Canadian rental property calculator
One place for the numbers that decide a rental: monthly cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return. Enter your price, rent, costs, and mortgage to see all three.
Three numbers here. BrickROI runs the full picture.
Cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash are the quick read. BrickROI runs the rest on your real listing: a 25-year proforma, CMHC and MLI Select paths, DSCR for your lender, and a lender-ready PDF. Paste a Canadian listing and see it in two minutes.
Try a dealPaste a Canadian listing. See the full analysis in two minutes. No signup to try.
How to read a Canadian rental in three numbers
You do not need ten numbers to know if a rental works. You need three. Monthly cash flow tells you if the rent covers the bills with money left over. Cap rate tells you the return as if you paid all cash, so you can compare two properties without the mortgage in the way. Cash-on-cash return tells you what your own money earns in year one, with the mortgage included.
Read together, they catch most bad deals fast. A property with a fine cap rate and negative cash flow is telling you the mortgage is eating the deal. A property with strong cash-on-cash but a thin cap rate is telling you the mortgage is doing the heavy lifting. The numbers only work if the inputs are real.
The Canadian inputs people get wrong
Property tax is the big one. It runs off the municipal mill rate, and the mill rate varies a lot across Canada. Hamilton's rate is higher than Toronto's, so the same rent buys less cash flow there. Insurance, maintenance, management, and a vacancy reserve all belong in the operating expenses. Leave one out and the cash flow looks better than it is.
Before you trust the result
- Use a real mortgage payment with the Canadian compounding rule, not a US calculator's number.
- Set the property tax from the city's actual mill rate, not a flat percentage.
- Include vacancy and management even if you plan to self-manage. Your time has a cost.
Rental property calculator questions
What does a rental property calculator tell me?
It pulls the key numbers into one place: monthly cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return. Together they tell you whether the rent covers the costs and what your money earns. This one uses Canadian inputs like the mill rate and a real mortgage payment.
What is a good cash flow on a Canadian rental?
Outside Toronto and Vancouver, many investors look for positive monthly cash flow plus a cash-on-cash return around 4 to 8%. In the priciest markets, cash flow is often thin or negative because buyers pay for appreciation. The number that matters is the one on your specific deal.
Should I include a vacancy reserve?
Yes. Even a strong rental sits empty between tenants. Many Canadian operators use 5 to 7% of gross rent. A St Catharines investor said on a forum he runs 5 to 7% because his real vacancy runs higher than the average.
Does this replace a full deal analysis?
It gives you the quick read. A full analysis adds CMHC and MLI Select paths, DSCR for your lender, a 25-year proforma, and a lender-ready PDF. BrickROI does that from a pasted Canadian listing in two minutes.