Article content

Toronto-Dominion Bank has lifted its posted rate for five-year fixed mortgages by 45 basis points to 5.59 per cent as government bond yields touched their highest levels since 2011 this week.

“It’s a big move, the biggest move in years,” said Rob McLister, founder of RateSpy.com, a mortgage comparison website. “There’s a lot of reasons why that could be — maybe they’re taking a position on rates going forward, which is not that typical; maybe they’re trying to get people to lock in and generate better spreads.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Toronto-Dominion Bank lifts mortgage rate in 'biggest move in years,' RBC follows suit Back to video

Meanwhile, Royal Bank spokesman AJ Goodman says the lender plans to raise its posted rate for a five-year fixed mortgage on Monday to 5.34 per cent compared with the 5.14 per cent currently posted.

Toronto-Dominion, Canada’s second-largest lender, lifted its five-year closed rate on Wednesday, along with increases to its two-year, three-year, six-year and seven-year mortgage rates, bank spokeswoman Julie Bellissimo said Thursday in an e-mailed statement.