Renewing a mortgage in Montreal? Don’t sign the first offer.

Island of Montréal median price, single-family homes — Centris (APCIQ) put the Montreal median at <strong>$835,000</strong> for Q2 2026. For a mortgage renewal that makes the monthly gap, first offer vs shopped about <strong>$135/mo</strong> (on a 65% balance, 4.64% vs 4.19%). The same board counted 1,350 Montreal sales in Q2 2026, with an average days on market of 41 days. Your own property and balance replace these numbers on the file.

Montreal's board publishes each segment separately, and the gap is the point. At the condominium median of $483,500 the monthly gap, first offer vs shopped is about <strong>$78/mo</strong>; at the plex (2–5 units) median of $910,000 it is about <strong>$147/mo</strong>. The table on this page carries every row from the same Q2 2026 release.

Most Montreal renewals we handle sit around the $835,000 median home with a balance near $542,750 (roughly 65% of value). We benchmark that balance against 100+ lenders — beating the bank's first offer is worth about $8,100 over a 5-year term on a file this size.

Staying with your lender costs $0, and switching is often $0 too — new lenders typically cover the discharge (~$300) and appraisal (~$300) on a clean transfer. The real "cost" is the rate you accept: on a $542,750 Montreal balance, moving from a 4.64% first offer to a shopped 4.19% is about $135/mo — roughly $8,100 over a 5-year term. Collateral-charge mortgages can add ~$1,000 in legal fees to switch; we check that first.

Because the lender decides more than the rate: how Montréal property types are read, how much of your income counts, and what the file costs to move. In Quebec the file is placed by a mortgage professional licensed in Quebec, through our partner network.

Usually $0 to you on a standard-charge mortgage. The incoming lender typically covers the outgoing lender's discharge fee (roughly $300) and the appraisal (roughly $300) as a transfer incentive, because it is acquiring a performing $542,750 mortgage without origination cost. Two things change that. If your mortgage is registered as a <strong>collateral charge</strong> — standard at TD and Tangerine and on most HELOC-bundled mortgages — it cannot be assigned, so switching needs a new registration and roughly $1,000 in legal fees that the standard incentive does not cover. And if you increase the balance or change the amortization, it is a refinance rather than a transfer, which carries its own legal and appraisal costs. On the $135/mo saving a shopped Montreal renewal typically produces, even the $1,000 collateral case pays for itself well inside the term — but the number should be computed, not assumed. Every fee is disclosed in writing before you commit.

A <strong>switch</strong> is largely unaffected. You are moving the same balance to a new lender with no new money, so as long as the loan-to-value still qualifies the transaction is about your income and credit, not your appreciation. A <strong>refinance</strong> is a different matter, because it is sized off current value: an uninsured refinance is capped at 80% of appraised value, which on a Montreal home at the $835,000 average is $668,000 — roughly $125,250 of headroom above a typical $542,750 balance, and less if your value has slipped. A borrower who bought with a minimum down payment near a market peak can find that most of the equity on their statement is scheduled principal rather than appreciation, and that refinancing is temporarily off the table while switching is not. There is also no such thing as being "called" on a residential mortgage in Canada for a valuation change alone — as long as you pay, the contract runs to maturity. The time to establish which options are open is 120 days out.

Mortgage brokering in Quebec is regulated by the AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers). Mortgage Squad Advisors is licensed by FSRA in Ontario (Brokerage #13737) and serves clients across Canada: Quebec files are processed by licensed mortgage professionals in your jurisdiction through our partner network, in compliance with AMF requirements. All advisors are FINTRAC-trained. Ask us for the registration details that apply to your file.