less. You must have purchased it for less than $1 million. These rates are not available on refinances. Refinances require "Uninsured" rates. | Uninsured ? | Bank Rate ? | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Insured 5.04% | 80% LTV 5.15% | 65% LTV 5.15% | Uninsured 6.63% | 6.29% | ||
Insured 4.74% | 80% LTV 4.79% | 65% LTV 4.74% | Uninsured 4.74% | 5.59% | ||
Insured 4.14% | 80% LTV 4.14% | 65% LTV 4.14% | Uninsured 4.49% | 4.89% | ||
Insured 4.29% | 80% LTV 4.14% | 65% LTV 4.14% | Uninsured 4.49% | 4.74% | ||
Insured 3.99% | 80% LTV 3.99% | 65% LTV 3.99% | Uninsured 4.14% | 4.59% | ||
Insured 4.44% | 80% LTV 4.39% | 65% LTV 4.39% | Uninsured 5.9% | 5.5% | ||
Insured 5.09% | 80% LTV 5.29% | 65% LTV 5.29% | Uninsured 5.8% | 7.14% | ||
Insured 4.6% | 80% LTV 4.7% | 65% LTV 4.6% | Uninsured 4.6% | 6.85% | ||
Insured 4.3% | 80% LTV 4.55% | 65% LTV 4.3% | Uninsured 4.3% | 4.65% | ||
Insured N/A | 80% LTV N/A | 65% LTV N/A | Uninsured N/A | N/A | ||
Insured 5.25% | 80% LTV 5.25% | 65% LTV 5.25% | Uninsured 5.25% | N/A |
4.35%
4.24%
7.24%
Mortgage sectors in Alberta are self-regulated. That's where the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) comes in. It is an independent entity that defines and enforces regulations for residential and commercial real estate, property and condominium management as well as mortgage brokerage licensees in the province. Its goals are to protect consumer rights and ensure healthy competition in real estate services.
Mortgage rates are decided the same way as they are in the rest of Canada – by lenders who do so in accordance with the Bank of Canada's policy rate and other relevant factors.
For a good portion of the last decade, mortgage rates in Alberta have remained historically low. In February 2022, average conventional five-year fixed rates stood at 3.06%. Unfortunately for current mortgage holders and those seeking to buy a home, rates moved up as inflation started to rise, post-pandemic. As of October 2024, the average five-year fixed rate is 4.39%. For homeowners, the news has gotten better as inflation has been lowered closer to its target rate and the Bank of Canada has begun, what appears to be, an interest rate cutting pattern.
Mortgage default insurance is a protection for the lender if you don't (or can’t) make your mortgage payments. It's required for all mortgages where the down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price. The mandate comes from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) – a government agency that oversees federally regulated financial institutions in Canada. Mortgage insurance is sold by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Sagen and Canada Guaranty.
When it comes to mortgage insurance, make sure you understand the difference between the following:
Based on different down payment amounts, CMHC’s insurance rates are as follows:
You can find out more by using the LowesRates.ca Mortgage Default Insurance Calculator.
So, what’s considered the “average” mortgage rate in Alberta? There isn’t necessarily one answer. A number of factors go into determining what interest rate Alberta lenders may offer you on your mortgage. These include the size of your down payment and the amount of debt you owe. Though Alberta mortgage rates in 2021 are at the lowest they’ve been in a long time, it’s crucial to understand what lenders look for when they evaluate mortgage applications.
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When it comes to conventional and high-ratio mortgage rates in Alberta, the overall trend has been downward so far, which is great news for homebuyers.
Looking at average 5-year fixed mortgages, as an example, you’ll notice that both conventional and high-ratio rates have been going down since October 2023 – from 6.17% to 5.19% and from 5.88% to 4.98%, respectively (as of October 2024). This is despite the fact that the Bank of Canada’s rate has remained unchanged – at 5.00% – for almost half of 2024. The rate went down for the first time since 2023 in June – by 25 basis points (bps). It went down another 25 bps in July, and once more in September, reaching 4.25%.
