Work out your real monthly car payment, including provincial sales tax, your trade-in and the total interest you will actually hand over. Change the term and watch what a longer loan really costs you.
Your payment
$0
per month
Principal vs interest over the full term
You have the payment. Now get the rate.
The number above is only as good as the interest rate you put into it. Creditly compares 35+ Canadian lenders and states that checking will not affect your credit score, so you can replace your guess with a real figure in a couple of minutes.
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission if you apply, at no extra cost to you. Your bank, credit union or the dealership finance desk are also worth a quote, and we earn nothing from those.
How This Auto Loan Calculator Works
It does what a dealership finance desk does, in the order they do it. Your trade-in comes off the price first, which in most provinces also reduces the tax you pay. Sales tax is then applied at your provincial rate. Your down payment and trade-in come off the total, and whatever is left is what you actually finance. The payment is a standard amortising loan calculation, the same maths every Canadian lender uses.
Two things it shows that most calculators hide. Total interest tells you what the loan costs you on top of the car, and the bar underneath splits your payments into principal and interest so you can see the ratio. Stretch a term from 60 to 96 months and watch the payment fall while that red section grows. That is the trade you are actually making.
Why a Longer Term Is Not a Cheaper Car
Long terms are the default sales tool in Canadian auto retail because they make any car look affordable. On a $30,000 loan at 9%, going from 60 to 96 months drops the payment by roughly a third and adds thousands in interest. You also stay in negative equity far longer, meaning you owe more than the car is worth for most of the loan. If you need the longer term to make the payment work, the honest read is usually that the car is too expensive, not that the term is too short.
What Rate Should You Put In?
If you do not know your rate yet, use a realistic placeholder rather than an optimistic one. Strong credit at a bank or through manufacturer financing sits at the low end. Fair credit lands in the middle. If your credit is damaged, non-prime lenders in Canada commonly run from the low teens upward, and the legal ceiling is 35% APR. Our guide to car loans for bad credit breaks the bands down by credit profile.
Then replace the placeholder with a real number. A rate you were quoted beats a rate you assumed, and the gap between the best and worst offer on the same file is routinely several percentage points.
Car Loan, Auto Loan or Car Finance Calculator: Is There a Difference?
No. A car loan calculator, an auto loan calculator, a car payment calculator and a car finance calculator all do the same job: they take an amount, an interest rate and a term, and tell you the repayment. The words are regional and marketing habits, not different products. Canadian banks tend to say auto loan, dealerships tend to say finance, and most people just say car loan.
What does differ is how much each tool shows you. Plenty of them give you a monthly payment and stop there. The one on this page also gives you the provincial sales tax, the total interest over the term, and the split between principal and interest, because those are the numbers that tell you whether a deal is actually good.
Bank Car Loan Calculators: TD, RBC, Scotiabank and CIBC Compared
A lot of people search for a specific bank calculator, so here is the honest state of play. The maths does not change between banks, an amortising loan is an amortising loan, but what each bank publishes about its own lending varies considerably.
| Bank | How you apply | Amount | Term | Rate type | Own calculator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotiabank | Dealership, 4,000+ across Canada | Up to $200,000 | Up to 96 months | Fixed or variable, variable not offered in Quebec | Yes |
| RBC | Dealership, 4,500+, or a personal loan direct from RBC | Not published | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| TD | Dealership via TD Auto Finance, or the TD Wheels app | Not published | Up to 96 months | Fixed or variable | No |
| CIBC | Dealership, 3,200+ across Canada | From $7,500, up to 100% of the vehicle cost | 12 to 96 months | Fixed only | Yes |
Checked against each bank’s own published material in August 2026. Details change, so confirm with the bank before you rely on them.
Three things stand out. None of the big banks publish their auto loan interest rates. Every one of them wants you to apply before you see a number, which is precisely why walking in with a competing quote is worth so much. Most of them do not lend to you directly either, they fund the loan through the dealership finance office, so the person quoting you the rate is the dealer, not the bank. And TD does not publish a car loan calculator at all, which is presumably why so many people go looking for one.
Use the calculator at the top of this page with whichever bank rate you have been quoted. It will give you the same payment figure their tool would, plus the provincial tax and the total interest that most bank calculators leave out.
Car Sales Tax by Province
Tax is the line most people forget, and on a $35,000 car it is the difference between a $4,550 bill in Ontario and $1,750 in Alberta. The calculator applies the right rate automatically once you pick your province.
| Province or territory | Tax on a dealer purchase |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 13% HST |
| British Columbia | 5% GST plus PST that steps up with price, 7% under $55,000 rising to 20% over $150,000 |
| Alberta | 5% GST only |
| Quebec | 5% GST plus 9.975% QST, 14.975% combined |
| Manitoba | 5% GST plus 7% PST |
| Saskatchewan | 5% GST plus 6% PST |
| Nova Scotia | 14% HST, reduced from 15% on 1 April 2025 |
| New Brunswick | 15% HST |
| Prince Edward Island | 15% HST |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 15% HST |
| Yukon, NWT and Nunavut | 5% GST only |
Rates current as at August 2026. These apply to dealer purchases. Private sales are taxed differently in several provinces, and British Columbia in particular charges a higher flat rate on private sales. Zero-emission vehicles follow different BC thresholds.
Car Loan Calculator FAQ
How do I calculate a car payment in Canada?
Does the calculator include sales tax?
Does a trade-in reduce the tax I pay?
What is a good interest rate on a car loan in Canada?
Should I choose biweekly or monthly payments?
How long should my car loan be?
Is the payment the calculator gives me exactly what I will pay?
Before You Sign Anything
Run your numbers here, then get at least two real quotes. Start with your own bank or credit union and the manufacturer financing desk if your credit is decent, since those are usually the cheapest money in the country and we earn nothing from either. If they turn you down, a comparison broker is the efficient next step. Our reviews of Northlake Financial and Canada Drives cover two of the larger non-prime routes, and if inflation is quietly reshaping your budget, our Canadian inflation calculator puts that in perspective.
Disclosure and accuracy note. This calculator is for estimating and general information, not financial advice. Sales tax rates were verified against Canada Revenue Agency and provincial sources in August 2026 and can change. Results exclude dealer fees, warranties, insurance and registration costs. Creditly is an affiliate partner and we may earn a commission if you apply through our link, at no extra cost to you. Always confirm the total cost of borrowing on your actual loan agreement before signing.
