Mortgage Underwriting Mastery Curriculum

Program Overview

This course provides mortgage brokers, agents, and underwriters with in-depth knowledge of Canadian mortgage underwriting. Learners will explore historical context, modern practices, regulatory frameworks, and complex deal structures. By the end, they’ll be able to assess, structure, and manage mortgage applications with confidence, compliance, and strategic foresight.

Chapter 1: The Evolution of Canadian Mortgage Underwriting

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Understand historical practices and how mortgages worked before credit scores and digital systems.
  • Identify major turning points: 1954 transformation, 1980s interest rate shocks, 2008 financial crisis, and the digital era.
  • Compare traditional vs. modern borrower journeys through case studies.
  • Recognize systemic biases and lessons for today’s underwriters.

Chapter 2: The Modern Underwriting Profession

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Define mortgage underwriting in technical and practical terms.
  • Understand the Canadian regulatory environment.
  • Apply the Five Cs of Credit in real-world analysis.
  • Recognize the roles of stakeholders across the ecosystem.
  • Develop essential technical and soft skills for underwriting success.
  • Plan career growth and understand professional ethics.

Chapter 3: Regulatory Framework

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Understand OSFI B-20 guidelines, including stress tests, LTV, and income verification rules.
  • Compare provincial regulatory variations across Canada.
  • Analyze the role of CMHC and private mortgage insurers.
  • Anticipate regulatory changes and embed compliance into practice.
  • Evaluate Canada’s framework in the context of global mortgage markets.

Chapter 4: Types of Lenders and Their Underwriting Approaches

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Differentiate between Big Six banks, monolines, credit unions, alternative lenders, private lenders, and fintech entrants.
  • Understand the philosophy behind each lender’s underwriting approach.
  • Build strategies for successful submissions across lender types.
  • Match borrower profiles with the most suitable lenders through case study analysis.

Chapter 5: Mortgage Products and Programs Overview

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Distinguish between insured, insurable, and uninsured mortgage products.
  • Compare fixed vs. variable mortgage products and their suitability.
  • Evaluate specialized products including HELOCs, hybrid mortgages, and reverse mortgages.
  • Understand prepayment privileges, penalties, and portability rules.
  • Apply a structured framework for product selection based on borrower needs.

Chapter 6: Credit Analysis and Bureau Interpretation

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Read and interpret credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion.
  • Understand the factors that drive credit scores and their practical implications.
  • Identify red flags, fraud patterns, and suspicious activity.
  • Build effective borrower credit explanations and letters.
  • Compare credit requirements across banks, alternative lenders, and private lenders.

Chapter 7: Bankruptcy and Consumer Proposals

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Understand Canadian insolvency options and how they affect borrowers.
  • Analyze how bankruptcies are reported on credit bureaus and recovery timelines.
  • Compare lender policies for post-bankruptcy borrowers across A, B, and private lenders.
  • Apply strategies for rebuilding credit and structuring mortgage readiness.
  • Assess risk in complex cases including multiple bankruptcies or cross-border issues.

Chapter 8: Income Verification and Analysis

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Verify traditional employment income, commission, and bonus structures.
  • Analyze alternative income sources including rental, gig economy, and crypto income.
  • Apply trending analysis and stability indicators to determine borrower eligibility.
  • Use CRA documentation and modern verification tools effectively.
  • Ensure compliance with B-20 and FINTRAC rules.

Chapter 9: Self-Employed Borrowers

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Understand business structures (sole proprietorship, incorporation, partnerships) and their mortgage implications.
  • Apply the add-back framework to calculate qualifying income.
  • Evaluate alternative verification methods such as bank statement or BFS programs.
  • Detect sophisticated fraud in self-employed files.
  • Strategically align self-employed borrowers with appropriate lenders.

Chapter 10: Down Payment and Gift Fund Verification

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Understand regulatory expectations for source of funds in 2025 and beyond.
  • Apply rules for FHSA, HBP, and other structured down payment programs.
  • Verify gift funds, including international and complex transfers.
  • Assess the use of digital assets like cryptocurrency and NFTs as down payment sources.
  • Detect and prevent fraud while ensuring FINTRAC compliance.

Chapter 11: Debt Service Ratios and Calculations

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Calculate GDS and TDS ratios accurately, applying 2025 lender standards.
  • Incorporate property taxes, heating costs, and condo fees into qualification.
  • Understand new amortization rules and their impact on affordability.
  • Apply exception management strategies with proper documentation.
  • Optimize borrower profiles through debt reduction and income maximization.

Chapter 12: Guarantors and Co-Signers

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Differentiate between co-borrowers, co-signers, and guarantors.
  • Understand qualification calculations when multiple parties are involved.
  • Recognize legal responsibilities, risks, and credit implications for guarantors and co-signers.
  • Apply strategies for mitigating risk and planning exit strategies.

Chapter 13: Extended Family Financing

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Identify motivations and trends in multi-generational and extended family homeownership.
  • Understand legal structures including tenancy and co-ownership agreements.
  • Evaluate underwriting considerations and qualification challenges for co-owned properties.
  • Apply risk mitigation strategies in extended family financing scenarios.

Chapter 14: Spousal Buyouts and Matrimonial Homes

• Learning Outcomes:
  • Understand the interaction between family law and mortgage underwriting.
  • Calculate buyout amounts and consider tax implications.
  • Incorporate support payments accurately in qualification.
  • Apply clean break mortgage structures and interim solutions.
  • Manage emotional and legal complexities in matrimonial underwriting scenarios.

Final Project: Comprehensive Underwriting Case

Learners will analyze a complex borrower scenario (e.g., self-employed + gift funds + spousal buyout + extended family involvement). They must:

• Collect and verify documents
• Apply regulatory guidelines
• Structure the file
• Recommend the best lender/product
• Justify decisions in a professional report