You might be wondering – how is it that fixed rates started to go down months before Bank of Canada’s rate? The answer is government bond yields. They began to dip at the tail end of 2023, and since fixed rates compete with bonds to attract capital, they followed a similar trajectory (this is, in fact, how fixed rates get set).
| Date | Average Conventional Rate | Average High Ratio Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 12/23 | 5.84% | 5.40% |
| 01/24 | 5.57% | 5.22% |
| 02/24 | 5.53% | 5.20% |
| 03/24 | 5.29% | 5.09% |
| 04/24 | 5.18% | 5.05% |
| 05/24 | 5.20% | 5.05% |
| 06/24 | 5.13% | 4.87% |
| 07/24 | 4.99% | 4.81% |
| 08/24 | 5.11% | 4.89% |
| 09/24 | 5.19% | 4.98% |
| 10/24 | 4.79% | 4.53% |
| 11/24 | 4.72% | 4.42% |
Last Updated: December 1, 2024
Both fixed rates and variable rates are trending downward, though variable rates seem to be in a rougher spot at the moment.
The chart to the right shows trend lines for both 5-year fixed and 5-year variable mortgage rates in Alberta. The variable rate line remained relatively high, teetering around 6.50%, and somewhat flat until early summer of 2024 – when it started to go down. This corresponds with the prime rate, which has remained unchanged since June 2023 until June 2024, at which point it went down 25 bps from 7.20% to 6.95%. The average variable rate is still relatively high, sitting above 6.00%, but if the prime rate continues to go down (which it should, given the current trajectory), variable rates will follow.
As for fixed rates, those have been on the downward trajectory since October 2023. As mentioned earlier, this drop coincides with the reduction in government bond yields, which also began in October 2023. Government bonds have more influence on fixed rates than prime rates, as they compete with them for capital. Despite some ups and downs, the overall trend for fixed rates continues to be downward.
| Month | Fixed | Variable |
|---|---|---|
| 12/23 | 5.53% | 6.49% |
| 01/24 | 5.29% | 6.44% |
| 02/24 | 5.25% | 6.44% |
| 03/24 | 5.08% | 6.59% |
| 04/24 | 5.03% | 6.56% |
| 05/24 | 5.04% | 6.58% |
| 06/24 | 4.94% | 6.10% |
| 07/24 | 4.87% | 6.03% |
| 08/24 | 4.93% | 6.11% |
| 09/24 | 4.99% | 6.33% |
| 10/24 | 4.66% | 5.80% |
| 11/24 | 4.55% | 5.31% |
Last Updated: December 1, 2024
There has been a significant drop in average mortgage values across Canada, and Alberta is no exception. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the housing market went hot, and prices saw a significant hike, which has led to an equally significant increase in mortgage values across the country, fueled by low interest rates. But as interest rates continued to increase in 2022 and 2023, the average value of new mortgage loans in Alberta decreased, while the housing market entered a cooldown period.
According to the data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), new mortgage loan value in Alberta peaked in Q3 of 2022 – at $339,854. This is mainly due to the increase of the prime rate, which started in March of 2022 and continued throughout the year until summer of 2023 (when the rate froze at 7.20% – until summer of 2024).
Because of the increase, many buyers could no longer get their mortgages approved due to failing the mortgage stress test. To get approved, their only option was to borrow less than what they could before the rate hike. This happened despite the housing market cooling down throughout 2022 (as indicated by the data from Canadian Real Estate Association, or CREA). Due to less borrowing, new mortgage loan value plummeted – down to $317,353 in Q4 of 2022, which was a 6.62% decrease quarter over quarter (QoQ). Moving into Q1 of 2023, the QoQ decrease was less significant – only 2.32%. In Q2 of 2023, new mortgage loan value started to climb up again, as more money was being borrowed.
According to CMHC, new mortgage value continued to decrease throughout 2023, stabilizing toward the end of the year and in Q1 of 2024, with the average sitting at $325,214 (as of the latest data). This is slightly above the national average, which was recorded to be $323,537 in Q1 of 2024 (meaning that, on average, Albertans get to borrow a little more this year than the rest of Canada).
As for home prices in the province, they bounced back in late 2022, following the cooldown, and began to gradually increase throughout 2023, which remains to be the case in 2024.
| Q1 - 2020 | Q2 - 2020 | Q3 - 2020 | Q4 - 2020 | Q1 - 2021 | Q2 - 2021 | Q3 - 2021 | Q4 - 2021 | Q1 - 2022 | Q2 - 2022 | Q3 - 2022 | Q4 - 2022 | Q1 - 2023 | Q2 - 2023 | Q3 - 2023 | Q4 - 2023 | Q1 - 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | $278,928 | $289,038 | $297,367 | $313,607 | $323,678 | $343,971 | $364,954 | $350,686 | $361,001 | $366,163 | $363,654 | $325,612 | $320,298 | $314,540 | $338,522 | $327,899 | $323,537 |
Alberta | $275,343 | $284,999 | $297,154 | $296,603 | $290,816 | $313,308 | $329,274 | $317,212 | $319,728 | $331,285 | $339,854 | $317,353 | $310,002 | $316,328 | $326,879 | $325,139 | $325,214 |
Average monthly mortgage payments are on the rise since 2022 – which is, once again, due to the interest rate hikes that started in March of 2022.
