Fixed vs variable? 2vs5 yr fixed?

[hannamaren]

We can get a rate of 2.09% for a 2yr fixed or 2.8 fixed 5yr. What do you think 2 vs 5 yr? 

Or do you think variable is better? 

Dont compare your rates unless you live in Ontario, and then I would love to hear good banks. 

[audette]

Mortgages in Canada work very differently than in the US, so there might be limited responses to this. In the US, you generally get a loan to cover the full 15, 20, 30 year term of the mortgage. Sometimes they have adjustable rates, and there are rules on how those can adjust built into the mortgage agreement.

In Canada, (from what I can tell from my parents and siblings confusion when we talked mortgages) you negotiate a mortgage for about 5 years (ish - your message here makes it sounds like you can get a 2 year), with a payoff term of 15, 20 or 30 years, but at the end of those 5 years, you have to get a new mortgage to cover the remaining balance owed on the house. Possibly, you stay with the same lender, maybe you don't, but you renegotiate the rates and terms each time this happens.

So the mortgage work is very different, and there's only a handful of folks on this board in Canada, much less specifically in Ontario like you are asking in your message...

[hannamaren]

Ooops. Had no idea.
Thanks audette.