Mortgage brokers
Work with a licensed Alberta mortgage associate
RateLens is run by Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate with Indi Mortgage, a licensed brokerage. You make one application with one credit check, and Daniel compares 30+ lenders and quotes your rate with its APR and conditions.
No credit check, and no commitment.
Edmonton office
RECA licensed
Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate · Indi The Independent Mortgage Company Ltd. o/a Indi Mortgage. Verify our licence on RECA ProCheck(opens in a new tab)
30+ lenders
One application and one credit check. Daniel will tell you if staying put makes more sense.
Your data stays in Canada
Applications and documents are stored in Canadian data centres.
How brokers work
What you get with a mortgage broker
Roughly 38% of recent buyers used a broker, and 48% of recent first-time buyers did.
One application, one credit check
Your file goes to the lenders it suits, out of a panel of 30+. You aren't limited to one bank's products, and there's no separate credit check for each lender.
Paid by the lender, not by you
On an ordinary residential mortgage, the lender you choose pays Indi Mortgage when the mortgage funds. It doesn't change the rate you're quoted.
Regulated by RECA
Daniel De Sousa is licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta under the Real Estate Act, and Indi Mortgage is the licensed brokerage he works through. You can check both licences publicly.
Based in Edmonton, licensed for all of Alberta
Edmonton clients can meet in person. The rest of the province works with us by video, phone and e-signature.
Broker-share figures from Mortgage Professionals Canada, July 2026.
Locations
Alberta communities we serve
Daniel works from Edmonton, and every other community on this list is served from there. We don't list an address anywhere we don't have an office. The list is grouped by how you'd meet us.
Our office
One address, open Monday to Friday. It's the only RateLens location, and the only page on this site with a postal address.
Edmonton metro region
7 communities in one census metropolitan area, served by one real estate board. They're a short drive from the Edmonton office, though most clients never need to come in.
- Sherwood ParkEast of Edmonton, inside Strathcona County
- St. AlbertNorthwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River
- Spruce GroveWest of Edmonton on Highway 16A, at the edge of Parkland County
- Stony PlainWest of Edmonton on Highway 16A, in the Parkland County catchment
- LeducSouth of Edmonton on Highway 2, beside the international airport
- BeaumontSoutheast of Edmonton, off Highway 625
- Fort SaskatchewanNortheast of Edmonton on Highway 15, in Alberta's Industrial Heartland
The rest of Alberta
Daniel's RECA licence covers the whole province. We handle these files by video, phone and e-signature.
- CalgaryThree hours south, and about a third above Edmonton on benchmark price
- Red DeerCentral Alberta, between the Edmonton and Calgary metros
- LethbridgeSouthern Alberta, in the irrigation belt
- Grande PrairieNorthwest Alberta, the centre of the Peace Country
- AirdrieImmediately north of Calgary on the QEII
- Medicine HatSoutheast Alberta, on the South Saskatchewan River
Compensation
How we get paid
You should know how the person arranging your mortgage is paid before you tell them anything about your finances. Here are the full details.
Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate, is licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta and registered with Indi The Independent Mortgage Company Ltd. o/a Indi Mortgage.
Indi The Independent Mortgage Company Ltd. o/a Indi Mortgage is a mortgage brokerage licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA). Verify our licence on RECA ProCheck(opens in a new tab)
RateLens is a trade name used by Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate, licensed in Alberta by the Real Estate Council of Alberta and registered with Indi The Independent Mortgage Company Ltd. o/a Indi Mortgage.
RateLens · 4990 92 Ave NW #105, Edmonton, AB T6B 2V4 · (825) 797-5417 · hello@ratelens.ca
Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Closed Saturday and Sunday.
