Mortgage agent licensing by province

How to read this guide

Every province except Prince Edward Island licenses mortgage brokering, and most use a two-tier model for individuals: an entry-level licence (agent, associate, submortgage broker, salesperson) that must work under a brokerage, and a broker-level licence with more responsibility and an experience requirement. Each brokerage also needs a licence and a designated individual — the principal broker or equivalent — who is accountable for it.

The regulators coordinate through the Mortgage Broker Regulators' Council of Canada, which publishes harmonised curriculum blueprints and supports labour mobility between provinces. Harmonised is not identical, though. The detail below was checked against each regulator's own pages in September 2026.

At a glance

Ontario — FSRA

Ontario licenses under the Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act, 2006, and since April 2023 has had three individual licences. A Mortgage Agent Level 1 may deal only with financial institutions and CMHC-approved lenders. A Mortgage Agent Level 2 and a Mortgage Broker can also deal with private lenders, mortgage investment corporations and syndicates. The Principal Broker is a licensed broker who is also a director, officer, partner or owner of the brokerage.

• Education (FSRA guidance): Level 1 takes the Mortgage Agent Level 1 Course; Level 2 adds the Private Mortgages Course; a broker adds the Broker Course. You must apply within two years of the course for the agent licences and three years for the broker licence.
• Approved providers include Mortgage Professionals Canada, CMBA–Ontario and the Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada; Humber Polytechnic is also approved for the Level 1 course.
• Experience: Level 2 needs at least 12 months as a Level 1 agent in the last 24 months. Broker needs at least 24 months as a Level 2 agent in the last 36 months.
• Renewal: every year, by March 31.
• Continuing education: on a two-year cycle ending March 31 in an even-numbered year. For the 2024–26 cycle FSRA set 5 hours of conduct CE for agents and 7 for brokers, plus 10 hours of professional CE. Confirm the hours for the current cycle with FSRA.

British Columbia — BCFSA

British Columbia is in the middle of a change. The Mortgage Brokers Act, under which individuals register as submortgage brokers or mortgage brokers, is being replaced by the Mortgage Services Act, which BCFSA says comes into force on 13 October 2026. The new Act introduces licence levels for mortgage brokerages, principal brokers and mortgage brokers.

• New entrants: from 4 August 2026, applicants must complete the Mortgage Services Licensing Course, delivered by UBC Sauder, with a 70% exam pass mark.
• Principal broker under the new Act: licensed for at least two of the past five years, plus the Mortgage Principal Broker's Licensing Course.
• Existing registrants had transition courses to complete by 22 September 2026 — if you are registered in BC and have not done them, speak to BCFSA now.
• Under the outgoing Act, qualifying education was UBC Sauder's Mortgage Brokerage in British Columbia course or equivalents, and continuing education — currently BCFSA's Legal Update course — was required each two-year registration cycle.
• The licence term and CE requirements under the Mortgage Services Act: confirm with BCFSA.

Alberta — RECA

Mortgage brokering in Alberta is licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta under the Real Estate Act. There are three individual classes: mortgage associate, associate broker (a person who has completed broker education but does not run a brokerage) and mortgage broker, who is responsible for a brokerage.

• Associate education: Fundamentals of Mortgage Brokerage and Practice of Mortgage Brokerage, including the exams.
• Broker: at least two years as a mortgage associate within the last five years, and the Mortgage Broker Program with an exam score of 70% or higher.
• Renewal: annual; a licence not renewed by September 30 is cancelled.
• Continuing education: RECA does not set standing annual hours. It uses periodic mandatory re-licensing education courses instead; the 2025 course covered private lending.

Quebec — AMF

Supervision of mortgage brokerage in Quebec moved from the OACIQ to the Autorité des marchés financiers on 1 May 2020. Mortgage brokers hold a representative's certificate in the mortgage brokerage sector, and firms and independent representatives are registered with the AMF.

• Training: the Mortgage Brokerage Qualification Program — modules on professional conduct and mortgage brokerage — from a recognised provider.
• Exams: two AMF exams with a 60% pass mark, followed by a supervised probationary period before the certificate is issued.
• Renewal: the certificate is renewed annually.
• Continuing education: 24 PDUs per 24-month period, including 3 in compliance, ethics or professional practice; the current period runs from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2028.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba

In Saskatchewan, the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority licenses mortgage associates and mortgage brokers under The Mortgage Brokerages and Mortgage Administrators Act. Associates complete an approved course provided by Mortgage Professionals Canada. A broker needs an approved broker course and at least 24 of the preceding 36 months as a licensed associate. The licence is continuous with an annual fee, and an approved continuing education course must be completed by May 31 in even-numbered years.

