When selecting a mortgage, the mortgage term is the length of time your mortgage terms and conditions are in effect. Once your term expires, you normally have the option to renew the mortgage with the same lender with a new (or same) term, pay it off completely, or obtain mortgage financing with a different lender. Mortgage terms in Canada generally range from 6 months to 10 years with a
5 year mortgage term being the most common. The amortization period also plays an important role in your mortgage financing. The amortization is the length of time over which your mortgage will be fully paid off.
The longer the amortization period, the smaller are the resulting mortgage payments. Therefore, choosing a longer amortization period can sometimes result in an easier mortgage approval. However there are restrictions on amortization. While the maximum amortization period tends to be 35 years, it is only 25 years on High Ratio Mortgages. Since the mortgage term is usually smaller than the mortgage amortization, a homeowner will usually have to enter into more than one mortgage contract before the mortgage is fully paid off.