Pre-approval on maternity or parental leave in Ontario.

Some lenders use EI income only; others use full pre-leave income with a return-to-work letter. The choice of lender changes qualification by tens of thousands.

Ontario adds its own layer. Two distinct files: GTA/GTHA condo + freehold underwriting, and the rest of the province. Lenders treat them differently on appraisal risk. That matters here because underwriters are already scrutinizing the income side of a pre-approval on maternity or parental leave file — a property or program complication local to Ontario can push a marginal file over the edge.

Provincial Land Transfer Tax on a sliding scale; Toronto adds a municipal LTT that effectively doubles the bill inside city limits.

Programs to check eligibility for in Ontario:

• First-time buyer LTT rebate up to $4,000
• Toronto municipal LTT rebate up to $4,475
• Federal First Home Savings Account (FHSA)

• Return-to-work letter from employer specifying date, role, and salary
• Pre-leave employment letter and paystubs
• Current EI statement

Ontario nuance: Employment letters from Ontario employers are scrutinized for probation clauses; underwriters frequently call HR to verify.

• Status certificate review on condos is non-optional, not a formality.
• Some lenders cap exposure in specific GTA postal codes.
• Property tax estimates on new builds often understate year-2 assessments.

Underwriter view of this scenario: A lender that uses pre-leave salary with a return-to-work confirmation will qualify the file at the full income; one that uses EI alone will not.

• Secure a written return-to-work confirmation early
• Apply with a lender whose policy uses pre-leave salary on documented returns

• Open-ended leave with no return date.
• Resigning from the pre-leave role and starting somewhere new on return.