Mortgage rates have begun heading up again at Canada's major banks, reversing two rate cuts made last month.

TD Canada Trust, Royal Bank, CIBC, and Bank of Montreal have all boosted their posted five-year fixed mortgage rates by a fifth of a percentage point to 6.8 per cent.

A four-year fixed mortgage also rises by a fifth of a point to 6.7 per cent.

Smaller increases are being applied to two-year and three-year mortgages. The new rates are effective Tuesday.

The hikes reflect the higher cost of borrowing in the bond market, where banks finance their mortgage lending.

The benchmark yield on a Government of Canada five-year bond was 3.83 per cent on Sept. 25, 2006, according to Bank of Canada figures. By Oct. 20, the yield had risen to 4.08 per cent.