Mortgage discharge fees: the three layers of the bill, and the cap almost nobody knows

Mortgage discharge fees in Canada, layer by layer

* Market ranges read on 2026-08-12 from the fee schedules published by the major institutions — every lender publishes its own; check yours (the exact figure also appears on your payout statement). Statutory exception: in British Columbia, the credit grantor cannot charge more than $75 to prepare the release (Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act — source: Consumer Protection BC).

Discharge, release, radiation: the same act, and who pays for it

Paying off the loan does not erase the mortgage: until the discharge (release, radiation in Quebec) is registered at the land registry, your title stays encumbered — the kind of surprise that resurfaces years later, at resale, when the lawyer finds a never-registered discharge on a loan long since paid. The trio never changes: the lender produces the document (and bills its fee), the land registry registers it (and bills its tariff), and a lawyer or notary orchestrates when the law or the transaction requires it.

Who pays depends on context. On a sale: the seller — one of the line items in their net proceeds. On a renewal with a new lender: the old lender's discharge fee is one of the few real costs of switching — and the new lender often absorbs it to win your file: get that in writing before signing (our renewal dossier details the manoeuvre). On the final payment: you — and nobody will remind you to do it.

What the discharge is not: the penalty

The discharge fee is an administrative charge, owed even when the loan reaches its normal term. The prepayment penalty is something else entirely: the lender's compensation when you break the loan BEFORE term — three months' interest or the rate differential, often thousands of dollars. On a payout statement the two lines sit side by side and get confused; they share neither cause nor magnitude. The full penalty math is in our mortgage penalty dossier.

One last useful reflex: once the discharge is registered, check the registry — title searches are public in every province. It is the same logic as everywhere on Payotte: take nobody's word for it, not even your bank's; the registry tells the truth.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Consumer Protection BC — $75 cap on preparing the release (Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act)
• LTSA (British Columbia) — official registration fees
• Ontario — official Discharge of Charge/Mortgage form and registry filing
• Lender fees — fee schedules published by each institution (range read on 2026-08-12: ≈ $200 – $400 at the big banks)