According to CMHC, average monthly payments had their worst increases in Q2 and Q3 of 2022, at 8.5% and 12.4% QoQ, respectively. Q1 of 2024 saw a QoQ increase of 0.2%, putting monthly payments at $2,094. The good news is that this increase is significantly lower than the QoQ increase in Q4 of 2023, which was 5.7%.
Given the current trajectory, it’s likely that monthly payments will continue to increase, but much slower than in 2023 or 2022, which should make mortgages more affordable by the end of 2024 and in 2025 – as long as real estate demand and prices continue to grow.
| Monthly mortgage payment | % change (QoQ) | |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 – 2022 | $1,476 | +2.8% |
| Q2 – 2022 | $1,601 | +8.5% |
| Q3 – 2022 | $1,800 | +12.4% |
| Q4 – 2022 | $1,856 | +3.1% |
| Q1 – 2023 | $1,907 | +2.8% |
| Q2 – 2023 | $1,905 | -0.1% |
| Q3 – 2023 | $1,977 | +3.8% |
| Q4 – 2023 | $2,089 | +5.7% |
| Q1 – 2024 | $2,094 | +0.2% |
Home prices are on the rise again in Alberta, according to the data from CREA. The average benchmark price for a home in Alberta has risen to $509,300 as of July 2024 – a 8.20% increase year over year.
Overall, home prices are increasing and are poised to continue to increase. In 2022, home prices saw a dip after the surge during the pandemic. This trend seems to apply to all home types. Here are some of the latest figures (as of July 2024):
Demand appears to be outpacing supply, indicating that the province is in seller’s market territory. Sales-to-new listings ratio (SLNR) – which measures the level of demand vs. the level of supply in the market – for July 2024 was 72%, meaning that for every 100 new listings, the market absorbed 72 of them. That’s significantly higher than July’s national average of 52.9%.
For context, SLNR between 45% and 65% usually indicates balanced housing market conditions. SLNR that’s over that typically means that it’s a seller’s market (and vice versa, if below). In other words, there are more buyers than homes in Alberta.
This demand is driven by record population growth in the province. In fact, during 2023, Alberta’s population grew by more than 200,000 people, which is the fastest growth for the province since 1981. Migration is the reason for this growth. Since most migrants fall into the 25-to-44 age group – the primary age group for purchasing a home – the demand for homes skyrocketed, which was helped by decreasing rates and increased mortgage affordability.
When you buy a property in Alberta (and the land it rests on), you must pay a tax to the government after the transaction is completed. The amount you pay depends on the value of your property, but almost always forms the largest portion of your closing costs.
Alberta does not charge a land transfer tax. However, you will be charged a property registration fee.
The property registration fee has two components:
Your total registration fee is the sum of the two fees above. In our calculations, we assume a 20% down payment.
First-time home buyers who acquire a qualifying home can claim a non-refundable tax credit of up to $750 from the federal government . The value of the HBTC is calculated by multiplying $5,000 by the lowest personal income tax rate (15% in 2022).
The government of Alberta used to offer the Public Essential and Key Workforce (PEAK) program, which helped low-income households get a second mortgage to fund a downpayment on their first home, but the program closed in recent years as the available inventory for the project was depleted.
Calgary and Edmonton have their own local programs.
The First Place Program in Edmonton works with banks and builders to develop empty surplus school building sites into townhomes, and helps new owners lower their up-front costs and build equity.
As part of the program, eligible buyers are given a 5-year deferral on land costs. Buyers pay for the cost of the unit, condominium fees, taxes, and utility costs. After the five years is up, the owner has to pay the City the total amount of the deferred land costs.
Attainable Homes Calgary (AHC) is a non-profit social enterprise, created and owned by The City of Calgary, that works to help moderate-income Calgarians become homeowners. The program loans eligible applicants the difference.
The program helps eligible applicants with a down payment of just $2,000, loaning the remainder of the down payment with zero interest on the loan. In exchange, AHC receives a portion of your home’s appreciation, starting from 100% in the first year of ownership, to 25% after five years. The down payment loan does not require a minimum number of years that you need to live in the home, however you will need to repay the down payment loan in full when you move out, plus the cost of a home appraisal, and any appreciation owed on the home.
