Wealth Sandbox

APR Calculator

The APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the true cost of borrowing per year, including interest and fees. Lenders often quote a lower "stated" rate but add origination or processing fees, which makes the real cost higher. Enter your loan amount, stated rate, term, and any one-time fees to see your effective APR and total cost of credit so you can compare offers fairly.

Display currency
🇨🇦 CAD

Inputs

%
years
months
Monthly
Monthly (APR)

Results

Effective APR8.86%
Stated rate8.00%
Payment per periodCA$507
Total cost of credit (interest + fees)CA$5,915

Principal, interest & fees

CA$30,915
  • PrincipalCA$25,000 (81%)
  • InterestCA$5,415 (18%)
  • FeesCA$500 (2%)

For illustration only. APR reflects the total cost of credit including fees. This calculator does not constitute financial advice. Consult a qualified advisor for your situation.


About this calculator

This tool is for borrowers who want to understand the real cost of a loan when fees are involved. Whether you are comparing personal loans, auto loans, or other financing, the stated interest rate alone can be misleading—origination fees, processing fees, or other one-time charges reduce the amount you actually receive and effectively increase your cost.

Use it when you have a loan offer that includes both an interest rate and upfront fees. You will see the effective APR (the rate that reflects the true annual cost), your payment per period, and total cost of credit. In Canada, the calculation follows the actuarial method used by provincial consumer protection laws, so the APR is comparable to what lenders must disclose.

How APR is calculated

APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the total cost of borrowing per year, including interest and fees. When there are no fees, APR equals the stated interest rate. When lenders charge origination, processing, or other one-time fees, you receive less than the loan amount, so the effective cost is higher—the APR reflects that.

In Canada, provinces use the actuarial method: we find the rate at which the present value of all your payments equals the amount you actually receive (principal minus fees). That periodic rate is then annualized to get the APR. For more detail, see TaxTips.ca – Calculating APR.

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