Capacity constraints, portal bottlenecks, and rate uncertainty are pushing brokers to their limits
Canadian borrowers are facing their fair share of challenges navigating the current mortgage market – and the same goes for brokers and lenders, who have been making the best of a tough environment in the industry at present.
Capacity constraints, inconsistent pricing, and sluggish turnaround times have become defining features of the current landscape, with no single part of the market escaping the pressure.
While borrowers are increasingly demanding a lightning-quick approval on their file, that’s often not possible in today’s stretched market – and brokers are spending a growing portion of their time managing that challenge.
Chris Allard (pictured top), an Ottawa-based broker with Smart Debt Mortgages, said that dynamic has been a prominent trend in the 2026 market. “It’s been a challenging environment for the broker community,” he told Canadian Mortgage Professional. “A lot of lenders have been at capacity for a long time and turnaround times are not super fast. Pricing is all over the map among lenders.”
The rise of rate comparison tools and AI-assisted research in recent years has changed the borrower conversation in ways that can be problematic for brokers.
“Consumer behaviour has shifted a little bit in the sense that with the continued improvements with the internet and AI, a lot of borrowers feel like they know pricing, but they don’t understand that their file doesn’t qualify for a variety of pricing,” Allard said. “So I feel like every file is taking drastically longer to get done. It’s a strain on resources for the brokers.”
Confusion over rates is also compounding the problem, perhaps unsurprisingly considering the volatility seen in the bond market this year and in 2025.
In that environment, Allard said a rising number of borrowers are concentrating less on what’s happening with rates and more on their overall financial picture and ability to handle mortgage payments.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty over whether rates are going up, down, or sideways,” he said. “I find a lot of borrowers have resorted to more of a cashflow conversation – ‘Am I comfortable with the cashflow?’ There’s a bit less of a focus on what will happen with rates because I think it’s so uncertain.”
A recurring pattern has also emerged among lenders such as credit unions and others that compete aggressively on rate. Promotional pricing draws a flood of applications, leading to a deterioration in service levels and – often – a pullback on rates within days.
“Credit unions will come out with a pricing promo and within a week they have to raise rates or their turnaround time just goes super slow,” Allard said. “It’s an interesting phenomenon that’s happening now repeatedly in the industry.”
A solution for lenders facing those issues, he suggested, might be a more targeted approach to broker relationships. “I think it would be prudent for lenders to limit the amount of brokers that they work with, work with the brokers that they choose to work with, and just offer adequate turnaround time and have a more loyal broker base,” he said.
“If you consistently give me a good turnaround time, I’ll just consistently send you more business the way you want it to be sent.”
Communication breakdowns slow the process
Another concern that brokers often raise is the shift away from direct phone communication with lenders, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic and never reversed.
Some believe portal-based systems have reduced the number of underwriters willing to pick up the phone, making the consequences felt when it comes to processing times.
“Sometimes it’s our submission mistake and we’re trying to understand where the error could be, and sometimes it’s on the lender side,” Allard said. “If we can’t get on the phone and talk about it, it makes it hard to solve those [problems] – or they’re solvable over email, but it takes multiple days rather than getting it done in a quick minute.
Practical advice: setting expectations clearly
For brokers looking to maintain performance and reputation in a difficult market, Allard said the fundamentals remain the most reliable area of focus. Getting documentation upfront – complete, clean, and well-organized – reduces the back-and-forth that can eat into turnaround times, while having an honest conversation with borrowers about realistic timelines also goes a long way toward managing expectations the current market can’t always meet.
“Setting client expectations is number one,” he said, “and two, trying to be as diligent as possible with having the adequate documentation up front. If you control what you can control, you give yourself the best chance to succeed.”
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