The mortgage renewal retention playbook for brokerages
Mortgage renewal retention is decided months before the lender's renewal letter arrives. By the time the client opens that letter, the lender has made an offer and the broker has not. This playbook is the timeline, the ownership model and the measurement that keeps the renewal yours.
Why renewals are the cheapest deals you will ever do
A renewal client already knows you, already trusted you with the largest financial decision of their life, and already has a file you could rebuild in an afternoon. There is no lead cost and no cold introduction. The only thing that can lose the deal is silence, and silence is exactly what most brokerages provide between funding and maturity.
The volume is not small. The Bank of Canada's July 2025 staff analytical note estimated that about 60% of all outstanding mortgages in Canada would renew in 2025 or 2026, and that about 60% of those borrowers would see a payment increase. A client facing a higher payment is a client who wants advice — and who will take it from whoever calls first.
We have written separately about why brokerages lose renewals they should have kept. The short version is that nobody owned the client between funding and maturity. This guide is the fix.
The lender's clock, and why yours has to start earlier
Federally regulated lenders — banks — must send a renewal statement at least 21 days before the end of the term. The rule is in section 45 of the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations, made under section 627.89 of the Bank Act; section 46 requires the same 21 days' notice if the bank does not intend to renew. The statement must also say that nothing increasing the cost of borrowing will change between the statement and the renewal date. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada summarises it for consumers. Credit unions, monoline lenders and private lenders are governed by different rules, and many send their offer much earlier than the federal minimum.
Twenty-one days is a floor, not a schedule, and many lenders make contact well before the formal statement. Either way, the client receives a renewal offer with a signature line from the incumbent. If your first contact comes after that, you are asking them to do more work than signing. Most will not.
The switching barrier has also dropped. Since 21 November 2024 OSFI no longer prescribes the minimum qualifying rate for uninsured ‘straight switch’ renewals moved to another federally regulated lender, the federal government's Canadian Mortgage Charter lets insured mortgage holders switch lenders at renewal without another stress test, and the Department of Finance extended similar relief to low-ratio, portfolio-insured straight switches from 16 December 2024. A client who could not have moved in 2023 may be able to move now — which is an opportunity for you and a risk if you are not the one asking.
Treat the lender's statement as your deadline for having already made a recommendation, not as your cue to start. The client should open the lender's letter already knowing what you think of it.
The 180-day timeline
The exact numbers matter less than having them. What follows is the cadence we would run for a standard five-year term; compress it for shorter terms and for clients you know are rate-sensitive.
- 1
180 days out: flag and segment
The renewal enters the queue. The file is reviewed for what has changed: equity, income, family, the lender's current posted and discretionary pricing, and any penalty if the client wanted to act early. Nothing is sent yet.
- 2
150 days out: first human contact
A call from the agent who did the original deal, or the renewal specialist if the brokerage runs one. The purpose is to ask what has changed in their life and to tell them you will bring them options. It is not a sales call.
- 3
120 days out: a rate hold where it helps
Many lenders offer a rate hold on a switch, and the length varies by lender — check each one's current terms. Where a switch is plausible, this is the window to lock protection against rising rates without committing the client to anything.
- 4
90 days out: the recommendation
A written comparison: the incumbent's likely offer, two or three alternatives, the switching cost and the payment difference. Run the payment at the new rate so the client sees the number before the lender's letter shows it to them.
- 5
60 to 30 days out: decision and paperwork
Either the client stays and you help them negotiate the incumbent's offer — which is still a retained relationship — or you submit the switch with time to spare for legal and discharge.
- 6
After maturity: close the loop
Record the outcome, the reason and the new maturity date. The next renewal clock starts the day this one ends.
Who owns the renewal
Every brokerage answers this question, whether or not it writes the answer down. The unwritten answer is usually 'the original agent', which works until that agent leaves, goes quiet, or is simply busy the week the renewal needs attention.
There are three workable models. What does not work is leaving it ambiguous, because an unowned renewal is a lost renewal.
| Model | How it works | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|
| Originating agent owns it | The agent who funded the deal keeps the client and the renewal commission | Departed or inactive agents; no one notices until after maturity |
| Renewal desk | A dedicated person or team works every renewal in the book, with a split to the originator | Needs a clear split and a clean hand-back, or agents feel robbed |
| Agent-owned, brokerage-backstopped | The agent owns it, but an unworked renewal escalates to a desk at a fixed point, say 120 days | Only works if the escalation is automatic, not a manager's memory |
Decide what happens to an agent's renewals when they leave before you have the conversation with the agent who is leaving. Client ownership, renewal commission and file access all need an answer in the agent agreement, not in a negotiation on their last day.
Segment the book before you call it
Not every renewal needs the same effort, and treating them identically either wastes senior agent time on straightforward stays or under-serves the clients most at risk of leaving. Sort the queue first.
- Payment shock: clients whose payment will rise materially at current rates. These need a human conversation first and a spreadsheet second.