It’s important to have a good credit score. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the credit score requirement on insured mortgages should be 680.
Other factors you should have in order can include:
Unlike a bank, a mortgage broker can only offer mortgages from their line of products. They can access many lenders and help you choose the right product for your circumstance. The good news is that mortgage brokers are free to use and are paid by the lender while also having access to a variety of lender interest rates. LowestRates.ca can help you navigate and compare rates and direct you to the broker that best suits your Alberta mortgage rate needs.
Some people use the word “term” interchangeably with “amortization period” when discussing mortgages, but the two refer to entirely separate things.
Mortgage term: The time in which the interest rate agreed to by you and your lender remains in effect. Once the term ends, you can renew your mortgage contract at a new rate. Mortgage terms vary in length. For example, you can look for 6 month mortgage rates in Alberta, or in yearly increments up to 10 years. The most popular term in Canada is 5 years. In general, the longer the term of your mortgage, the higher the rate you can expect to pay.
Amortization period: The length of time it will take for you to pay off your mortgage in full, both the principal and interest. The maximum amortization period allowed in Canada is 35 years. However, it’s only available for homebuyers who contribute a down payment of at least 20% (and are thus not obligated to purchase CMHC mortgage insurance). Homebuyers who put down less than 20% can only acquire a mortgage with a maximum amortization period of 25 years. A 5-year fixed term with a 25-year amortization period is the most popular combination in Canada.
Getting a lower mortgage in Alberta (or anywhere else in Canada) can matter a great deal – especially when you look at rates long-term. Let’s say you’re debating between two different 5-year fixed rates. One is an 80% LTV (loan-to-value) rate of 4.09% – a rate that applies to mortgage amounts between 65.01% and 80% – and the other a bank rate of 4.34%.
Your home costs $500,000, your down payment is 20% and your amortization is 25 years, meaning that you’re borrowing $400,000. Based on this, your 80% LTV monthly payment would be $2,124, while your monthly bank rate payment would be $2,178. The latter is $54 more expensive. In a year, this difference would amount to $648, and in five years, $3,240. Not a lot of money compared to the rest of the amount, but enough to make an impact. It’s money you could save up for renovations or another vital expense.
The difference between these two rates is miniscule, of course. If you were to look at choosing between a 5-year variable rate of 5.55%, for instance, and a 5-year fixed rate of 4.44%, you’d see a far greater discrepancy – $3,036 in a single year.
But getting the lowest mortgage rate is just one factor. The flexibility of your mortgage contract is something to be aware of during negotiations as well. Features such as prepayment privileges, penalties and portability can make a big difference. After all, this is a decades-long commitment.
Yes, it’s safe — you no longer need to visit a bank branch or mortgage broker’s office in person to apply for a mortgage in Alberta, or across Canada. It’s becoming increasingly common for Canadians to apply for mortgages online. LowestRates.ca only works with reputable, trustworthy financial institutions. Your credit score won’t be affected and your information is secure. We don’t share your information with anyone unless you want to connect with a mortgage broker. We take care of the heavy lifting by comparing the market for you and can connect you with the best mortgage lenders in the country.
We have a strong selection of lenders on LowestRates.ca including the big banks and many independent providers and we’re adding more lenders all the time. This ensures we’re always delivering you a competitive rate. Even if you’re not ready to commit to anything, you can use our site as a starting point for research (it’s totally free, and you’re under no obligation).
The better informed you are, the more likely you'll negotiate a better deal for yourself. And, really, that’s what we care about the most.
Mortgage rates in Alberta can fluctuate depending on size of population, home styles, neighbourhood values and a host of other reasons. Simply put, greater competitive pressure in Canada's hottest real estate markets (especially Vancouver and Toronto) translates into cheaper mortgage rates. Ontario is the most competitive by a long shot, with 113 lenders publicly advertising mortgage rates (not including brokers).
Also, different lenders have different overhead costs they have to consider. They also have to consider the borrower's financial situation, including their debt-to-income ratio, credit score and down payment. To find the best mortgage rate, you need to find the right lender through sites like LowestRates.ca.
Taras Trofimov
About the Author
Taras is the Content Manager for LowestRates.ca. He has produced thought leadership content for organizations like Constellation Software, Facebook and Yellow Pages as well as outlets like The Globe and Mail, Autoblog and MSN Autos.
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