Some Canadian mortgage holders extending amortization periods by more than double: Expert

As Canadians continue to deal with higher borrowing costs, one mortgage expert said some homeowners have been extending their amortization periods to more than double the typical 25 years.

“I’ve had many clients with amortizations, that are 70, 80, even 90 years remaining, in the extreme cases, and that's simply because their payments are not going towards any principle at all,” he said. 

“It's mainly because the payments are strictly just paying interest to the bank, they're not paying down any of the principal payment at all.” 

According to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, longer amortization periods will result in lower payments, however, when a homeowner takes longer to pay off their mortgage, they will pay more in interest.