How is mortgage broker commission calculated in Canada?

The lender pays the brokerage a finder's fee, quoted in basis points of the funded mortgage amount and scaled by term — a five-year term pays materially more than a one-year. The brokerage then pays the agent their split of that, less any brokerage fees.

What is a typical agent split?

Splits commonly run from around 70% to 95% of the finder's fee, and the higher end usually comes with a monthly desk fee, per-deal fees, or both. A high split with heavy fixed fees can pay less than a lower split with none, depending on volume.

What is a volume bonus?

Lenders pay an additional bonus, on top of the base finder's fee, once a brokerage or agent passes a volume or efficiency threshold. It is usually paid retroactively across the period, which is why it is easy to forecast wrong and hard to reconcile by hand.

If a mortgage is discharged early — often within the first year or two — the lender reclaims part or all of the finder's fee, and the brokerage passes that back to the agent. Clawback terms vary by lender and are one of the most common sources of commission disputes.

Coming soon: Mortgage360 mobile app for iOS & Android — Client portal + Broker portal in your pocket.Join waitlist

Mortgage360

All calculators

Broker commission

Mortgage commission calculator

Estimate broker commission from a funded deal — finder + trailer × term, then split with the brokerage. Convert basis points to real dollars.

Your scenario

Funded amount$720,000

$50,000$5,000,000

Finder fee (bps)85 bps

0 bps200 bps

Trailer (bps / yr)15 bps

0 bps60 bps

Term length5 years

1 year10 years

Agent's split %85.00%

50.00%100.00%

Result

Agent take-home

$9,792

Gross commission

$11,520

Finder fee

$6,120

Total trailer

$5,400

Lender commission rates vary by product (insured, alt-A, private) and lender. Confirm before quoting clients.

How Canadian mortgage broker commissions work

Mortgage brokers in Canada are paid by lenders, not borrowers (in standard A-tier deals). The compensation comes in two parts: a one-time finder fee paid at funding, and an ongoing trailer fee paid annually for the life of the term.

Typical commission rates by product

Insured prime mortgages (CMHC, Sagen, Canada Guaranty): finder 80–100 bps, trailer 10–20 bps/yr
Uninsured A-tier: finder 70–95 bps, trailer 10–20 bps/yr
B-lender (alt-A): finder 50–80 bps + 1–2% lender fee paid by borrower
Private lender: 1–3% lender fee paid by borrower; broker typically takes 50% as commission
HELOC / collateral: 25–50 bps finder, often no trailer
Renewal: typically half of new-deal commission, no trailer

Basis points → dollars

100 basis points = 1.00%. So a 95 bps finder on a $720,000 funded mortgage is $720,000 × 0.95% = $6,840. A 15 bps trailer on the same deal pays $720,000 × 0.15% = $1,080/year for the term.

What the brokerage takes — and what you net

Most Canadian mortgage agents split their commissions with their brokerage. Typical splits:

New agents: 60–70% to agent
Experienced agents: 75–85% to agent
High-volume agents: 85–95% to agent, sometimes with a tiered structure that scales with monthly volume
Owner-operator brokers: 100% (you ARE the brokerage)

Brokerages charge for the compliance overhead (audit, FSRA/FSCO licensing, MLS, software, leads, marketing). Whether the split is “worth it” depends on what the brokerage actually provides.

Worked example — typical 5-year deal

$720,000 funded insured prime, 95 bps finder + 15 bps trailer × 5 years, 85% agent split:

Finder: $6,840
Trailer: $1,080/yr × 5 = $5,400 over the term
Gross commission: $12,240
Agent at 85% split: $10,404 take-home

The trailer is contingent on the mortgage staying with the lender — if the client breaks early or switches, you lose the remaining trailer payments.

Compensation transparency in Canada

Under FSRA (Ontario) and equivalent regulators in other provinces, mortgage agents must disclose their compensation structure to clients in writing before they sign. The disclosure form is part of the application package. Brokers earning volume bonuses or efficiency bonuses from specific lenders must disclose those too.

Where compensation differs from posted bps

Volume bonuses: top-tier brokers earn 5–15 extra bps on lenders where they fund $50M+/year
Efficiency bonuses: some lenders pay extra bps for clean files with high closing rates
Promo periods: lenders occasionally run quarterly promos with 10–25 extra bps on specific products
Tiered commission: B-lenders sometimes pay higher bps on certain LTV bands
Private network deals: in private deals, total compensation can be 2–5% of funded amount split however the brokerage structures it

Questions about this calculator

How is mortgage broker commission calculated in Canada?: The lender pays the brokerage a finder's fee, quoted in basis points of the funded mortgage amount and scaled by term — a five-year term pays materially more than a one-year. The brokerage then pays the agent their split of that, less any brokerage fees.
What is a typical agent split?: Splits commonly run from around 70% to 95% of the finder's fee, and the higher end usually comes with a monthly desk fee, per-deal fees, or both. A high split with heavy fixed fees can pay less than a lower split with none, depending on volume.
What is a volume bonus?: Lenders pay an additional bonus, on top of the base finder's fee, once a brokerage or agent passes a volume or efficiency threshold. It is usually paid retroactively across the period, which is why it is easy to forecast wrong and hard to reconcile by hand.
What is a clawback?: If a mortgage is discharged early — often within the first year or two — the lender reclaims part or all of the finder's fee, and the brokerage passes that back to the agent. Clawback terms vary by lender and are one of the most common sources of commission disputes.