How we get paid. Daniel De Sousa arranges mortgages through Indi The Independent Mortgage Company Ltd. o/a Indi Mortgage, a licensed mortgage brokerage, not a lender. The brokerage and Daniel are compensated by the lender you choose when your mortgage funds (paid by the lender, not by you). Compensation varies by lender and product and doesn’t change the rate you’re quoted. A lender fee or brokerage fee is uncommon and happens mainly on alternative or private lending. If one applies to your file, we’ll disclose the exact amount in writing before you sign anything. We’ll tell you if any product we recommend pays us more than an alternative we considered. Before we start work on your file, you’ll receive a written service agreement setting out our services, our compensation and any fee that applies to you.
Broker vs bank
What changes when you use a broker
A bank can only offer you its own mortgages. A brokerage compares lenders for you and is paid by whichever one you choose.
| Measure | Going direct to your bank | Through RateLens |
|---|---|---|
| Lenders you can compare | One: that bank's own products | 30+, including banks, monoline lenders and Alberta credit unions |
| Credit checks to shop them | One per lender you apply to | One, for the whole panel |
| Who pays for the advice | The bank employs the advisor | The lender you choose pays us when your mortgage funds. You don't pay us. |
| Whether the advisor can say “don’t” | They can only place the file with their employer | We can tell you to stay put, wait, or take your own bank's offer |
| Renewal handling | A letter with one rate on it, usually a few weeks out | Your renewal shopped for you at 180, 120 and 90 days |
| Prepayment penalty method | Big-bank IRD is generally computed off posted rates | We show you the penalty method in the contract before you sign |
| Who you talk to | Whoever is available at the branch | Daniel De Sousa, Mortgage Associate, from the Edmonton office |
38% of recent Canadian homebuyers used a broker, and 48% of recent first-time buyers did (Mortgage Professionals Canada, July 2026). Prepayment-penalty methods are set by your mortgage contract and differ by lender; we read yours before we recommend anything.
Questions about mortgage brokers
What brokers do, what they cost and who regulates them.
What does a mortgage broker do?
A broker takes one application and one credit check, shops it across a panel of lenders, and arranges the mortgage with the lender that fits your file best.
A bank employee can only offer you that bank's products. A broker is licensed to place your file with any lender on the panel. That includes several competitively priced lenders in Alberta that only work through brokers and have no branches.
Is RateLens a lender?
No. RateLens is run by Daniel De Sousa, a mortgage associate who arranges mortgages through Indi Mortgage, a licensed brokerage. Neither is the lender of record.
We arrange the mortgage, and a lender funds it and holds it. That matters when you renew, make a prepayment or run into a problem. You deal with the lender, and we're the ones who matched you with it.
What does using a broker cost me?
Nothing, on an ordinary residential mortgage. Lenders pay Indi Mortgage a fee when your mortgage closes, so you don't pay us for a quote.
Compensation varies by lender and product, and it doesn't change the rate you're quoted. Some mortgages do carry a lender or brokerage fee, mainly alternative and private ones. If yours does, we'll tell you the exact amount in writing before you sign anything. Before we act for you, you'll get a written service agreement that sets out our services and any fees.
Who regulates mortgage brokers in Alberta?
The Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA), under the Real Estate Act. In Alberta, one statute and one regulator cover real estate, mortgage brokerage, property management and condo management.
Individual licensees hold one of two titles: Mortgage Broker or Mortgage Associate. Every licence can be checked on RECA's public ProCheck registry, so you can look Daniel up before you call. His licence class is Mortgage Associate.
Does using a broker hurt my credit score?
Shopping through a broker doesn't cost you extra points, because a broker runs one credit check, not one per lender.
Nothing goes to a lender until you say so. The first step on this site, getting a rate, doesn't involve a credit check.
Do I need to live in Edmonton?
No. Daniel De Sousa's RECA licence covers all of Alberta, and he works from Edmonton.
Clients in the Edmonton metro can meet in person. Everyone else in the province works with us by video, phone and e-signature. We don't claim a storefront in any city where we don't have one.
Your rate
See your rate in about two minutes
Answer 6 questions and see a rate at the end. There's no credit check to start, and nothing goes to a lender until you say so.
No credit check, and no commitment.