How long after discharge before a bank will lend?

Around two years, and the two years have to be spent rebuilding. Lenders want to see at least two active credit products paid on time throughout that period. Two years with no credit at all is not two years of re-established credit.

How do I rebuild credit after a consumer proposal?

Open two active products - a secured credit card and a small instalment loan is the usual pair. They do not need to be large, but they must be real, active and perfectly paid. Never miss a payment, keep utilisation low, and avoid opening and closing accounts.

Answers › Credit & Mortgages

Can I get approved after a consumer proposal or bankruptcy?

Q: Can I get a mortgage after a consumer proposal or bankruptcy in Ontario?

Yes. B and alternative lenders can consider a file right after discharge, with a rate premium. A lenders and banks generally want around two years of re-established credit after discharge, with at least two credit products paid on time throughout. The clock starts at discharge, not at filing.

Answered by Rajiv Verma, Mortgage Broker · Reviewed 13 August 2026 · About a 4 minute read

The direct answer

Yes. How soon depends on which tier of lender. B and alternative lenders can consider a file right after discharge, with a rate premium. A lenders and banks generally want around two years of re-established credit after discharge, with at least two credit products paid on time throughout. The clock starts at discharge, not at filing — so getting the discharge finalised and documented matters more than most people realise.

THE SHORT VERSION

B / alternative lenders: can consider you right after discharge, with a premium
A lenders / banks: generally ~2 years of re-established credit
They want to see at least two credit products, paid on time
The clock runs from discharge — get the paperwork
A private or B mortgage in the meantime is a step, with a plan to move up

What lenders are actually looking for

A proposal or bankruptcy on your record isn’t a permanent bar. What lenders want to know is straightforward: is it finished, and what have you done since?

Is it discharged? An active proposal is a different conversation to a completed one. Get the discharge certificate and keep it — you will be asked for it.

Have you rebuilt? This is the part people underestimate. Coming out of a proposal with no credit at all is not the same as coming out with clean, active credit. A file with two products paid perfectly for two years tells a much better story than a file with nothing on it.

Was it an event or a pattern? One insolvency after a business failure, an illness or a separation reads very differently to a repeated pattern.

The timeline, by tier

Lender	How soon after discharge	What they want to see
Private / MIC	Equity-led — timing matters least	Equity, property, a credible exit
B / alternative	Can consider right after discharge	Discharge documented, income, a premium applies
A lender / bank	Around 2 years	2+ credit products, re-established, paid on time

Rebuilding credit so the two years actually count

Two years of nothing is not two years of re-established credit. This is the most common and most costly misunderstanding, because it means people wait the time without doing the work — and then still don’t qualify.

Get two products open and active. A secured credit card and a small instalment loan is the usual starting pair. It doesn’t need to be large. It needs to be real, active, and perfectly paid.

Never miss a payment. Not once. A single late payment on a rebuilding file undoes months of progress and is very hard to explain away.

Keep utilisation low. Using a small share of a small limit looks far better than running it close.

Leave it alone. Don’t open and close accounts. Steady, boring history is exactly what’s wanted.

If you’re a year post-discharge with no active credit, that’s worth fixing today. Starting now means the clock is actually running. Waiting another year without products open just means you’ll be three years out and still starting from zero.

What if you need a mortgage before the two years are up

That’s what B and private lending is for. It costs more, and it’s a step rather than a destination.

The structure is straightforward: a shorter term at a higher cost while your credit re-establishes, and a plan to move to B or A lending when it has. The mortgage itself, paid on time, becomes part of the rebuilt record.

When waiting is the better answer

When you’re close to the two years and nothing is urgent. A few months of patience can be worth a great deal in rate.

When the rebuild hasn’t started. Borrowing expensively now, with no credit products open, means arriving at renewal in the same position.

When the payment doesn’t work. A file that only survives if nothing goes wrong isn’t a suitable file, and a second insolvency is far harder to come back from than a first.

What to check

Your discharge certificate — have it, and know the date
How many active credit products you currently have
Whether the proposal or bankruptcy is reporting correctly on both Equifax and TransUnion — errors here are common
Whether anything is still showing as active that shouldn’t be
How long until you hit two years from discharge

What to do next

Send me your discharge date and a picture of what credit you have open now. I’ll tell you which tier will look at you today, what it costs, and how far you are from the cheaper option.

This is a common situation and it’s a solvable one. Nobody here is going to make you feel awkward about it.

Talk it through →

Related questions

Answered by Rajiv Verma, Mortgage Broker · Mortgage Architects — FSRA Brokerage Licence #12728 · Licensed in Ontario · Office 289.505.0631 · Direct 647.291.7116

General information about Ontario mortgages — not financial, legal, insolvency or mortgage advice. Speak to your licensed insolvency trustee about your proposal or bankruptcy. Lender guidelines vary and change. Every file is reviewed individually.