A fixed mortgage rate is built on what the lender pays for its money. The Bank of Canada calls that funding cost “the most important factor” in a mortgage rate, and for fixed terms the benchmark is the Government of Canada five-year bond yield, charted below week by week since 2021.
The full pages are on Mortgage Guru, our main site: the prime rate and its history · every Bank of Canada announcement date.
Figures as the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Treasury publish them, downloaded October 18, 2026. Every figure carries its own date.
Each figure is the most recent close the issuer has published, with its date. Yields are quoted in percent per year.
The Canada 5-year is the featured line because it is the benchmark for Canadian fixed-rate mortgages. The Canada 10-year and the U.S. 10-year sit beside it for the longer end of each market.
| Week ending | Canada 5-yr | Canada 10-yr | U.S. 5-yr | U.S. 10-yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.53% | 3.83% | 4.89% | 5.09% | |
| 3.54% | 3.86% | 5.02% | 5.24% | |
| 3.60% | 3.93% | 5.06% | 5.28% | |
| 3.65% | 3.94% | 4.98% | 5.17% | |
| 3.59% | 3.87% | 4.86% | 5.01% | |
| 3.65% | 3.95% | 4.78% | 4.96% | |
| 3.40% | 3.77% | 4.54% | 4.78% | |
| 3.34% | 3.73% | 4.48% | 4.73% | |
| 3.36% | 3.76% | 4.43% | 4.74% | |
| 3.28% | 3.68% | 4.36% | 4.68% | |
| 3.26% | 3.64% | 4.35% | 4.65% | |
| 3.27% | 3.65% | 4.45% | 4.75% | |
| 3.22% | 3.60% | 4.43% | 4.69% | |
| 3.18% | 3.56% | 4.28% | 4.55% | |
| 3.13% | 3.51% | 4.30% | 4.56% | |
| 3.06% | 3.45% | 4.23% | 4.49% | |
| 3.02% | 3.39% | 4.12% | 4.38% | |
| 3.04% | 3.39% | 4.23% | 4.46% | |
| 3.04% | 3.40% | 4.21% | 4.48% | |
| 3.14% | 3.48% | 4.29% | 4.55% | |
| 3.05% | 3.41% | 4.13% | 4.45% | |
| 3.20% | 3.53% | 4.27% | 4.56% | |
| 3.36% | 3.70% | 4.26% | 4.59% | |
| 3.12% | 3.47% | 4.02% | 4.38% | |
| 3.18% | 3.53% | 4.02% | 4.39% | |
| 3.07% | 3.46% | 3.92% | 4.31% |
Each figure is the last reading published in that Monday-to-Friday week; weeks are labelled by their Friday. In the latest week the Canadian readings are from October 15, 2026 and the U.S. readings from October 16, 2026. The full weekly series since 2021 is in bond-yields.json.
When the Government of Canada borrows for a fixed term, it issues a bond. The Department of Finance Canada describes the payments plainly: a Government of Canada bond “pays one-half of its coupon rate times its principal value every six months up to and including the maturity date,” and the principal is repaid at maturity.
The yield is what that bond earns an investor who buys it at today’s market price. In the Department’s words, “the quoted yield is the yield necessary to make the present value of the bond’s cash flow equal to the current market price.” The U.S. Treasury puts it more simply: the yield to maturity “is the annual rate of return on the security.”
Price and yield move in opposite directions. The Treasury’s own pricing guide shows that when a security’s yield is higher than the interest rate it pays, its price is below par, and when the yield is lower, the price is above par.
The lines on this page are benchmarks. The Bank of Canada’s are “based on mid-market closing yields of selected Government of Canada bond issues that mature approximately in the indicated terms.” The U.S. Treasury’s par yield curve “is based on the closing market bid prices on the most recently auctioned Treasury securities.”
A lender earns its margin on the gap between what it charges and what it pays for the money. The Bank of Canada’s explainer is direct: the lender’s funding cost “makes up most of the interest rate on your mortgage,” ahead of the lender’s operating costs and the risk that a loan is not repaid.
“Canadian fixed-rate mortgages are generally benchmarked off 5-year government bond yields,” Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said in November 2024. Long-term government bond yields, Bank of Canada researchers wrote in March 2026, play “a crucial role in the economy by directly influencing the interest rates charged on mortgages and business loans.”
Changes in the Bank of Canada’s policy rate “lead to similar changes in short-term interest rates,” including “the prime rate, which is used by the banks as a basis for pricing variable-rate mortgages.” Each institution sets its own prime “as a function of its cost of funding,” which is influenced by the Bank’s target for the overnight rate. A variable-rate offer, FCAC notes, is often prime plus a percentage.
