Paying your mortgage off faster is one of the few money decisions where small changes compound into something genuinely large. Nobody teaches it, and the bank will never bring it up, because the interest is the point of the product.
Switch to accelerated payments
The single highest-value change most people can make, and it takes one phone call.
Bi-weekly payments mean 26 payments a year. Accelerated bi-weekly means you pay half your monthly amount every two weeks, which works out to 26 half-payments, or 13 monthly payments a year instead of 12. That extra payment goes almost entirely to principal.
On a 500,000 dollar mortgage at current rates, accelerated bi-weekly typically shaves three to four years off a 25 year amortization and saves in the region of 50,000 dollars in interest. The payment barely feels different because it is landing alongside your pay.
Use your prepayment privileges
Most mortgages let you pay an extra 10 to 20 percent of the original principal each year without penalty, plus increase your regular payment by a similar amount. Almost nobody uses this.
A lump sum in the early years does the most work, because that is when the largest share of every payment is going to interest. Five thousand dollars applied in year two does considerably more than five thousand applied in year fifteen.
Tax refund, bonus, a bit left over from something else. Put it against the principal once and you will see the amortization move.
Round your payment up
If your payment is 2,340, make it 2,400. You will not feel sixty dollars and it goes entirely to principal. Do it again at every renewal.
Keep the payment when rates fall
When your rate drops at renewal, most people take the lower payment. Keeping the old payment instead means the difference attacks principal every month, and you never had that money in your budget anyway. This one quietly does more than almost anything else on this page.
Shorten the amortization at renewal
Twenty years left on the clock and you can afford a bigger payment? Reset to fifteen. Harsher monthly, dramatically less interest overall.
When paying it down is the wrong move
Worth saying plainly, because this page could easily read as pay it off at all costs.
Clear high-interest debt first. Every time. Paying extra on a four percent mortgage while carrying a 20 percent credit card is going backwards.
Keep an emergency fund. Money put into your house is hard to get back out, and getting it out costs a refinance.
Look at your RRSP and TFSA room. Depending on your income and the return, those can beat the guaranteed saving of mortgage prepayment.
And if money is tight right now, the right answer might be the opposite of this whole page. Lengthening your amortization to breathe is a legitimate strategy, not a failure.
Where to start
Call your lender and ask two questions. What are my prepayment privileges, and can I switch to accelerated bi-weekly. That is often a several-thousand-dollar conversation and it takes ten minutes.
If you want to see what any of this would do to your own numbers, would a quick look together be useful?
Lora Fenn, Mortgage Agent Level 1. DLC Yellow Brick Mortgages, Brokerage Licence #13854. 705-881-2780 · lfenn@dominionlending.ca
What clients say about working with me
Real Google reviews, written by real people, reproduced word for word.
“Lora is great. We weren’t sure what type of loan was going to work best for us, and she walked us thru our options and we are very pleased with her recommendation. Everything went surprisingly quick and it saved us tons of time and hassel.”
Heather C. · May 2026
“Very professional, knowledgeable and friendly. Lora takes the time to thoroughly explain options and then present a personalized package. Would highly recommend.”
Mike P. · March 2026
“Lora is wonderful! She makes the mortgage process smooth, easy to understand, and a great experience overall! Looking forward to working with her again in the future!”
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Reviews are reproduced from Google as written by the reviewer, with last names shortened to an initial. Individual results depend entirely on your own situation and lender approval (O.A.C.). General education, not financial advice. Lora Fenn, Mortgage Agent Level 1, DLC Yellow Brick Mortgages (Brokerage Licence #13854).
Questions people ask me about paying it off faster
No jargon, no pressure. Here is what usually comes up first.
Is it better to pay the mortgage down or invest the money?
It depends on the gap between your mortgage rate and what the money could realistically earn elsewhere, and on how you sleep at night. Paying down a mortgage is a guaranteed return equal to your rate, which is genuinely valuable and often undersold. My honest view is that racing to clear cheap debt while walking away from a better return is worth questioning, and it is worth running both numbers before assuming faster is automatically smarter.
Does switching to accelerated bi-weekly really make that much difference?
Yes, and it is the change I recommend most often because it costs almost nothing to feel. You end up making the equivalent of one extra monthly payment a year, and that extra lands almost entirely on principal. On a typical Simcoe County mortgage that tends to take three to four years off the clock.
Will my lender charge me for paying extra?
Not within your prepayment privileges, which most mortgages set somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of the original principal each year. Go beyond those limits, or break the term entirely, and a penalty can apply. Check your exact privileges before you send anything, or send me your documents and I will read them for you.
Should the mortgage be gone before I retire?
That is treated as a rule and I think it deserves a harder look. For some people the peace of mind is worth more than the arithmetic, and that is a completely legitimate reason. For others, clearing a low-rate mortgage means pulling money out of investments that were doing more for them, right at the point in life when those years of growth matter most. Worth deciding on purpose rather than by default.
Is a lump sum better than raising my regular payment?
Early on, a lump sum does more work, because that is when the biggest share of every payment is going to interest. Over the full term, a permanently higher payment usually wins, because it compounds quietly every single month. Plenty of people do both, one at tax refund time and one at renewal.
Can I change my payment frequency partway through the term?
Usually yes, with a phone call to your lender, and most of them will not charge for it. Ask for accelerated bi-weekly specifically, because plain bi-weekly is not the same thing and will not get you the extra payment a year.
General education, not financial advice. Figures are illustrative and depend on your own situation and lender approval (O.A.C.). Lora Fenn, Mortgage Agent Level 1, DLC Yellow Brick Mortgages (Brokerage Licence #13854).
