HELOC calculator
Three numbers every line of credit hides: the room the 65%/80% federal caps actually give you, the payment the bank stress-tests you on (the full limit, not your draw), and what interest-only minimums really cost over a decade.
Your numbers
The trap, spelled out
Interest-only minimums never touch the principal — after a decade of them you've paid the "10 years of minimums" figure and still owe every dollar you drew. The clear-it payment is what an honest amortization looks like. If qualifying is the problem rather than the cost, that's the retirement wall: see HELOCs in retirement, and the fallback math in the reverse-mortgage calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How much HELOC room can I get?
Two federal caps decide it, and the lower one wins. The revolving line itself can't exceed 65% of your home's value, and the line plus your mortgage can't exceed 80%. With a big mortgage the 80% combined cap binds; once the mortgage is mostly paid, the 65% line cap takes over. Readvanceable products (Scotia STEP, TD FlexLine, RBC Homeline, BMO ReadiLine) automate exactly this: as the mortgage shrinks, line room grows along the same caps.
Do I have to pass the stress test for a HELOC?
Yes — FCAC states it plainly: you "must also pass a 'stress test' to qualify for a HELOC at a bank," at the greater of your rate + 2% or 5.25%, and lenders test your income against the full limit, not what you plan to draw (CMHC's debt-service treatment amortizes secured lines over 25 years). This is the wall retirees hit: home equity is abundant, qualifying income is gone. The honest move is securing the line before retiring — the full argument is in HELOCs in retirement.
What is the interest-only trap?
A HELOC's minimum payment is usually interest only — which means the balance never shrinks by default. Ten years of minimum payments on a $100,000 draw at 5.45% costs about $54,500 in interest and leaves you owing the same $100,000. The calculator shows both that number and the payment that would actually clear the draw in ten years. A line of credit is a tool with no built-in exit; you are the amortization schedule.
HELOC or reverse mortgage?
If you can qualify, the HELOC is roughly a point cheaper (5.45–5.95% posted vs 6.44–6.64% reverse-mortgage fixed at our last verification) and far more flexible. The reverse mortgage exists for exactly one situation: you can't pass the income test and you're 55+. It needs no income qualification and no payments — at the price of compounding, which our reverse-mortgage calculator draws year by year. Price the HELOC first; fall back deliberately.
Does an unused HELOC cost anything?
No interest accrues on undrawn room, and most lines have no standing fee — an opened-but-unused HELOC is cheap insurance. The costs are indirect: the limit counts against you when qualifying for other borrowing (lenders test the limit, not the balance), and a secured line usually means a collateral charge on the home, which adds friction when switching mortgage lenders later. Both are prices worth knowing rather than reasons not to open one.
Educational tool, not financial advice or a credit offer. Caps per OSFI B-20 / FCAC (65% revolving, 80% combined); stress-test rule per FCAC and OSFI's minimum qualifying rate. Prime rate pulled from the Bank of Canada at every build (4.45% as of this one); HELOC spreads from our June 11, 2026 lender verification. Lender qualification math varies — some test amortizing payments on the full limit, which is stricter than the interest-only figure shown.