The debate of whether it's too easy to become a mortgage agent in Ontario is raising its head again
It’s been a prominent debate across Ontario’s mortgage industry in recent years: the question of whether it’s too easy to become a mortgage agent, and if the bar for qualification should be raised.
The profession is a challenging one, with those mortgage professionals tasked with guiding borrowers and hopeful homebuyers through potentially the most expensive financial transaction they’ll ever make.
Standards in the space have also been under the watchful eye of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA), which introduced a new requirement for agents to complete an extra qualification to transact in private mortgages last year.
But prominent voices within the mortgage industry are still calling for a more challenging and comprehensive course for hopeful new agents to deter casual or unserious entrants from joining the profession.
It’s still too easy to become a mortgage agent in Ontario, according to Kimberlee Freeman (pictured below), founder and president of mortgage consultancy KMF Enterprises.
She told Canadian Mortgage Professional that the time and cost required to take a relevant course are both insufficient, while the content is rarely detailed enough to give budding agents a comprehensive understanding of the field they’re about to enter. “The solutions being provided, the amount of money that you’re helping clients obtain, the compliance risk, and the lender programs aren’t covered nearly enough,” she said.
“I think FSRA has the right train of thought in terms of licensing requirements but if I had a wish today, it would be to revamp the mortgage agent licensing course, make it costlier, take it more seriously, and spend more time consuming and diving deeper into lender programs and underwriting.”
Are new agents entering the profession for the right reasons?
Brokering mortgages can be a lucrative profession, especially with pent-up demand ready to enter the market and a host of new mortgage guidelines potentially expanding affordability for new buyers.
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— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) February 6, 2025
But Freeman said stronger standards in agent licensing would reduce the number of individuals entering the agent or broker profession because it seems a quick and easy way to make money or because they have the wrong idea of what the job entails.
She also called for a clear distinction between mortgage investment corporations (MICs) and smaller private lenders in FSRA’s regulations, which currently require agents to pass the extra course to transact with both.
“MICs out there have very educated underwriting teams who make sure that the deal, if it’s not right, is not going to get approved and not going to go anywhere,” she said. “So when you have an experienced regulated company, I wouldn’t take that option away.
“Mom-and-pop lenders, absolutely – take that off the table for new agents. But when you have an experienced underwriting desk, I think it’s safer.”
How can principal brokers play their part?
While the industry awaits potential further FSRA changes on licensing requirements, Freeman also said it was incumbent on brokerages to ensure their own hiring practices are as watertight as possible – and that they maintain high standards in building out their teams.
“Anyone you ask is probably going to share the opinion that it’s too easy to get licensed so what we can do as an industry together is have higher standards of excellence when choosing to hire a mortgage agent,” she said.
“That takes us to strengthening the onboarding and hiring process: do you take on a part-time agent or make full-time mandatory? When you’re hiring an agent, are you the type of leader who’ll just hire anyone regardless of their background or experience in the finance or mortgage sector?
“If you did, I don’t think that’s strengthening the industry. The attitude that we’re ‘just going to take on anyone’ needs to go out the window.”
That will require a mindset change in the industry, according to Freeman, with principal brokers sometimes taking an urgent – and therefore rushed – approach to hiring instead of having the right procedures in place and recruiting the right person for the long term.
“They [should] drop the fear of missing out – getting it half right and getting four deals versus waiting and hiring someone who’s following the system, has the skills, and now they’re doing triple that business,” she said.
“There’s a fear where they may be too afraid to make the change and raise the bar. To strengthen it, all you need is a few people to do it and see the results to say, ‘Yeah, this actually works.’ If we can do this together, prior to the mortgage course being changed, then I believe we will see some very positive results in strengthening the overall quality of our industry.”
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