Residential Mortgage Underwriting in Canada · Part 1
Underwriting the Borrower
Credit, Income, and Debt Service
Most declines come down to the borrower. This course teaches you to see the problem before you send the file.
$298 Chapters 1 to 14 Or all three courses for $498
Enrol now, $298 See the full program
Why this course
Most files are won or lost on the borrower
Your licensing course taught you the rules. It did not teach you which self-employed income method gets a borrower qualified, how long someone waits after a consumer proposal, or how to structure a file with a co-signer that a lender will actually accept.
Part 1 opens with the system you work inside, then spends nine chapters on the borrower, which is where most files are won or lost.
What you will be able to do:
- Read a credit bureau for the story it tells, not just the score
- Qualify a borrower after a bankruptcy or consumer proposal, and know when they can return to an A lender
- Verify employment income in every common pay structure
- Choose the right self-employed income method and defend it
- Verify down payment and gift funds to current lender standards
- Calculate GDS and TDS correctly, and know what belongs in each
- Structure a file with a co-signer that lenders will accept
- Handle a spousal buyout in any province
Curriculum
14 chapters, chapters 1 to 14
Every chapter carries learning objectives, worked examples with real numbers, Real Talk industry insight, an interactive calculator, a cheat sheet and a quiz with unlimited attempts.
The system you work inside
The Evolution of Canadian Mortgage Underwriting
How underwriting changed, and why the rules look the way they do today.
The Modern Underwriting Profession
What an underwriter actually does, the Five Cs of Credit, and who does what across the industry.
Regulatory Framework
OSFI B-20, the stress test, provincial differences, and the role of CMHC and the private insurers.
Types of Lenders and Their Underwriting Approaches
Big Six, monolines, credit unions, alternative and private lenders, and how to match a borrower to the right one.
Mortgage Products and Programs Overview
Insured, insurable and uninsured. Fixed against variable. HELOCs, hybrids and reverse mortgages.
The borrower
Credit Analysis and Bureau Interpretation
Reading Equifax and TransUnion reports, what moves a score, and credit requirements at A, B and private lenders.
Bankruptcy and Consumer Proposals
How each one reports, recovery timelines, and lender policy after discharge and after completion.
Income Verification and Analysis in the Modern Economy
Salaried, hourly, commission, bonus, contract, rental and gig income, and how to test it for stability.
Self-Employed Borrowers
Business structures, the add-back framework, stated income and bank statement programs.
Down Payment and Gift Fund Verification
Source of funds, the ninety-day rule, gift letters, international transfers, FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan.
Debt Service Ratios and Calculations
GDS and TDS, what goes into each, and how to improve a borrower's ratios.
Guarantors and Co-Signers
Co-borrower, co-signer and guarantor, the qualification math, and why most lenders no longer accept a pure guarantor.
Extended Family Financing
Multi-generational purchases, co-ownership structures, and how lenders qualify them.
Spousal Buyouts and Matrimonial Homes
Family law and underwriting, buyout math, and why four provinces give four answers on the same file.
What makes this different
Live file clinics, every week
The teaching is in the manual, the videos and the audiobook. The live nights are for working real files, because that is the part you cannot get from a book.
One night a week, two hours, 7:00 to 9:00 pm Eastern. Bring a real deal with the names taken off it and we work it in front of the group.
The full series runs six nights before it repeats. Part 1 gives you nights 1 to 3, the borrower nights, and they come around every cycle. Nights 4 to 6 belong to Parts 2 and 3.
Nothing is scheduled at the point of purchase. You enrol whenever you are ready, start reading the same day, and join the next night that suits you. Miss one for a closing and the recording is posted the next day.
Clinics are led by REMIC instructors, including Joe White and Kevin Rallings.
Nights 4 to 6 cover the property, deal structure, and fraud, AML and declines. You will see them in your schedule and can add either course whenever you want in. Attend as many nights and as many cycles as you like, for as long as your access lasts.
