The commenter didn't explain Canadian mortgages well I think. They aren't really balloon payments. At the end of the 5 year term I'm not obligated to make a gia

The commenter didn't explain Canadian mortgages well I think. They aren't really balloon payments. At the end of the 5 year term I'm not obligated to make a giant payment, it's just my interest rate automatically converts to the banks posted rate for a open floating mortgage. At that time I'm free to negotiate a new rate, or take my contract to another lender. If I got the same rate every 5 years the payment schedule would be the same as a 25 year fixed mortgage in the US at the same rate.