Mortgage Blog
Clarity. Confidence. A Mortgage That Works for You.
Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster: How Accelerated Bi-Weekly Payments Work
September 28, 2026 | Posted by: Daryl Johnson
Here is a simple trick that can shave years off your mortgage. It is called accelerated bi-weekly payments, and a lot of homeowners have never heard of it.
How it works
With monthly payments, you make 12 payments a year. With accelerated bi-weekly, you pay half your monthly payment every two weeks. That gives you 26 half-payments a year, which equals 13 full monthly payments instead of 12.
That one extra monthly payment per year goes straight against your principal. And principal paid early is interest you never pay.
What it looks like in real numbers
Take a $500,000 mortgage at 5.00% with a 25-year amortization (Canadian semi-annual compounding):
- Monthly payments: $2,908.02 per month. Total interest over the life of the mortgage: about $372,407.
- Accelerated bi-weekly: $1,454.01 every two weeks. Mortgage paid off in about 21.5 years. Total interest: about $311,972.
The difference: roughly $60,436 less interest and 3.5 years shaved off the mortgage. Same mortgage, same rate, just a different payment schedule.
The honest fine print
Accelerated bi-weekly is not free money. You are paying roughly one extra monthly payment per year, so your budget has to handle it. If money is tight right now, regular monthly payments are perfectly fine. This is a strategy for people with room in the budget who want to kill the mortgage faster.
Also note: this is different from regular bi-weekly payments, which just split the monthly amount in two without the extra payment. Make sure your lender sets it up as accelerated.
Is it right for you?
If you get paid every two weeks, accelerated bi-weekly lines up naturally with your paycheque and you barely feel the extra payment. If your income is variable or seasonal, like a lot of folks in Grey Bruce, we should talk through whether the higher payment rhythm fits before you commit.
Small changes in how you pay can mean tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage. Want to see what it looks like on your numbers? Send me a message and I will run it for you.
Daryl Johnson, Mortgage Agent Level 2 | Mortgage Architects | September 2026
Example assumes a $500,000 mortgage at 5.00% nominal interest compounded semi-annually, 25-year amortization. Actual results vary with your rate, balance, and lender terms.