What do lenders actually think you can afford?
Every Canadian lender runs your file through two ratios before anything else: GDS and TDS. Most people never see these numbers until an application is already in. Here they are, in about a minute.
Nothing you type leaves your device. The maths runs in your browser. No income figures are sent anywhere, stored, or seen by me, not even if you contact me afterwards.
Your numbers
Income
Before tax. Salary, or your average if self-employed.
Housing costs
Renewing? Use your current payment. Buying? Estimate your monthly payment, then come back.
Lenders count half of your condo fees. This tool does that for you.
Other monthly debts
Not your minimum payment: the balance. Lenders typically count 3% of it per month regardless of what you actually pay.
Your ratios
Add your income and monthly payment on the left and your numbers appear here as you type.
This is an estimate, not an approval
Ratios are the first gate, not the whole gate. Your credit score, how your income is documented, whether the mortgage is insured, the property itself, and each lender's own policy all move the answer, sometimes a long way.
Over the limit here does not mean no. Alternative lenders work to wider ratios, and restructuring debt before applying often fixes it outright. Under the limit here does not mean yes either.
The only way to know is a real application. That part is free and there is no credit check to start.
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What these two numbers mean
GDS: Gross Debt Service
The share of your gross monthly income that goes to the home itself: mortgage payment, property taxes, heat, and half your condo fees. The usual ceiling is 39%.
The mistake almost everyone makes is counting only the mortgage payment. Taxes and heat routinely add five to eight percentage points, enough on their own to turn a comfortable file into a declined one.
TDS: Total Debt Service
Everything in GDS, plus every other debt payment: car, credit cards, lines of credit, student loans, support payments. The usual ceiling is 44%.
Credit cards are the quiet one. Lenders count roughly 3% of your balance every month no matter how much you actually pay. A $10,000 balance reads as a $300 monthly obligation even if you clear it in full.
One more thing the calculator can't do for you
Federally regulated lenders must qualify you at a stress-tested rate: the higher of your contract rate plus 2%, or 5.25%. So the payment they run through these ratios is larger than the payment you would actually make.
If you want the honest version of your ratios, enter the payment at the stress-tested rate rather than the one you have been quoted. If that sounds like a lot of guesswork, it is, and it is exactly the part I do for people.
Numbers not where you want them?
That is usually a solvable problem rather than a closed door, and it is a much better problem to find now than three days before closing.