Most mortgage agent and broker jobs in Canada are not salaried jobs. You are licensed through a brokerage, paid commission on funded mortgages, and build your own client base. Here is how the roles work and what to compare.
Written by A.I.M.I. Collective Mortgage Group, Brokerage editorial team
Published October 2026 · Last reviewed 6 October 2026
Official sources: Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA), Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA)
A mortgage agent or broker job in Canada is usually a commission based role with a licensed brokerage, not a salaried position. You need a provincial licence first, the brokerage sponsors that licence, lenders pay a finder's fee when a mortgage funds, and you keep an agreed share. Salaried mortgage roles exist mainly at banks, as mortgage specialists who sell only that bank's products.
Licensed through a brokerage, paid commission, works with many lenders. This is what most mortgage agent job ads mean.
Employed by one bank, often base pay plus commission, and limited to that bank's products.
Underwriters, processors and assistants, salaried and not licensed to advise clients. A common way into the industry.
A brokerage can only take you on once you hold, or are completing, a licence in that province: a mortgage agent licence in Ontario through FSRA, a mortgage licence in British Columbia through BCFSA, or a mortgage associate licence in Alberta through RECA. The course comes first, then the exam, then the brokerage submits or sponsors your application.
That is why job boards fill with listings for licensed agents only. The listing is less a vacancy than an invitation to join a brokerage.
On most prime and B lender files the lender pays the brokerage a finder's fee when the mortgage funds, and you keep your split of it. Private files are paid by a disclosed broker fee from the borrower. There is no pay in the months before your first file funds, which is the part most new agents underestimate. Our guide on how much mortgage brokers make has the numbers.
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A.I.M.I. Collective onboards licensed mortgage agents and brokers in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. We do not hand out leads. We provide the infrastructure: lender access, the Deal Desk, processing, compliance and a portal included at no cost. You build the book.
Upgrade from Level 1 to Level 2 in Ontario: 12 months licensed, the Private Mortgages Course, no FSRA fee, and what Level 2 lets you do.
Step by step: the course, exam and sponsoring brokerage you need to become a mortgage broker in Ontario, BC or Alberta, plus the cost and timeline.
REMIC, Mortgage Professionals Canada, CMBA Ontario, Humber, UBC Sauder, AMBA and Alberta Real Estate School compared on price, format and exam rules.
The difference between a mortgage agent and a mortgage broker in Ontario, BC and Alberta, what Level 1 and Level 2 agents can do, and how to move up.
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