Ontario Mortgage Answers
Straight answers to the mortgage questions Ontario homeowners actually ask. One question, one page. No forms to fill in first, no email required to read anything, and no pretending every answer is good news.
How this library works. Every page answers one question directly in the first few lines. Underneath, you get the reasoning, an Ontario example with real numbers, and — the part most sites leave out — when this is the wrong move for you.
Start where your situation is
First-Time Buyers
Why the approval is smaller than the calculator said, what a car payment really costs you, and why the down payment isn’t the last cheque you write.
Open the First-Time Buyer Centre →
A, B & Private Lending
What the different tiers of lender actually are, how they decide, and which one your situation fits. Includes MICs, private lenders, costs, and how you get back to a bank.
Open the A, B & Private Centre →
Credit
What score you need, what happens below 650, what changes at 680, and how to get approved after a consumer proposal or bankruptcy.
Refinancing & Home Equity
How much you can borrow, what it costs, and whether refinancing or a second mortgage is the better structure.
Costs & Fees
Lender fee, broker fee, legal, appraisal, registration — what each one is, who pays it, and why fees can matter more than the rate.
Self-Employed
Why a bank says no when your business is doing well, and how alternative lenders assess income differently.
Open the Self-Employed Centre →
Debt Consolidation & CRA Arrears
Rolling several payments into one, and the tax debt most lenders won’t touch.
Open the Debt Consolidation Centre →
Mortgage Renewal
The letter is designed to be signed in thirty seconds. It’s the one moment you can restructure without a penalty — and the cheapest decision point in the whole mortgage cycle.
Separation & Divorce
Selling is only one option, and often not the best one. A spousal buyout can go to 95% of value rather than the usual 80%.
Open the Separation & Divorce Centre →
New to Canada
You didn’t bring your credit history with you — and there are programmes built for exactly that. As little as 5% down.
Open the New to Canada Centre →
Buying With a Family Member
Gift, co-signer or co-owner — three very different commitments. And a co-signer is not a backup.
Open the Family Purchase Centre →
Rental & Investment Property
Every lender counts rental income differently, and that changes what you qualify for more than the rate does.
New Builds & Pre-Construction
You signed two years ago; the mortgage gets decided this year. What gets re-checked at closing, and the costs resale buyers never meet.
Non-Residents & Foreign Buyers
The federal ban was never the most expensive obstacle. The taxes were — and they aren’t scheduled to disappear.
Open the Non-Residents Centre →
Why these answers are different
They come from files, not from an article. Every answer here is something asked by a real client in Ontario, answered the way it gets answered on the phone.
They tell you when the answer is no. Borrowing the maximum available is often the wrong move. Where that’s true, the page says so.
The numbers are kept current. Lending rules change. Where a page quotes a limit, a threshold or a cost, that figure is held in one place and updated once — so a number you read here is a number that was checked, not one typed in two years ago and forgotten.
Nothing is gated. You can read every answer without giving an email address.
Can’t find your question?
Send it to me. If it’s a question other people are asking, it becomes a page — and you get the answer either way.
Simplify your mortgage search. Before you act, talk to Rajiv first.
General information about Ontario mortgages — not financial, legal or mortgage advice. Options depend on income, credit, equity, property and each lender’s guidelines. Every file is reviewed individually.