The two can part company. In the Bank’s words, “The Bank of Canada doesn’t set mortgage rates. But it does have some impact on them,” and a policy-rate change “can also affect long-term interest rates, especially if people expect that change to be long-lasting.” Bank of Canada researchers also note that since September 2024, yields on long-term government bonds “have remained elevated even as central banks reduced their policy interest rates,” in part because of a higher term premium: the extra compensation investors demand for locking into a long-term bond.
The money banks lend comes from depositors and investors “both here in Canada and in other countries,” the Bank of Canada notes, and “many Canadian banks borrow money in other countries, particularly the United States.” The world’s financial markets are interconnected, and “interest rates in Canada respond to what happens elsewhere.” The Bank’s example: foreign interest rates fell during 2019, and rates for Canadian five-year fixed mortgages “dropped in response.”
The bond markets move together as well. Bank of Canada researchers wrote in March 2026 that “Canadian long-term government bond yields tend to closely track movements in US Treasury yields,” and a 2018 staff note found that U.S. economic news “still accounts for a larger share of the daily variations in Canadian bond yields than Canadian macro news does.”
One difference to keep in mind when reading the chart: the U.S. benchmark for fixed-rate mortgages is the 10-year Treasury, while Canada’s is the 5-year (Rogers, November 2024). That is why the chart carries the U.S. 10-year; the U.S. 5-year is in the latest readings and the table.
This page does not forecast yields or rates, and nothing on it is a rate quote. What the chart shows is which market a rate is built on. A fixed rate “stays the same for your entire term,” in FCAC’s words; a variable rate “can increase and decrease during your term.” Fixing has a price, as the Bank of Canada puts it: “If you are more comfortable with having your rate fixed for as long as possible, prepare to pay a premium for that peace of mind.”
“Part of your interest rate is fixed and the other is variable.” Each portion may have different terms, which FCAC says can make a hybrid harder to transfer to another lender.
The lists are drawn from FCAC’s page on mortgage interest. Its test for any client: “Consider if you’re comfortable with the possibility of interest rates increasing. Determine if your budget could handle higher payments.”
No. In its own words, “The Bank of Canada doesn’t set mortgage rates. But it does have some impact on them.” Its policy rate moves short-term rates such as prime, which banks use to price variable-rate mortgages. Fixed rates are generally benchmarked off five-year Government of Canada bond yields, which a policy-rate change can also move, especially if people expect the change to be long-lasting.
The Government of Canada five-year. Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said in November 2024 that “Canadian fixed-rate mortgages are generally benchmarked off 5-year government bond yields, whereas the US benchmark is the 10-year Treasury.”
Because they are built on bond yields, not on the policy rate. Bank of Canada researchers wrote in March 2026 that since September 2024, yields on long-term government bonds have remained elevated even as central banks reduced their policy interest rates, partly because investors are demanding a larger term premium for locking into long-term bonds.
Many Canadian banks borrow in other countries, particularly the United States, and Bank of Canada researchers say Canadian long-term government bond yields tend to closely track U.S. Treasury yields. Its researchers have also found that U.S. economic news accounts for a larger share of the daily moves in Canadian bond yields than Canadian news does.
FCAC’s guidance is to start shopping around a few months before the end of the term and not to wait for the lender’s renewal letter. A federally regulated lender must send a renewal statement at least 21 days before the term ends, and if the borrower does nothing, the renewal may be automatic.
No. It reports yields and rates as the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Treasury publish them, each with its date, and explains how lenders use them. It makes no forecast and quotes no mortgage rate; rates are priced per file.
Every explanatory statement above comes from one of these primary sources, each read on October 18, 2026. The quotations are theirs.
This page reports published figures and the issuers’ own explanations. It does not forecast, and it quotes no mortgage rate: every file is priced on its own, fixed and variable side by side, before anything is recommended.
If a client’s term ends in the next few months, or a purchase is coming, price it against the market now, fixed and variable side by side, before the lender’s letter decides it.
Arrange a confidential introductionRamin Hallaji, Principal, licensed in British Columbia (BCFSA) and Alberta (RECA) — a private-client desk of Mortgage Guru Financial, Dominion Lending Centres Group · 778-879-6768 · ramin@privatewealthfinancing.ca · Legal & licensing · Privacy policy
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Information, not advice, and not an offer of financing. Bond yields, the prime rate and the policy rate are shown as the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Treasury publish them, on the dates shown; they are not mortgage rates, and nothing here forecasts them. Rates and terms are confirmed per file and change without notice. Private Wealth Financing arranges mortgage financing only.