REMIC's Joe White leads a session on the small missteps quietly costing brokers approvals and trust
The Canadian mortgage market is running hot with opportunity. Canadian residential mortgage debt has reached $2.3 trillion, the broker channel now commands a 33% market share, and 2026 is set to be the largest renewal year in recent history, with 1.15 million mortgages coming up for renewal.
Against that backdrop, small errors in how brokers prepare files, communicate with clients, and engage lenders are not being forgiven the way they once were.
That reality is the driving force behind one of the most anticipated sessions at MortgageFest Canada 2026, the two-day mortgage industry event returning to Toronto's International Centre on September 23 and 24.
The session, titled "What Brokers Are Getting Wrong Right Now — And What It's Costing Them," will be led by Joe White, founder and CEO of the Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada (REMIC) in Toronto, Canada's largest mortgage and insurance education company, which has trained more than 90,000 students across Canada in mortgage brokering, life insurance licensing, and continuing education.
White has shaped industry standards since 2008 and was inducted into the Canadian Mortgage Hall of Fame in 2019.
The session takes a candid look at where deals are being lost unnecessarily and why the brokers who recognise and fix these patterns earliest will be best positioned for the rest of 2026 and beyond.
MortgageFest Canada, the rebranded and expanded successor to the Canadian Mortgage Summit, will draw more than 2,000 mortgage brokers, lenders, and executives over two days. It is pre-approved by Mortgage Professionals Canada for four continuing education units in the professional development category and is free to attend for brokers, pending registration.
Where deals go wrong
The session does not focus on macro conditions or market forces outside brokers' control. It focuses on what brokers themselves are doing or failing to do that creates unnecessary friction with lenders and erodes client confidence.
Canada's 2026 mortgage market has been a challenging one for brokers and borrowers alike. Renewals are surging at higher rates than homeowners originally took out, purchase volume is down, and affordability is continuing to bite across the country.
The onus is on brokers to provide tailored, top-notch advice to clients that offers the optimal solution for their specific circumstances, and plenty are falling short in that duty.
The session will address four interconnected areas: how brokers position deals to lenders, how they communicate with clients throughout the process, where file packaging breaks down, and which workflow habits are quietly limiting broker growth and reputation.
The cost of getting it wrong
The consequences of broker missteps are not theoretical. According to CMP's 2026 Top 75 Brokers report, the best mortgage brokers in Canada are winning business by outperforming banks on service, advice, and client experience in an intensely competitive environment.
The common thread among top performers is a shift from transaction-focused thinking to advisor-led practice.
For brokers who haven't made that shift, the exposure is real. CMP's 2025 Brokers on Lenders report found that technology satisfaction among brokers increased by 10% in 2025, with lenders that offered faster portals and cleaner workflows winning more volume, but the lenders earning the deepest broker trust were those where "technology mattered, but only when paired with human responsiveness and transparency."
That same expectation applies in reverse: lenders are watching how brokers show up, and those who create unnecessary friction get fewer opportunities in a competitive channel.
Higher interest rates, affordability challenges, and other trends are making files more complex even as client expectations of a quick closing rise, often putting more pressure on brokers to get the deal done.
What White's session will cover
White has spent more than three decades training and licensing mortgage professionals across Canada. His session at MortgageFest Canada is not structured as a lecture — it is framed as a candid, real-world examination of recurring mistakes, with a focus on immediate adjustments brokers can make to their processes.
The session will cover how to identify common errors affecting approvals, pricing, and deal flow; where communication, packaging, and expectation-setting tend to break down with both clients and lenders; and which workflow patterns are limiting broker growth even when deal volume appears stable.
The Insights Stage at MortgageFest Canada, new for this iteration of the event, is designed specifically around broker-led sessions. Each session is framed around interactive formats — whiteboards, group discussion, and shared case studies — with the stated aim of ensuring every attendee leaves with something concrete: a checklist, a framework, or a clear next step they can act on immediately.
White's session fits that mandate. REMIC has trained tens of thousands of Canadian mortgage professionals through its licensing and continuing education programmes, giving White a perspective on broker development that spans every level of experience and every type of market.
As the industry comes together for two days of learning, networking, and innovation, #MortgageFest Canada is proud to have the support of the Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada (REMIC).
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) July 1, 2026
Secure your free pass here: https://t.co/fvnQZxRMrs pic.twitter.com/revosYYHmz
More at MortgageFest Canada
White's session is one of a broad programme running across both days of MortgageFest Canada. With the second half of 2026 underway, Canada's mortgage market is in something of a holding pattern, with interest rates and home values largely unchanged from a year ago.
Day Two of MortgageFest Canada covers buying and selling mortgage books, a top-producer marketing playbook breaking down what's actually driving funded deals right now, a bootcamp for new agents navigating year one, and a live Q&A on fraud risk and broker liability — including the growing challenge of AI-generated documentation and what it means for a broker's due diligence obligations.
Running alongside Day Two is the Women in Mortgage Summit Canada, a dedicated one-day event for women across the mortgage industry. Registration for either event includes full access to both days of MortgageFest Canada.
MortgageFest Canada is free to register. Further programme details and registration are available at mortgagefest.ca.
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