Bank of Canada rate announcement dates 2026 and 2027

A variable rate is set against your lender's prime rate; the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's example is a prime rate of 3.5% plus 1%, for 4.5%. It can go up or down during your term.

If your payment adjusts, it changes when your rate does. If your payment stays the same, the split changes instead: when the rate goes up, more of each payment goes to interest and less to the principal. Your contract lists the trigger point at which your lender may raise the payment.

Most HELOCs have a variable rate, typically based on your lender's prime rate, and FCAC says that prime rate may change when the Bank of Canada changes its policy rate. That may raise your minimum monthly payment.

A lender can change a HELOC rate at any time; a federally regulated one must tell you in writing within 30 days of the change.

A federally regulated lender must send your renewal statement at least 21 days before your term ends, and it must say the offered rate won't increase until your renewal date. If you do nothing, the renewal may be automatic, which may not get you the best rate.

FCAC's advice is to start shopping a few months before the term ends, negotiate with your lender, and switch if another lender's terms suit you better (the new lender has to approve you). See renew or switch.

A fixed rate stays the same for your entire term, so an announcement after you sign does not change your rate until the term ends. FCAC notes fixed rates are usually higher than variable rates.

Choosing between them is choosing certainty against a rate that can move both ways, and FCAC notes that the rise and fall of interest rates is difficult to predict. We don't forecast the Bank's decisions on this page.