The mortgage amortization is an estimate of the total amount of time it takes to pay off your mortgage in full. It is based on the interest rate and the amount of your monthly payment in your current mortgage term. A mortgage term, on the other hand, is the period of time you are contractually bound to a lender and their mortgage conditions. For example, the most common mortgage term in Canada is 5 years. That means you are committed to that lender,  interest rate, payment obligation, and other conditions for 5 year period. The term is simply how long you are stuck with a lender and their rules, not the length of the mortgage itself. The maximum amortization is 30 years for mortgages with a 20% down payment or more, and 25 years for mortgages with less than a 20% down payment.