The three options above are usually described and rarely modelled. Here they are on the same $476,418 balance over a 25-year amortization — the balance carried at renewal by a Brossard home at the $732,950 average (Brossard median price, single-family homes — Centris (APCIQ)).
Stay, switch, or refinance on a $476,418 Brossard renewal balance
| Path | Rate | Payment | Paid over 5 years | Cost to arrange |
| A. Stay — accept the letter | 4.64% | $2,674/mo | $160,440 | $0, and no paperwork |
| B. Switch — same balance, new lender | 4.19% | $2,555/mo | $153,300 | Usually $0 — discharge and appraisal covered |
| C. Refinance — consolidate $25,000 of debt | 4.29% | $2,717/mo on $501,418 | $163,020 | Legal + appraisal; full re-qualification |
Path B beats Path A by $119/mo — $7,140 over the term — for the same debt, the same amortization and, on a standard charge, no cost to you. That is the base case, and for most Brossard renewals it is the answer.
Path C is where the headline rate stops being the point. It carries the highest payment of the three, and it is still the cheapest month for some households: illustratively, a borrower also servicing $25,000 of card debt at 19.99% is paying roughly $750/mo in minimums on top of the mortgage. Folding that into the mortgage lifts the payment to $2,717 but removes the $750, a net cashflow improvement of about $588/mo against Path B.
The honest caveat, which most consolidation pitches omit: that debt is now amortized over 25 years at mortgage rates instead of cleared in two or three at card rates, so unless you keep directing the freed-up cashflow at the balance, you can pay more total interest while feeling better every month. Refinancing also re-opens full qualification and legal costs. Model it before you sign — our renewal calculator and refinance-vs-renewal comparison run your own figures, and the payments above assume no change in amortization, taxes or insurance.