Find people the right mortgage from dozens of lenders. A short course to get licensed, then your pay is commission.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$66,000
First years
$44,000
Established broker
$112,000
Job Bank pools this job under Mortgage Officer, which includes salaried mortgage specialists at banks. Its national median is $31.88 an hour, about $66,000 a year full time. Independent brokers are paid commission per closed mortgage, so a slow first year can land below this range and a strong year well above it.
$40,000 to $50,000
First year as a licensed agent, mostly commission; some first years are lower
Many new agents keep another job for the first year. Salaried mortgage specialist jobs at banks start around this level with a base salary and targets.
$100,000 to $200,000+
Steady referrals from realtors and past clients, or brokerage owner
Commission is a percentage of the mortgage amount, paid by the lender. Expensive markets like Toronto and Vancouver pay more per deal, and a slow housing market cuts everyone's income.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
This is the cheapest licensed financial job on the site. The low end is the provincial licensing course at about 400, the exam written in person at no charge, and the first licence fee to the regulator. The high end adds the online exam booking fee, the later level two and broker courses, and a share of errors and omissions insurance where the brokerage does not cover it. The real cost is not the fees, it is the months of very low income while you build a client base.
The cheapest licensed financial job on this site. The real cost is the months of low income while you find your first clients.
Lender commission
A finder's fee from the bank or lender on each mortgage you place.
Brokerage split
Your brokerage keeps a share of each commission, less as you produce more.
Renewals and referrals
Past clients come back every few years and send friends.
Salary plus bonus
Mortgage specialists employed by banks.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
No degree needed. A course, an exam, a brokerage to sponsor you, then years of building a name.
High school
Grade 12
Math, business, English and any sales experience. You must be an adult to hold a licence.
Licensing course
Weeks to a few months
In Ontario, the Level 1 mortgage agent course: about 40 hours online, a 50-question multiple-choice exam, 60% to pass. Other provinces have their own course.
Get sponsored and licensed
Weeks
A licensed brokerage must take you on before the regulator issues your licence. Background and credit checks apply.
Work as an agent
2 to 3 years
Find clients, gather documents, submit applications to lenders, get deals closed.
Level 2 and broker licence
After about 2 years
More courses plus experience as an agent. A broker can run a brokerage and supervise agents.
Math
Interest rates, amortization, debt ratios.
Business
Marketing yourself is half the job.
English
Explaining a 30-page mortgage document in plain words.
Any sales job
Retail or phone sales teach you the rejection part early.
Each province licenses mortgage brokers and agents through its own regulator: FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario) in Ontario, the BC Financial Services Authority in BC, RECA (Real Estate Council of Alberta) in Alberta, and the AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers) in Quebec. Licences do not transfer automatically; moving provinces usually means another course. Bank employees who arrange mortgages are exempt because banks are federally regulated, which is why bank mortgage specialists are not called brokers.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Broker licence
Supervise agents, open your own brokerage, keep the whole commission.
Level 2 in Ontario
Opens up more lender types, including private lenders, and more complex deals.
AMPC (Accredited Mortgage Professional of Canada)
The industry designation from Mortgage Professionals Canada.
Commercial mortgages
Apartment buildings, plazas, farms. Fewer deals, much bigger cheques.
Real estate agent connections
Realtors send most first-time buyers to a broker.
A second language
Newcomer communities are a huge share of first-time buyers.
Social media
Many young brokers build their client base on video.
A driver's licence
You meet clients where they are, often in the evening.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Morning: chase documents from three clients (pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements) and push two files through lender approvals. Midday: coffee with a realtor who sends you buyers, or a video call with a young couple who found you online. Afternoon: compare rates across lenders, structure a deal for a self-employed client the bank turned down, and explain the options in plain language. Evenings and weekends: more client meetings, because buyers work during the day.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Ontario's mortgage agent Level 1 exam is 50 multiple-choice questions and the pass mark is 60%. The course behind it takes about 40 hours. Few licensed financial jobs have a shorter door.
Job Bank counted about 61,300 mortgage officers and brokers in 2023, and only 26% were aged 50 or over, one of the youngest workforces in finance.
Mortgage Professionals Canada represents more than 15,000 mortgage professionals and runs the licensing courses in most provinces, plus the AMPC (Accredited Mortgage Professional of Canada) designation.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.