Mortgage strategy
questions, answered.

No. Borrowing to invest magnifies both gains and losses, and investments can decline in value while the borrowing costs continue. Leveraged strategies tend to suit households with meaningful equity, stable cash flow, a long horizon and genuine comfort with risk — and even then, suitability depends on individual circumstances. Many homeowners are better served by a simpler move, or by leaving the mortgage alone, and an honest review will say so plainly.

The CRA does not pre-approve financial strategies. Approaches like the re-borrow-and-invest strategy and cash damming rely on ordinary provisions of the Income Tax Act — chiefly interest deductibility under paragraph 20(1)(c), explained in CRA Folio S3-F6-C1. Deductions hold up when borrowed funds are used for an eligible income-earning purpose and are traceable through clean records; they can be denied when documentation fails. Confirm your own situation with your tax professional.

On a standard residential mortgage arranged through a bank, credit union or other qualified institutional lender, the mortgage agent is typically paid a commission by the lender after the mortgage closes — so in most cases the borrower pays the agent nothing directly. If a fee ever applied in a particular situation, it would be disclosed clearly in writing before you committed to anything. The Mortgage Wealth Review™ itself is free, with no obligation.

In Ontario, mortgage agents and mortgage brokers are both licensed by FSRA and arrange mortgages through a licensed brokerage; a broker holds a further licence level and may supervise agents. Mike Laracy is a Mortgage Agent Level 1 with Evolv Mortgage Group. A bank’s mortgage specialist is an employee of one lender, offers that lender’s products only, and is generally not licensed under FSRA’s mortgage brokering rules. Agents and brokers arrange mortgages across banks, credit unions and other qualified institutional lenders.

As of December 2024, federal rules set the minimum down payment at 5 per cent on the first $500,000 of a home’s purchase price, plus 10 per cent on any portion between $500,000 and $1,499,999, per the Department of Finance’s mortgage reforms. Homes priced at $1,500,000 or more require at least 20 per cent down, since mortgage default insurance isn’t available above that threshold. Actual qualification still depends on income, debt and credit.

Mortgage default insurance — commonly called CMHC insurance, after Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, one of a few approved insurers — is generally required whenever a down payment is less than 20 per cent of an eligible home’s purchase price. The premium is calculated as a percentage of the mortgage and is typically added to the loan itself rather than paid upfront. It protects the lender, not the homeowner, and CMHC publishes current premium rates on its own site.

The mortgage stress test — formally the Minimum Qualifying Rate under OSFI’s Guideline B-20 — requires federally regulated lenders to confirm you could still afford your mortgage at a higher rate than you’ll actually pay. For uninsured mortgages the qualifying rate is the greater of your contract rate plus a buffer set by the Superintendent, or a floor rate also set by the Superintendent, and OSFI reviews both at least annually. It exists so borrowers can absorb a rate increase or income shock, not to make borrowing harder for its own sake. Your lender will confirm the current figures.

Yes. Since December 15, 2024, first-time home buyers — and buyers of any newly built home — can amortize an insured mortgage over 30 years instead of the standard 25, under federal mortgage reforms from the Department of Finance. A longer amortization lowers the monthly payment but increases the total interest paid over the life of the mortgage, so it’s a trade-off worth reviewing rather than an automatic win.

A First Home Savings Account lets an eligible first-time buyer contribute up to $8,000 a year, to a lifetime maximum of $40,000, with contributions generally tax-deductible and growth inside the account tax-free — combining features of an RRSP and a TFSA for one purpose. Funds used toward a qualifying first home are never taxed on withdrawal. It’s a Canada Revenue Agency program, not a mortgage product, and works alongside a mortgage rather than instead of one.

The Home Buyers’ Plan lets an eligible first-time buyer withdraw up to $60,000 from their RRSP — increased from $35,000 in April 2024 — tax-free at the time, toward a home purchase, with two eligible buyers able to combine withdrawals up to $120,000. The amount generally must be repaid to the RRSP over 15 years, starting the second year after the withdrawal, or the unpaid portion becomes taxable income. It’s a Canada Revenue Agency program, administered independently of your mortgage.

There’s no single credit score that guarantees or blocks a mortgage — lenders and mortgage insurers weigh credit history alongside income, existing debt, down payment and the property itself, and each institution sets its own thresholds. A stronger score generally opens up more lenders and better terms, while a thinner or bruised credit history narrows the field rather than closing it outright. The only way to know where you actually stand is to have your file reviewed.

Yes. Self-employed borrowers qualify for mortgages through Canada’s banks and credit unions every day, typically using two to three years of Notices of Assessment, financial statements or a similar income-verification method each lender accepts. The paperwork is heavier than for a salaried employee, and how income is structured for tax purposes can matter — exactly the kind of detail a review with a tax-trained mortgage agent tends to catch early.

A renewal happens at the end of your existing term: you sign a new term, usually with the same lender, on the same outstanding balance, and most federally regulated lenders don’t require you to requalify. A refinance replaces your existing mortgage before or at renewal — often to access equity, change the amortization or switch lenders — and does require requalifying, and may involve a break penalty if done mid-term. Renewal is a decision point; refinancing is a restructuring.

If your mortgage is with a federally regulated lender — most banks — that lender must send a renewal statement at least 21 days before your term ends, and must tell you within that same window if they won’t be renewing you at all, under rules set by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Credit unions and provincially regulated lenders aren’t bound by that federal timeline, so notice periods can differ — worth confirming directly with yours.

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) is revolving credit secured against your home, where you draw, repay and redraw funds as needed and pay interest only on what’s outstanding — unlike a mortgage, a fixed loan repaid on a set amortization schedule. On a refinance, most federally regulated lenders cap total borrowing secured by your home — mortgage plus any HELOC — at 80 per cent of its appraised value. A HELOC is often paired with a mortgage inside a single readvanceable product.

As a general rule, federally regulated lenders cap total borrowing secured by your home — your existing mortgage plus any new refinancing or line of credit — at 80 per cent of its appraised value. Subtract what you still owe from that ceiling, and the result is roughly the equity you could put to work, whether that’s a renovation, debt consolidation or a down payment on another property. Actual approval still depends on income, debt and credit.

A fixed rate stays the same for the entire term, so your payment amount is locked in and predictable regardless of what happens in the broader rate environment. A variable rate moves with the lender’s prime rate, meaning the interest portion of your payment — and sometimes the payment itself — can rise or fall during the term. Neither is universally better: the right choice depends on your risk tolerance, cash-flow flexibility and how long you plan to hold the mortgage.

Porting lets you transfer your existing mortgage — its rate, remaining term and balance — onto a new property when you move, instead of breaking it and paying a penalty. Not every mortgage is portable, porting usually needs to happen within a set window around the sale and purchase closing dates, and the new property still has to qualify. Where a port isn’t available or doesn’t cover the full new purchase price, a blended rate or additional financing fills the gap.

Past credit issues don’t automatically rule out a mortgage through an institutional lender — banks and credit unions look at the full picture, including how long ago the issue occurred, what’s happened since, income, debt and down payment. In some cases, waiting and rebuilding credit for a period genuinely improves the outcome; in others, the file already qualifies. The only way to know which situation applies is a real review, not a guess based on the score alone.

A mortgage pre-approval can often be turned around within a few business days once the required documents are in, while full approval on an accepted offer depends on the lender, the property — including any appraisal — and how quickly conditions are satisfied, commonly one to three weeks, sometimes faster or slower. Complex files — self-employment, multiple properties, tight closing dates — take longer, so starting early is the biggest lever a homeowner actually controls.