The mortgage stress test makes you qualify at the higher of your contract rate plus 2%, or 5.25%. At today’s rates, that works out to roughly 6.2%. For a household earning $130,000, it knocks somewhere between $100,000 and $130,000 off the maximum mortgage you’d get if lenders simply used your actual rate. There’s one important exception: since 2025, OSFI no longer applies the stress test when you switch lenders at renewal with the same loan amount and amortization. And there are four strategies that can meaningfully increase your qualifying amount without changing your income.
The mortgage stress test Canada 2026
Let me put the impact in plain terms. At $130,000 of household income, the stress test cuts your maximum mortgage by roughly $100,000 to $130,000 compared to qualifying at the rate you’ll actually pay. In Kelowna, that’s often the difference between shopping Lower Mission and shopping Rutland, or looking across the William R. Bennett Bridge to West Kelowna.
The rule itself is simple: you qualify at the higher of (a) your contract rate plus 2%, or (b) 5.25%. With the best insured 5-year fixed at 4.04% (June 2026), the qualifying rate is 6.04%, not 5.25%. The 5.25% floor only becomes the operative number if contract rates fall below 3.25%, and we’re nowhere near that today.
The key change from 2025: OSFI removed the stress test for borrowers switching lenders at renewal, as long as the loan amount and amortization stay the same. It still applies to new purchases, refinances, and any increase to your mortgage.
So how do you qualify for more? Four things actually move the needle: taking a 30-year amortization (worth an extra 8-10% of buying power for first-time buyers), paying down existing debt, adding a co-borrower, and using a broker to land the best insured rate, because a lower contract rate means a lower stress test rate.
Lately a lot of these files are Alberta buyers relocating to the Okanagan and first-timers eyeing downtown Kelowna condos. If you’d like to know your real number, I’m happy to run it with you. I’m a Kelowna mortgage broker, and a good starting point is mortgage pre-approval Kelowna or my first-time buyer guide BC. Call me at 250-859-2100.
The affordability calculator applies the current stress test to your own income and debts, so you can see your ceiling before a lender does.
Related guides: Mortgage pre-approval in Kelowna · BC first-time home buyer guide · First-Time Home Buyer Mortgage BC
Related reading: current Kelowna mortgage rates · the 7 mistakes BC first-time buyers make