Guides
Written for how frontline pay actually works, and updated with the date each one was last checked.
How your pay is read
Paid duty, overtime, premiums, acting pay and what a lender does with each.
01Which parts of your pay a lender will count5 minLenders will usually count variable pay such as overtime, shift premium and paid duty once there is a two year history of it, and they average it rather than taking the best year.02Acting pay, secondments and temporary assignments3 minA secondment or temporary assignment does not hurt an application on its own, because what matters is that your underlying permanent position and pay continue.03Part-time and casual hours on a mortgage file4 minPart-time and casual income is normally averaged over two years and read alongside your hours history, so consistency matters more than a single strong stretch.04Your pension, and how a lender reads it4 minQualifying income is gross, before the pension deduction, so contributing does not reduce what a lender will use.
Your agreement
Finding it, reading it, and what happens when it expires or your service merges.
01How to find your collective agreement4 minMost Ontario collective agreements are filed with the Ministry of Labour and are free to search and download.02Your agreement expired. What actually happens4 minWhen a collective agreement expires the old terms keep applying, so your pay does not change on the expiry date.03Retro pay, and what it does to your file4 minA retroactive settlement pays your increase back to the expiry date as a lump sum and sets a new ongoing rate.04Amalgamated services, and which grid applies3 minThe grid that applies is the one belonging to the employer that now issues your pay.
Buying
What you need, what it costs, and what the rules let you borrow.
01Nurse job change after preapproval: what happens next?5 minTell your mortgage agent or lender promptly if your employment changes after preapproval.02The documents a lender will ask you for4 minEvery frontline mortgage file needs the same core set: two recent pay stubs, two years of T4s, a recent Notice of Assessment, an employment letter and proof of the down payment.03Where the down payment actually comes from5 minThe minimum is five percent on the first $500,000 of the price and ten percent on the portion above that.04What a first purchase actually costs to close5 minClosing costs on an Ontario purchase usually run about one and a half to four percent of the price on top of the down payment.05The stress test, and why your income lines matter4 minYou have to qualify at the greater of your contract rate plus two percent or 5.25 percent, not at the rate you actually pay.06Buying a home while you are on probation3 minBeing on probation does not automatically stop a mortgage, but it narrows which lenders will look at the file.07Can you use your OMERS or HOOPP pension for a down payment?6 minNo.
The mortgage you already have
Renewing, switching, breaking, and clearing the debt that is holding you back.
01Renewing, or switching, at the end of a term4 minA renewal offer in the mail is an opening position, not a final rate.02What it costs to break a mortgage early5 minA break penalty is either three months of interest or an interest rate differential, whichever your contract calls for, and lenders calculate the differential in materially different ways.03Which debt to clear before you apply4 minDebt reduces borrowing room through the payment, not the balance, so clearing an aggressive small loan can buy back more room than clearing a much larger one.
Each guide shows the date it was last checked. Oldest here: August 28, 2026.
Talk to Jeff and Emily
Jeff and Emily Mudrick
Mudrick Mortgages, BRX Mortgage Inc.
Newmarket, Ontario. Serving Ontario.
Buying or renewing in Ontario?
Book a call, or send us your grid and we will come back with the number.
FSRA licence 13463Mortgage Agent Level 2, M21001275BRX Mortgage Inc.Newmarket, Ontario