The decision map
Everything a Canadian lender decides about you, in the order it gets decided.
Twelve decisions stand between a first conversation and a funded mortgage. Each one has exactly one guide here — no duplicate pages, no filler. Start at the decision you are actually stuck on.
Start with the core pillar guides
- Mortgage pre-approval in CanadaThe end-to-end explanation of what pre-approval is, what it is not, and how a Canadian lender reaches a number.Read the guide
- How lenders verify incomeHow each income type — salaried, hourly, commission, bonus, contract, self-employed, incorporated, rental, pension — is documented and how much of it counts.Read the guide
- Credit, utilization and lender tiersWhat a Canadian lender reads in a credit file, how utilization and derogatory items are treated, and which lender tier a profile points to.Read the guide
- GDS and TDS debt-service ratiosThe two ratios that set borrowing capacity, worked line by line, including what each monthly debt costs in purchase price.Read the guide
- Down payment sources and the 90-day trailMinimum down payment by price, acceptable sources, the 90-day paper trail, gifts, FHSA and HBP, and insured vs uninsured consequences.Read the guide
- The stress test and qualifying rateWhat the minimum qualifying rate is, when it applies, and how it changes the number you are approved for.Read the guide
- Rate holds, expiry and material changeHow long a pre-approval and its rate hold last, what re-application involves, and which changes invalidate the file.Read the guide
- Accepted offer to firm approvalWhat happens inside the financing condition: property review, appraisal, lender conditions, and how to avoid a collapsed deal.Read the guide
- First-time buyer pathThe programs, incentives and sequencing specific to a first purchase.Read the guide
- Fixed vs variable, term and penaltiesChoosing rate type and term, and pricing the portability, prepayment and penalty consequences before signing.Read the guide
- Renewal and switchingThe renewal window, switching to a new lender, and payment-shock planning.Read the guide
- Refinance vs HELOC vs second mortgageWhich way to access equity, where the 80% loan-to-value ceiling binds, and what each option costs.Read the guide
- Canadian mortgage qualification snapshotThe dated reference table of the rules and figures a Canadian mortgage is qualified against.Read the guide
The full map, decision by decision
01
Eligibility and requirements
What does a Canadian lender actually need before it will pre-approve me?
- Mortgage pre-approval in CanadaThe end-to-end explanation of what pre-approval is, what it is not, and how a Canadian lender reaches a number.Tools: Readiness score
- Documents needed for pre-approvalThe document package a lender asks for, organised by what it proves.
- Pre-approval vs pre-qualificationThe distinction between an unverified estimate and a verified, underwritten pre-approval.
02
Income verification
How will my particular kind of income be counted?
03
Credit and lender tiers
Is my credit profile strong enough, and which tier of lender does it point to?
04
Debt service and capacity
How much can I carry, and what does each monthly debt cost me in buying power?
- GDS and TDS debt-service ratiosThe two ratios that set borrowing capacity, worked line by line, including what each monthly debt costs in purchase price.Tools: Affordability calculator · Payment calculator
- How much mortgage can I affordInteractive capacity estimate from income, debts and down payment.
05
Down payment and insurance
Where can my down payment come from, and does it need to be insured?
- Down payment sources and the 90-day trailMinimum down payment by price, acceptable sources, the 90-day paper trail, gifts, FHSA and HBP, and insured vs uninsured consequences.Tools: Insurance premium calculator
- Default insurance premium calculatorDeterministic premium and PST calculation by loan-to-value band.
06
Stress test and qualifying rate
What rate am I actually qualified at, not priced at?
- The stress test and qualifying rateWhat the minimum qualifying rate is, when it applies, and how it changes the number you are approved for.Tools: Stress test calculator
- Canadian mortgage qualification snapshotThe dated reference table of the rules and figures a Canadian mortgage is qualified against.
07
Rate holds and expiry
How long does my pre-approval and rate hold survive, and what breaks it?
08
Accepted offer and property review
What happens between an accepted offer and a firm approval?
- Accepted offer to firm approvalWhat happens inside the financing condition: property review, appraisal, lender conditions, and how to avoid a collapsed deal.
- How underwriting actually worksThe stages a file passes through inside a Canadian lender.
- Why pre-approvals failThe failure modes that turn a pre-approval into a decline, and the recovery move for each.
09
Borrower paths
What is different for a first-time buyer, newcomer, self-employed or investor file?
10
Product and term choice
Fixed or variable, which term, and what will breaking it cost?
- Fixed vs variable, term and penaltiesChoosing rate type and term, and pricing the portability, prepayment and penalty consequences before signing.Tools: Penalty estimator · Payment calculator
- Rate context, datedIndicative market pricing with an explicit snapshot date, and how policy rate differs from mortgage rates.
- Bank of Canada decisionsAnnouncement dates, the resulting policy rate, and the transmission to prime.
11
Renewal, switch and refinance
At renewal, do I stay, switch, refinance or take a HELOC?
- Renewal and switchingThe renewal window, switching to a new lender, and payment-shock planning.Tools: Renewal calculator · Renewal readiness quiz
- Refinance vs HELOC vs second mortgageWhich way to access equity, where the 80% loan-to-value ceiling binds, and what each option costs.Tools: Penalty estimator
12
Closing costs by province
What does closing actually cost where I am buying?
Prefer to check the underlying rules first? The evidence desk lists every primary authority behind these guides, what each one governs, and the dated qualification snapshot they feed.