Guides
Every guide is written for Canadian rules and Alberta conditions, reviewed by Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate, and dated so you can see how current it is.
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Start with one of these if you're renewing, buying your first home, refinancing or working out what a lender will give you.
What to do in the 120 days before your mortgage term ends, why the renewal letter is a first offer, and how switching lenders works.
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9 min · updated September 16, 2026
What a pre-approval covers and what it doesn't, how it differs from a pre-qualification, the documents you need and how long the rate hold lasts.
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9 min · updated September 16, 2026
How a Canadian refinance works, the 80% loan-to-value ceiling, what the penalty will cost you and how to work out your break-even month.
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9 min · updated September 16, 2026
All guides
Filter by what you're doing. Each guide links to its main guide, to the calculator that does the math, and to a two-minute quote if you want a number for your situation.
Showing 13 of 13 guides.
What to do in the 120 days before your mortgage term ends, why the renewal letter is a first offer, and how switching lenders works.
Read the guide
9 min · updated September 16, 2026
What a pre-approval covers and what it doesn't, how it differs from a pre-qualification, the documents you need and how long the rate hold lasts.
Read the guide
9 min · updated September 16, 2026
How a Canadian refinance works, the 80% loan-to-value ceiling, what the penalty will cost you and how to work out your break-even month.
Read the guide
9 min · updated September 16, 2026
What an Edmonton first-time buyer needs: the down payment, the programs you can combine, Alberta's closing costs and the order to do it all in.
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10 min · updated September 16, 2026
Alberta charges no land transfer tax. You pay Land Titles registration fees instead: $50 plus $5 per $5,000, on both the transfer and the mortgage.
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8 min · updated September 16, 2026
How a broker is paid, what a bank branch can and can't do, and the situations where each one is the better choice, including when to use your bank.
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8 min · updated September 16, 2026
How Canadian fixed and variable rates are set, what a trigger rate is, and the penalty difference that decides more files than the rate does.
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9 min · updated September 16, 2026
What an open mortgage costs you in rate, what a closed mortgage costs you in flexibility, and the prepayment privileges that settle it for most people.
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7 min · updated September 16, 2026
How the minimum qualifying rate works, when it applies and when it doesn't, and how much it lowers the amount you can borrow.
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8 min · updated September 16, 2026
Big banks calculate the interest-rate differential differently from monolines and credit unions. On a typical file, the gap in the penalty is five figures.
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9 min · updated September 16, 2026
What default insurance is, who pays it, the 2026 premium bands, the $1.5M cap and why an insured mortgage usually has a lower interest rate.
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8 min · updated September 16, 2026
Every document a Canadian lender asks for, grouped by borrower type, with the reason each one is needed and the most common reasons documents get rejected.
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7 min · updated September 16, 2026
The 3 ways a self-employed borrower can qualify for a Canadian mortgage, what each one needs, and how lenders underwrite Alberta income types.
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9 min · updated September 16, 2026
Calculators
The numbers in these guides come from the same calculation engine our advisors use, tested against the Government of Canada's own calculator. Try it with your numbers.
Updates
Mortgage rules change. Each guide shows the date Daniel last checked it against current rules. When a rule changes, we re-review the guide and show the new date.
The 3 ways a self-employed borrower can qualify for a Canadian mortgage, what each one needs, and how lenders underwrite Alberta income types.
Read the guide
9 min · updated September 16, 2026
How the minimum qualifying rate works, when it applies and when it doesn't, and how much it lowers the amount you can borrow.
Read the guide
8 min · updated September 16, 2026
What an open mortgage costs you in rate, what a closed mortgage costs you in flexibility, and the prepayment privileges that settle it for most people.
Read the guide
7 min · updated September 16, 2026
49 Canadian mortgage terms, each defined in plain English. Several mean something different in the United States, and a US definition applied to a Canadian mortgage gives you the wrong answer.
Open the glossarySorted by where you are in the process: getting started, pre-approval, rates and costs, underwriting, the lawyer, funding and renewal.
Read the FAQSharp rates. The full picture.
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