Twenty seven terms, one or two sentences each, as they are used in BC, Alberta and Ontario.
Written by A.I.M.I. Collective Mortgage Group, Brokerage editorial team
Published September 2026 · Last reviewed 11 September 2026
The words brokers use every day, defined in one or two sentences each. Grouped by licensing, money, and lenders and files. Terms are as used in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
In BC and Alberta, the individual licence held by someone who arranges mortgages. In Ontario it is the senior licence above mortgage agent.
The old BC title under the Mortgage Brokers Act for an individual registered under a brokerage. Replaced by mortgage broker when the Mortgage Services Act takes effect on 13 October 2026.
Alberta's entry licence. Associates work under a brokerage and can upgrade to mortgage broker after two years of licensed experience within the last five.
Ontario's two agent licences. Level 1 works with financial institutions and approved lenders. Level 2 adds private lenders, MICs and syndicates.
The individual with regulatory responsibility for a brokerage. Ontario has always used the term and BC adopts it under the Mortgage Services Act.
The requirement in every province that an individual licence be attached to a licensed brokerage. No sponsor, no licence.
The mortgage regulators for British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario respectively. There is no national mortgage licence.
The commission a lender pays the brokerage when a mortgage funds, commonly 0.5 to 1.2 percent of the mortgage amount.
One hundredth of a percent. A 100 bps finder's fee is 1 percent of the mortgage amount.
How the finder's fee is divided between the brokerage and the broker, written as broker share first, for example 85/15.
Extra basis points a lender pays once a brokerage funds a set volume with it in a year. Often tied to the brokerage's status tier.
A lender model that pays a smaller fee up front and a small annual amount for as long as the client stays with the lender.
A fee charged to the borrower, most often on private and some B lender files where the lender pays little or nothing. Must be disclosed in writing.
A fixed monthly charge from a brokerage for office, technology or administration, payable whether or not you fund a file.
The percentage a franchised brokerage pays its network. Some brokerages deduct it before applying the split.
The tier a brokerage holds with a lender based on volume. Higher status means better turnaround, bonuses and sometimes pricing.
Book a discovery call with our team.
A prime lender such as a bank, credit union or monoline that lends to borrowers who pass the federal stress test with strong credit and documented income.
An alternative lender that accepts lower credit scores, non traditional income or higher debt ratios at a higher rate and often a lender fee.
An individual, MIC or fund lending on equity rather than income. Short terms, higher rates, borrower paid broker fees.
Mortgage investment corporation. A pooled investment vehicle that lends on mortgages and is defined by conditions in the Income Tax Act.
A lender that offers only mortgages, with no branches or deposits, and originates entirely through brokers.
Gross and total debt service ratios. GDS covers housing costs against income, TDS adds all other debt. Lenders cap both.
Loan to value, the mortgage amount divided by the property value. Above 80 percent LTV a residential purchase must be default insured.
The federal qualifying rate rule. Borrowers must qualify at the greater of the contract rate plus 2 percent or the minimum qualifying rate.
The lender's written approval setting out the terms and conditions the borrower must meet before funding.
The day the lender advances the mortgage money. It is also the day the finder's fee is earned.
A.I.M.I. Collective's underwriting service, where a dedicated underwriter structures and places a broker's file for a share of the commission.
Terms we use across the Knowledge hub, the Toolkit and discovery calls. They are our working definitions, not industry standards, and they are here so the numbers in our guides mean the same thing on every page.
Split is the share of each commission the brokerage says you keep. Net is what actually lands in your business after every fee, every tool you pay for, any lead cost and anything the brokerage does not carry that you have to. Two offers ten points apart on split often sit within a few percent on net. Compare net. See net income, not split.
What a broker's past clients are worth each year without a single new lead: renewals per year plus referrals per year, at the average mortgage size, before any split. Estimate it with the book calculator.
The dollar volume of every live file weighted by how far it has moved: enquiry, application, submitted, approved, conditions, funded. The number a broker should be able to say without opening a spreadsheet.
The volume a single referral partner produces in a year. A partner sending ten files a year at the local average is worth more than most advertising budgets, which is why the referral partner playbook is about five partners served well rather than twenty served badly.
The share of a broker's maturing files that renew through the broker rather than through the lender's letter. Renewals belong to whoever calls first, which is why the sequence starts at 180 days. See losing renewals to the bank.
The premium a specialist earns over a generalist on the same hours: larger average files, higher conversion because the file fits, and referrals from partners who send that client type. See become a specialist.
The volume and fee income a broker adds by keeping the commercial files they used to refer away, run through a deal desk on early files. Usually the largest single change to average deal size a residential broker can make. See the commercial pillar.
Self employed, investor, commercial, construction and private files a broker refers out because they do not fit a prime lender. Counting them is the first step to keeping them. See the files you turn away.
The weekly figures a broker should know: lead source, response time, contact rate, application rate, approval rate, funded rate, average mortgage size, revenue per lead and referral source. See the nine numbers.
Where the industry uses a term loosely, we say which meaning we use. Split is the share of a commission you keep; net is what lands in your business after every fee. When we say the portal is included we mean at no cost, and when we say BrokerDam is a member rate we mean it is a separate paid product rather than a bundled CRM.
A.I.M.I. Collective onboards licensed brokers in all three provinces. Start with our step by step licensing guides, then book a call once your licence is issued.