On this page
A credit card statement in one app, a student loan in another, a line of credit whose minimum is just the interest — each page is truthful about that debt. None of them is a payoff plan. The public debt-payoff calculator is the place to put every balance, APR, and minimum on one screen, add an extra payment, and toggle avalanche vs snowball.
That is this walkthrough: the live public tool, field by field. The debt-payoff strategies and avalanche vs snowball notes do the method comparison. The in-app Debt Freedom Planner is a different surface — Advanced only. Core does not list it. This page does not invent an in-app click path.
What you are looking at
The public page is titled Debt payoff calculator. Its job, in the page’s own words: compare avalanche vs snowball on your CAD balances, APRs, and extra payment — months to debt-free and total interest. It is a CAD illustration of the APRs you type in. It is not credit, lending, or financial advice. It ignores fees, due dates, and credit-score effects.
The in-app product is separate. The live homepage names Debt Freedom Planner and asks, in product language, “Avalanche or snowball?” That planner is listed on Advanced. Core does not list it. Founder and Family sit on top of Advanced. Do not treat this public calculator as a screenshot of the planner, and do not treat homepage mock stats as results.
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Field by field on /tools/debt-payoff
The live form starts with two debts (labelled Debt 1 and Debt 2) and lets you add more. Each debt has the same four fields. Copy them from the statement. Do not invent a typical Canadian APR to fill a blank.
| Field on the page | What you type | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Name (optional) | Visa, store card, LOC — whatever you will recognise next month | Lowest-balance order uses the opening balance, not the name. The name is so you can tell the rows apart. |
| Balance ($) | Amount owing today | Size of the debt. Snowball attacks the smallest opening balance first. |
| APR (%) | The rate on the agreement | Avalanche attacks the highest opening APR first. One product can carry more than one rate — pick the one that is actually charging, or split it into two rows. |
| Minimum payment ($) | This cycle’s required payment | Paid every month on every open debt. When a row hits $0, that minimum is freed and rolls to the focus debt. |
| Remove debt | Drops that row | Use it if you added one too many. |
| Add another debt | Opens another Name / Balance / APR / Minimum row | Cards, LOCs, and personal loans can all sit on the same list. |
| Extra monthly payment ($) | Dollars above every minimum | The extra, plus any freed minimums, go to the focus debt. |
| Payoff method | Avalanche or Snowball | Toggle. The page’s own labels: Avalanche — highest APR first, usually less interest. Snowball — smallest balance first, faster first wins. |
| Calculate | Runs the illustration | Months to debt-free and total interest for the method you picked. |
Convention on the live page (quoted from the tool itself): interest is added monthly at APR/12, then you pay every minimum plus any extra. Extra (and freed minimums after a debt is cleared) go to the focus debt. Avalanche attacks highest APR first; snowball attacks smallest opening balance first. Order is not re-sorted each month.
That last sentence matters. If a lower-rate balance later becomes the highest APR because a promo ended, the public calculator will not reshuffle mid-stream. Re-run it with the new APRs.
A line of credit is not a credit card: interest usually starts the day you withdraw, the rate is usually variable, and the minimum is usually the monthly interest. Paying only that interest, FCAC says, means you never pay off the principal. Type the LOC’s actual minimum — if it is interest-only, extra is the only thing that moves principal. Product differences sit in credit card vs line of credit.
Quebec card minimums have been 5% since 1 August 2025. Type the number on this statement, not a rule of thumb. FCAC’s example card rates — 19% on purchases and 22% on cash advances on how credit cards work — are examples, not “the Canadian rate.”
Highest interest first, or lowest balance
The calculator’s toggle is the writer’s names. FCAC’s paying-back-your-debt page does not say avalanche or snowball. It describes two strategies: debts with higher interest rates, or debts with the lowest balance. With either, continue the minimums on all your debts. Consider past-due accounts first.
Highest interest first — extra to the highest rate. FCAC: you will pay less interest, and you will be debt-free sooner. The calculator label: Avalanche.
Lowest balance first — extra to the smallest balance. FCAC: you may see progress quickly, which may help you stay committed; the strategy may cost you more over time. The calculator label: Snowball.
Homepage copy asks the same fork in product language: “Avalanche or snowball?” The official fork is still highest interest versus lowest balance. Read avalanche vs snowball in Canada if you want the comparison at length, including a wider rate-gap case.
Past-due accounts still come first, before either toggle. The public calculator does not have a past-due field. If you are behind, call the lender before you polish the order.
Set extra, keep every minimum
The extra is not a vibe. From a budget, it is leftover after needs and every minimum — budgeting while paying debt is the companion. Type that leftover into Extra monthly payment. If expenses already exceed income, the extra is not there yet. FCAC also says a shorter schedule costs less interest and asks for higher payments, with a real risk of missed payments and credit damage.
Keep the minimum on every debt that is not the target. The calculator does that for you: it pays every minimum, then sends extra (and freed minimums) to the focus debt. Do not pause the other accounts to go faster. The plan fails on the first missed minimum.
If you are already behind, stop and call the lender before you re-run Calculate. FCAC: they may offer a lower rate, more time (which costs more interest), or a consolidation into one loan. Consolidation can save money at a lower rate or cost more over a longer term; if the spending habit stays, you accumulate more debt.
If a plan you can actually fund still does not cover the minimums, talk to a credit counsellor. Simply talking to one will not, by itself, change your credit score. That is help, not a feature of the calculator.
What the public calculator is not
It is not the in-app Debt Freedom Planner. The planner is Advanced. Core does not list it. This walkthrough does not invent a tap path, a “tap Avalanche” in-app step, or a fake in-app screenshot.
It is not tax, legal, or financial advice. The page says so. Confirm figures with the CRA or a qualified advisor before you act.
It does not import balances from a bank connection. Homepage copy markets Canadian bank sync as product direction. That is not the same as this form filling itself in. Bring the four fields yourself.
It does not know due dates, fees, or credit-score effects. The page says it ignores them.
It does not publish a national time-to-debt-free. Neither does FCAC. Months on the results screen are your illustration.
Related on the tool page: once the extra payment is free, a compound-interest tool is linked for “see what it could grow to.” That is a related-tools line, not a debt-payoff result.
Finnomia is personal finance built for Canadians. Start a 30-day free trial — Founder, cancel anytime. For the comparison itself, use the live debt-payoff calculator. The in-app Debt Freedom Planner, if you want the Advanced surface, is on that trial.
The public calculator compares methods from the fields you type. Avalanche and snowball are writer names for FCAC’s highest-interest and lowest-balance pairing; the homepage uses the same words as product language. Confirm every balance, APR, and minimum on your own statements.