- Switch candidates: clients whose incumbent is unlikely to be competitive, or whose situation has improved enough to open better options.
- Equity events: clients with enough equity for a refinance, debt consolidation or a rental purchase — renewal is when that conversation is cheapest.
- Straightforward stays: good rate, happy client, nothing changed. A short call and a written confirmation.
- At risk: clients whose income, health or relationship has changed. These are advice conversations, and some are not mortgage conversations at all.
- Orphaned: clients whose original agent has left. These go to an owner immediately, not when someone notices.
What to automate and what to call
The rule of thumb: automate the clock and the reminders, never the advice. Software is excellent at making sure nothing is forgotten and bad at telling a client that their payment is going up by a few hundred dollars a month.
Automated renewal emails also count as commercial electronic messages. A renewal offer is not a transaction the client has already agreed to, so it needs a consent basis. Our CASL guide covers why asking for express consent at funding saves you the question at renewal.
| Automate | Keep human |
|---|---|
| The renewal date entering the queue at 180 days | The first conversation about what has changed |
| Escalation of unworked renewals to a desk | The recommendation and the reasoning behind it |
| Reminders to the owner at each milestone | Payment-shock conversations |
| A check-in email or text to clients with consent | Negotiating with the incumbent lender |
| Document requests once a switch is agreed | Anything touching a change in the client's circumstances |
Measuring retention honestly
Most brokerages that measure retention measure it generously. The number that matters is simple and uncomfortable: of the mortgages in your book that matured in a period, how many did you place again — either a switch you arranged or a renewal you advised on and recorded?
Measure it by maturity month, not by the month the work happened, and keep the denominator honest: every maturing mortgage you funded, including those of agents who have left. Excluding orphaned clients is the most common way to make a retention rate look healthy while the book drains.
- Retention rate: retained maturities ÷ all maturities in the period.
- Contact rate: maturities with a logged human conversation by 90 days out ÷ all maturities.
- Lost-to-incumbent versus lost-to-competitor, recorded with a reason on every loss.
- Unowned renewals: maturities within 120 days with no active owner. This number should be zero.
- Retention by agent and by segment, reviewed monthly.
Contact rate predicts retention rate. If your contact rate by 90 days is low, you do not need a better renewal script — you need the queue to reach people earlier.
How Mortgage360 runs the renewal clock
In the Mortgage360 mortgage CRM the maturity date is a first-class field on the client's record, and one person can hold many mortgages, so a funded deal starts the next renewal cycle rather than closing the file. A renewal reminder is scheduled 120 days before maturity and the pipeline can be filtered by renewal window, agent or lender.
Finn, the agent copilot, surfaces upcoming renewals in the daily ranked task list and drafts the outreach for the agent to approve. The power dialer builds a calling queue from any CRM filter — including ‘renews in the next 120 days’ — and logs every call. Automations handle escalation and reminders, and the underwriting studio models payment shock at renewal so the recommendation starts from the client's real numbers.
Sources
- Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations, SOR/2021-181, s. 45 (renewal) — Justice Laws Website
- Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations, s. 46 (non-renewal) — Justice Laws Website
- Bank Act, s. 627.89 (disclosure on renewal) — Justice Laws Website
- Renewing your mortgage — Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
- Government announces boldest mortgage reforms in decades (Canadian Mortgage Charter) — Department of Finance Canada
- How will mortgage payments change at renewal? An updated analysis (Staff Analytical Note 2025-21) — Bank of Canada
- OSFI exempts uninsured mortgage straight switches from the prescribed MQR — OSFI
- “Straight switches” and portfolio insurance — Department of Finance Canada
Questions
When must a bank send a mortgage renewal statement?
At least 21 days before the end of the term, under section 45 of the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations. A bank that does not intend to renew must say so at least 21 days before the term ends. Provincially regulated lenders follow different rules.
How early should a broker start on a renewal?
About 180 days before maturity for internal review, with first client contact around 150 days out and a written recommendation by 90 days. The point is to make a recommendation before the lender's offer arrives.
Is a renewal with the same lender a lost deal?
Not if you advised on it and recorded it. A client who stays with the incumbent on terms you negotiated is a retained relationship; a client who signs the lender's letter without speaking to you is not.
Do clients have to pass the stress test to switch lenders at renewal?
Not always. Since 21 November 2024 OSFI no longer prescribes the qualifying rate for uninsured straight switches between federally regulated lenders, and the Canadian Mortgage Charter lets insured mortgage holders switch at renewal without another stress test. Lenders still underwrite the switch.
Who should own renewals when an agent leaves?
Whoever your agent agreement says — which is why it needs to say something. Most brokerages move orphaned renewals to a desk or another agent with a split, but the rule has to be written before anyone leaves.
We will load your maturities and show you which ones nobody owns.
See every renewal in your book
We will load your maturities and show you which ones nobody owns.