A YYZ Mortgage Guide · No. 03
Your House, Your Backup Plan
The plain-words HELOC handbook for Ontario homeowners
Who it's for: You've built real equity and you keep hearing 'just get a HELOC' — you want the honest version first.
Download the PDF — 25 pages, 685 KB
Free, no email required. Every figure is sourced, and nothing in it is a sales pitch.
The short version
- A HELOC is revolving credit on your home: mortgage + HELOC ≤ 80% of value, HELOC alone ≤ 65%. Unused room costs $0.
- Lenders qualify you on the full limit under the stress test — a big unused line shrinks what you can borrow elsewhere.
- The interest-only minimum is the trap: pay it forever and the debt never shrinks. Give every draw a payback date, automatically.
- In Canada, interest is deductible only when you borrow to earn income — never for renovations or personal spending.
- A line opened in good times is cheap insurance for bad times — but lenders can freeze it, so keep cash savings too.
Before you download
This guide was checked in August 2026. Program rules and dollar limits change, so the sources are listed at the back of the book and the links there always beat the printed page. All the people and numbers in the examples are illustrative, not actual clients.
The rest of the library
- Keys, Please! — Buying your first home in the GTA, step by step.
- The Big Switch — Selling and buying at once — penalties, porting, bridges, renewals.
- The Family Money Talk — Reverse mortgages, care costs, POAs — for adult kids and their parents.
- Money Smarts, Toronto Edition — The everyday money habits that work in Canada's priciest city.
This content is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Mortgage products are subject to lender approval (OAC). Speak with a licensed mortgage professional about your situation.