Mortgage pre-approval in Canada.Everything, in one place.

In Canada, a mortgage pre-approval has three pieces most buyers never separate: a rate hold (usually 90–120 days), a maximum loan estimate (based on your verified numbers, not the ones you told the bank on the phone), and a conditional commitment from a specific lender — subject to the property, an appraisal, and no material change to your file.

A pre-qualification is none of those things. It's a five-minute conversation with a bank rep who plugs numbers into a public calculator and hands you a range. See the full comparison in pre-approval vs. pre-qualification.

Every Canadian pre-approval is qualified against the OSFI mortgage stress test — the greater of your contract rate + 2% or the 5.25% floor. That is why the pre-approval figure is almost always lower than the buyer expects going in.

Timing depends on how clean the file is, not on the lender's advertised speed. A salaried, T4-only file with a strong credit bureau can be underwritten in 24–48 hours. A self-employed, two-year-average file with rental income and a gifted down payment routinely takes 5–10 business days because underwriters read every page.

Once issued, the rate hold portion is good for 90 to 120 days depending on the lender. The underwriting file itself expires with it — after the hold, income and credit must be re-verified, because a lot changes in four months.

A properly-run Canadian pre-approval involves one hard credit inquiry per bureau, per lender. That is worth roughly 2–5 points on your Equifax or TransUnion score for about three months, and it heals on its own. Multiple pulls inside a 30-day shopping window are typically counted as one by the scoring model — but only if they're for the same product type.

What actually hurts scores during pre-approval is not the inquiry — it's the buyer opening a new credit card or car loan during the hold, which changes utilization and average account age. Don't do that between pre-approval and closing.

The two ratios that decide the file:

• GDS (Gross Debt Service): mortgage principal + interest + property tax + heat + 50% of condo fees, divided by gross income. Insured max ~39%.
• TDS (Total Debt Service): GDS + all other debt payments (car, student, credit-card minimums, line of credit). Insured max ~44%.

Both are calculated at the stress-test rate, not your contract rate. Run the numbers yourself with the stress-test calculator and the affordability calculator before you talk to a lender — the gap between the two rates is where most files break.

Full checklist by income type on the documents page. The short version:

• Two most recent pay stubs (or two years of T1 Generals + Notices of Assessment if self-employed)
• T4s or T4As covering the last two tax years
• 90 days of bank statements showing the down-payment source
• A gift letter — if any portion of the down payment is a gift from an immediate family member
• Photo ID and confirmation of the property being purchased if you have one

Missing bank statements are the single most common reason a file gets stalled — because underwriters need to trace 90 days of the down payment. See why pre-approvals fail for the full list.

Different files, different rules. Jump straight to yours:

Land transfer tax, first-time buyer rebates, and lender appetite shift by province. Pick yours:

See the full Q&A hub — 20 answers, one place.