Ontario is a weekend course and a $941 fee. BC is twenty assignments and one big exam. Alberta is two courses and four exams. Here they are side by side.
Written by A.I.M.I. Collective Mortgage Group, Brokerage editorial team
Published September 2026 · Last reviewed 5 October 2026
Official sources: BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA), Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA), Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
There is no national mortgage licence in Canada. Each province runs its own course, exam and regulator, and the differences are large enough to matter if you are choosing where to start or planning to work in more than one. Figures below are from the providers and regulators as of September 2026 and change; confirm before you pay.
Ontario is the cheapest and fastest: about $400 for a 47 hour course plus a $941 licence. BC sits in the middle at about $2,000 plus licensing fees, and Alberta costs the most at around $4,000 all in. BC and Alberta both take months because of assignments and exams, and no licence transfers between the three provinces.
One course, UBC Sauder's Mortgage Services Licensing Course, $1,500 plus $200 per exam attempt. Twenty assignments within twelve months, one three hour exam, 70 percent to pass. Regulator BCFSA, licence under the Mortgage Services Act from 13 October 2026. Typical time three to twelve months.
Two courses, Fundamentals and Practice of Mortgage Brokerage, about $1,500 each from AMBA or Alberta Real Estate School. Four exams in total, RECA exams around $235 plus GST each, 70 percent to pass. Licence fee $575. Regulator RECA, renewal every 30 September. Typical time three to nine months.
One Level 1 course from four FSRA approved providers, about $360 to $450, around 47 hours, one exam, 60 percent to pass at REMIC. Licence fee $941. Regulator FSRA, two year licence cycle. Typical time one to three months. Level 2 after 12 months for private lending.
In all three provinces your licence is tied to a brokerage. Ontario and Alberta brokerages sponsor the application; BC issues the licence in connection with a brokerage. Choosing that brokerage is the last step of the course and the first decision of your career.
No. Each regulator assesses you separately, and a licence in one province does not let you arrange mortgages on property in another. Experience or education from one province can reduce what a second regulator asks for, but that is decided case by case, so ask the regulator before assuming. Brokers who work across provinces hold separate licences and renew each on its own cycle. Read the full licensing comparison and the province guides for BC, Alberta and Ontario.
The course teaches the rules. It does not teach you how to structure a self employed file, which lender takes a bruised credit refinance, how to build a pipeline before your first pay cheque, or what a normal day looks like. Read a day in the life of a mortgage broker, what the job actually is, the first 90 days plan, and what to look for in your first brokerage.
Leave your name, province and the month you expect to write the exam. We will check in around then, and when you have passed we will walk you through what a brokerage needs from you.
We onboard licensed brokers only, so the licence is yours to earn before we can help with anything else. After that you get weekly lender training, a team chat where new and experienced brokers answer around the clock, and senior brokers who will work your first files alongside you. There is no scripted programme with a guaranteed timeline. There is a room full of people who pick up.
Comparing provinces? See how to become a mortgage broker in Canada: the licence, course and cost in Ontario, BC and Alberta on one page.
Want names and prices side by side? See every mortgage course provider compared for Ontario, BC and Alberta.
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.
What mortgage agent and broker jobs in Canada actually are: commission not salary, licensed through a brokerage, and what to compare before you join one.
REMIC, Mortgage Professionals Canada, CMBA Ontario, Humber, UBC Sauder, AMBA and Alberta Real Estate School compared on price, format and exam rules.
Book a discovery call. We onboard licensed brokers in BC, Alberta and Ontario and will show you exactly what your first 90 days look like here.