Mortgages for Ontario OTs, physios and SLPs

Q: I work at a hospital and have a private caseload. Does the private income count?

Yes, with two years of tax returns behind it. The lender uses the net figure after expenses, not gross billings, and not every lender is comfortable combining employed and self-employed income on one file.

Q: Does a school board contract count as permanent employment?

It depends on whether the position continues year to year. A multi-year history in the same board with a letter confirming the position is ongoing reads as permanent for most lenders.

Occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech-language pathologists in Ontario hospitals sit in the professional unit, most often OPSEU, on a schedule bargained at each hospital. Many also hold community, school board or private caseloads alongside the hospital line, and combining those properly is what decides the mortgage.

Who bargains this job

Hospital roles are usually OPSEU professional unit. School board roles fall under that board’s agreement. Community and private practice work is self-employment. Most therapists we see hold more than one of these at the same time.

We have not published a pay grid for this role yet, so there is no figure on this page. We will not print a number we have not read in the agreement itself. Tell us where you work and we will read that agreement next.

What a ot, pt and speech-language pathology wage buys

OT, PT and speech-language pathology income

Down payment$100,000

You could buy up to$459,000$1,975 a month

An estimate, not an approval. Send it over and we will confirm it against your own stubs.

Ask Jeff and Emily

How your pay lands on a mortgage file

Salaried and self-employed income at once

A hospital line plus a private caseload is two different kinds of income on one application. The employed part is evidenced with letters and stubs; the private part needs two years of tax returns and a Notice of Assessment. Lenders that handle both well are a much smaller list than lenders generally.

Private practice income is read after expenses

The figure a lender uses for self-employed work is the net on your return, not what you invoiced. Aggressive expensing lowers tax and lowers your mortgage at the same time. Two years before an application is the moment that matters.

School board contracts follow the school year

A ten-month position paid over twelve is normal and lenders handle it, but the letter has to describe it accurately or the annualised figure comes out wrong.

Your professional college registration helps

Registration with your college evidences that the income is licensed professional work, which supports the file where the employment history is short or spread across employers.