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Canada Loan / EMI Calculator

Estimate the monthly payment on a Canadian car loan, personal loan or line of credit in CAD, with the total interest and total cost over the term.

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Monthly payment
$400.76
Total interest
$4,045.54
Total paid
$24,045.54

How it works

The Canada edition of the loan calculator. It computes the fixed monthly payment on an amortizing loan — a car loan, a personal loan, a consolidation loan, or any borrowing repaid in equal monthly instalments. Enter the amount financed in Canadian dollars, the annual interest rate and the term in years, and you get the monthly payment, the total interest and the total paid by the end of the term. Interest here is compounded monthly, which matters in Canada more than most places, for the reason below.

The formula is payment = P × r × (1 + r)ⁿ / ((1 + r)ⁿ − 1), where P is the amount financed, r is the monthly rate (annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100) and n is the number of monthly payments. Each payment covers the interest accrued on the outstanding balance first, with the rest reducing principal, so the payment is level while the principal share grows every month. A 0% promotion is handled as amount ÷ months.

Worked example at a hypothetical 8.4%: finance $34,000 over 72 months. The payment is $602.79 a month, the total paid is $43,401.07 and the interest is $9,401.07. Write the same loan over 60 months and the payment rises to $695.92 — $93.13 more each month — but the interest falls to $7,755.47, saving $1,645.60. Seven years of payments on a depreciating vehicle is the other half of that trade-off.

A Canadian-specific warning about rates. Interest on a fixed-rate Canadian mortgage is conventionally compounded semi-annually, not monthly, so a posted mortgage rate is not directly comparable to the monthly-compounded arithmetic used here — pasting one in overstates the payment slightly. That convention is specific to fixed-rate mortgages, so for a car or personal loan it is worth asking the lender how interest is compounded before you compare quotes. For property borrowing use the Canada mortgage calculator, where the semi-annual convention and the five-year renewal cycle are explained.

On the amount to enter: sales tax is charged on the purchase, not on the loan, but it is usually financed with it — 5% GST federally, HST in the provinces that combine the two, or GST plus a provincial sales tax elsewhere — so include it if it is going into the amount borrowed. Also note that a home purchase, unlike a car, is qualified against a federal stress test, so affordability there is not simply the payment this tool prints. Administration fees, lender-arranged insurance and late charges are excluded; the result is principal and interest only. These are estimates for planning — confirm the numbers with your lender or a qualified adviser.

Other regions: United States, United Kingdom, Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Does this use the Canadian semi-annual compounding convention?
No — it compounds monthly. The semi-annual convention applies to fixed-rate Canadian mortgages, so entering a posted mortgage rate here gives a slightly higher payment than a Canadian lender would charge. For a car or personal loan, ask your lender how interest is compounded before comparing quotes.
Should GST, HST or PST be part of the amount I enter?
Include it if you are financing it. Sales tax applies to the purchase — 5% GST federally, HST where the federal and provincial taxes are combined, or GST plus PST in other provinces — and when it is rolled into a car loan it forms part of the principal you pay interest on.
How much does a 72-month car loan add in interest?
On $34,000 at a hypothetical 8.4%, six years costs $602.79 a month with $9,401.07 of interest, while five years costs $695.92 a month with $7,755.47. The longer term saves $93.13 a month and costs $1,645.60 more overall.
Can I use it for a home equity line of credit?
Only for the repayment phase, and only roughly. A line of credit is revolving with a variable rate, so there is no fixed balance or term while you can still draw on it. Once it converts to a fixed repayment schedule, the amortizing arithmetic here applies.
Is the mortgage stress test relevant to a car loan?
No — the federal stress test applies when you qualify for a mortgage, not to car or personal loans. It does mean that for a home purchase your borrowing capacity is set by the qualifying rules rather than by the payment shown on a calculator.
Are fees and insurance included?
No. The result is principal and interest only, so administration and registration fees, dealer-arranged insurance products and any late charges come on top of the total shown.
Is my information uploaded anywhere?
No — everything is calculated in your browser and nothing you type is transmitted.

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