In Manitoba, mortgage brokering is registered by the Manitoba Securities Commission under The Mortgage Brokers Act. Individuals are registered as a mortgage salesperson, after the Manitoba Mortgage Salespersons Licensing Course from Mortgage Professionals Canada, or as an authorized official, which requires at least two years as a salesperson within the preceding three. Registrations expire annually on May 31. Manitoba passed legislation in 2025 to move the Commission's functions into a new Manitoba Financial Services Authority, to take effect on proclamation. We could not find a continuing education requirement for mortgage registrants: confirm with the regulator.

Atlantic Canada

Nova Scotia licenses under the Mortgage Regulation Act. An associate mortgage broker completes the Nova Scotia Associate Mortgage Broker Course within two years before applying; a mortgage broker completes the Nova Scotia Mortgage Broker Education Program and the Registrar's Regulatory Information Program, and must have held an associate licence for at least 12 of the preceding 24 months. Licences renew by October 31 each year, and the Regulatory Information Program forms part of continuing education at every second renewal.

In New Brunswick, the Financial and Consumer Services Commission licenses mortgage associates and mortgage brokers, with education from Mortgage Professionals Canada and, for brokers, at least 24 months as an associate within the preceding 36. The licence is continuing with an annual fee by March 31. FCNB sets mandatory continuing education from time to time; the 2026 course was due by 31 March 2026, and missing it means automatic suspension.

Newfoundland and Labrador replaced its old statute with the Mortgage Brokerages and Brokers Act, in force since 1 April 2025. There is no associate class: individuals hold a mortgage broker licence after the NL Mortgage Broker Course, and a principal broker also completes the NL Mortgage Brokerage Management Course. Continuing education is set by the superintendent; we could not find published hours, so confirm with Service NL.

Prince Edward Island does not appear to have a mortgage broker licensing regime: it is not a member of the national regulators' council, and federal Job Bank data lists no PEI licensing requirement. We could not confirm this directly with the provincial government, so check before relying on it.

Moving between provinces and working in more than one

A licence in one province does not let you arrange mortgages on property in another. Under labour mobility rules most regulators recognise an equivalent licence from another province, often with a shorter local course on provincial law, but each still issues its own licence and charges its own fee.

For a brokerage with agents in more than one province this multiplies the tracking: different renewal dates (March 31 in Ontario, September 30 in Alberta, October 31 in Nova Scotia), different CE cycles, and different consequences for missing them. The recruiting pipeline has a licensing step in every province, and it is usually the slowest one.

Tracking licences across a brokerage

An agent whose licence lapses cannot legally deal in mortgages, and the brokerage usually finds out when a file is already in progress. The fix is dull and effective: every agent's licence class, number, province, renewal date and CE status on one screen, with warnings well ahead of each deadline.

That is how compliance in Mortgage360 handles it: licence status and CE progress are tracked against renewal deadlines, so a lapse is caught in advance. Recruitment carries the licence step for new agents, and brokerage pricing is published if you want to cost it.

Sources

1. New mortgage agent and broker licensing requirements — FSRA
2. Become a mortgage agent level 1 — FSRA
3. Become a mortgage agent level 2 — FSRA
4. Become a mortgage broker — FSRA
5. Become a principal broker — FSRA
6. Mortgage Services Act — BCFSA
7. Mortgage broker education requirements under the Mortgage Services Act — BCFSA
8. Continuing education for mortgage brokers — BCFSA
9. Pre-licensing education — RECA
10. Manage your licence — RECA
11. Mortgage brokerage: compulsory training — AMF
12. PDUs for mortgage brokerage — AMF
13. Mortgage brokers — FCAA Saskatchewan
14. Mortgage salesperson registration — Manitoba Securities Commission
15. Mortgage broker licence — Government of Nova Scotia
16. Mortgage broker licensing and education requirements — FCNB
17. Mortgage broker educational requirements — Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
18. Mortgage Broker Regulators' Council of Canada — MBRCC