What you get
Built to be used at your desk, not read once
Live file clinics
Your three clinic nights, run one night a week as part of a rolling six-night series. Real deals worked in front of the group, and recorded.
The manual
The full Underwriting the Borrower manual, plus every chapter as its own PDF so you can pull up one topic without the whole book.
Interactive calculators
14 calculators, including the GDS and TDS calculator and the spousal buyout calculator. Built to use on live files.
Chapter cheat sheets
One page per chapter with the numbers, rules and definitions you need to have at hand.
Chapter quizzes
Unlimited attempts, with feedback that explains why an answer is wrong and where to look it up.
Video walkthroughs
A short introduction to every chapter from Joe White.
Audiobook
Every chapter narrated for the car, the walk or the gym. Written for listening, not read off the page.
Cait, your AI tutor
Ask questions about the material and get answers at any hour, from the course content itself.
Certificate of Completion
Issued by REMIC, and it counts as one of the three courses toward the Certificate in Residential Mortgage Underwriting.
Who it is for
Written for both sides of the file
Brokers and agents
You want fewer declines, and you want to know a file will not work before you spend three weeks on it.
New underwriters
You are new to a lender's desk and need the borrower side properly, not in fragments.
Continuing education
Covers your full 10-hour Professional CE requirement in Ontario
FSRA requires 10 hours of Technical Knowledge and Professional Development each cycle, on top of your accredited Conduct CE. This course covers all ten.
Your certificate shows the course name, provider, hours and completion date, which is exactly what you report at renewal. Keep it on file for four years.
Two things worth knowing. FSRA does not accredit Professional CE courses, so no course can be called FSRA-approved for this component. And hours beyond the 10 required do not carry into a later cycle, so completing more than one course in the same cycle does not bank hours for the next one.
Licensed outside Ontario? Contact us and we will confirm what applies in your province.
Enrol
Take this course, or take the program
Underwriting the Borrower
$298
Part 1 · Chapters 1 to 14
- 14 chapters
- 14 calculators and tools
- Live clinic nights 1 to 3
- Cheat sheets, quizzes and videos
- 10 hours of Professional CE
- 1 year of access
- Counts toward the Certificate in Residential Mortgage Underwriting
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Available now
The Complete Residential Underwriter
$1,044$498
All three courses · Chapters 1 to 44
$11 per chapter
- All 44 chapters
- The Certificate in Residential Mortgage Underwriting
- All six live clinic nights, every cycle
- Every calculator and cheat sheet
- 1 year of access to all three
Save $546 against buying the three separately
Questions
Before you enrol
Do I need to take the other courses first?
No. Part 1 is the natural starting point, and it works on its own.
Do I need underwriting experience?
No. The material starts from the ground up and builds. Working underwriters use it for depth on the areas their desk sees least.
When do the live clinics run?
One night a week, 7:00 to 9:00 pm Eastern, two hours. Six nights make a full cycle, then there are two weeks off and the cycle starts again. The dates are posted in the course, so nothing is locked in when you buy.
Which clinic nights come with this course?
Nights 1 to 3, covering income and the self-employed borrower, credit and post-insolvency files, and debt service ratios and file structuring. Nights 4 and 5 come with Part 2 and night 6 with Part 3. Every night shows in your schedule either way, so you can see what is running and add a course if a night outside yours is one you want.
What if I miss a clinic night?
Every session is recorded and posted in the course the next day. The same night comes around again next cycle, so you can sit it live later if you would rather.
How long do I have access?
One year from enrolment, including your clinic nights and every update released during that year.
What if the course is not what I expected?
Email support@remic.ca within 30 days of purchase and we will refund you in full. No form, no withdrawal fee. Access is removed when the refund is processed.
Should I buy this course or the full program?
The full program is $498, which is less than any two courses bought on their own. Buy this course alone if you have one specific problem to solve.
Stop sending files that were never going to approve
Enrol today for $298, or get all three courses for $498.