Personal Finance Canada

You can still shop around - find a mortgage broker and see if you can get a slightly better rate, although it will be tough.

If affordability is an issue for you, your only solution is to earn more money. Ask for a (substantial) raise at work, citing cost-of-living increases. It helps to know how your company is doing financially. I had a customer ask me to cut my rates 10%, and I sent them a link to their annual report that said they were earning double-digit-millions, and had increased shareholder distributions -- they never wrote back. I feel bad for the people who took a pay cut for literally no good reason.

If they won't play ball with an immediate increase to your salary, then your only solution is to change jobs. It may be uncomfortable, but there is a shortage in qualified workers, and if you have good skills you shouldn't have any problem getting a 20-25% increase (or even higher).

Finally, once you get a new job that earns you 20% more, keep looking. You might be able to get another 15-20% raise by moving somewhere else after as little as 6 months in your current job.