The Insights Stage promises two days of sessions built for brokers who want practical answers, not presentations
MortgageFest Canada, the rebranded evolution of the Canadian Mortgage Summit, arrives at the International Centre in Toronto on September 23 and 24, with more than 2,000 mortgage brokers, lenders, and executives expected to attend.
For those who have been to previous iterations of the event, the format this year is deliberately different. The Insights Stage, new for this edition, 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.
Leah Zlatkin, chief operating officer and mortgage broker at Mortgage Outlet Inc. in Toronto, chairs the Insights Stage on day one. Her opening sets the tone for what follows: a full day of sessions structured around the practical decisions brokers are navigating right now.
Day one: from revenue diversification to the art of the close
The morning session, titled "How to grow your revenue without chasing more deals," lands squarely on one of the more persistent pressures in the current market.
With origination volumes still subdued and competition intensifying, the session explores how brokers can responsibly diversify revenue by positioning themselves as holistic financial advisors rather than transactional deal-placers.
Dan MacDonald, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ownwell, joins to examine how artificial intelligence and technology can enhance both efficiency and client value without displacing the advisory relationship.
That theme of the human element in complex situations continues in the mid-morning block. John Gallagher, head of operations at Questbank, leads a conversation on alternative lending, specifically on how lenders can equip brokers to lower client anxiety around what is often miscategorized as the "B space," and build the kind of transparent, full-picture advisory relationship that creates lifetime loyalty.
After the midday break, the afternoon pivots to two sharply practical sessions. Lindsay Zwart, director of solutions for mortgage and housing at Equifax Canada in Toronto, walks attendees through the new credit report format that came into effect in 2026, among the most significant changes to credit file presentation in years.
Brokers can expect a practical walkthrough of the new format and what these changes mean for day-to-day deal assessment, underwriting efficiency, and client outcomes.
The session that follows, led by mortgage broker Denise Laframboise of Laframboise Mortgage, focuses on client communication, specifically on how top-performing brokers structure conversations to move clients from hesitation to commitment without discounting on rate. A practical file quality checklist is included.
Day two: resilience, reverse mortgages, and the near-prime opportunity
Day two of the Insights Stage opens with a keynote from author and mental health advocate Jessica Holmes, chaired by Reaza Ali, national business development manager at Heartwood Financial Group.
Holmes addresses broker resilience in a market that continues to test patience and stamina, and makes the case that mental wellness is as much a business strategy as a personal one.
From there, the programme turns to some of the most commercially significant emerging segments in Canadian mortgage: aging borrowers and home equity access, the renewal wave reshaping client books across the country, private and mortgage investment corporation (MIC) lending, and the near-prime corridor sitting between prime qualification standards and the alternative market.
Sebastien Kuperhause of Sequence Capital, Nick Christopoulos of Hosper Mortgage, and Jason Geall of Peerage Mortgage Capital Inc. join a panel examining how deals in the private and MIC space are actually structured, and what audit-ready documentation looks like in practice.
The newcomer lending panel, featuring Paul Campbell of Magenta Capital and Cristina Nicolia of Radius Financial, examines qualification pathways and lender expectations for new-to-Canada borrowers, a segment that continues to drive meaningful mortgage demand nationally.
A technology session led by Swish Goswami, chief executive officer and co-founder of BrokerPlus, promises to map the modern deal lifecycle and identify where most file time is lost. The afternoon closes with a commercial markets panel and closing remarks from Ali.
MortgageFest Canada is free to attend, though registration is required to hold a place. Full details and registration are available at mortgagefest.ca.
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