Rob Bryant - Mortgage Agent

04/17/2026

Have a variable rate mortgage, secured line of credit or thinking about getting one? Great chart showing forecasts for Bank of Canada lending rate from the major banks below.

For those that do no know, the Bank of Canada lending rate is strongly correlated to the Prime lending rate (close to 1-to-1, see chart below) that financial institutions in Canada in their formula to set variable rate mortgages and lines of credit.

03/30/2026

Had a borrower who was concerned about their mortgage payment increasing significantly at renewal.

Their existing rate was 1.69%, and the renewal options from their current lender were around 4%. If they stayed on track with their remaining 15-year amortization, their payment on the straight renewal would have increased from $3,145/month to $3,690/month.

That is a $545/month increase and a major change to cash flow.

What was the solution to the cashflow concern? We refinanced the mortgage and moved it to another lender, extending the amortization from 15 years to 19 years. In this case, that kept the payment in line at $3,145/month.

If you are coming up for renewal and concerned about what your mortgage payments will look like be proactive and line up a review. Four months or more before maturity is ideal.

03/28/2026

Disappointed with what you have been approved for towards the purchase of a property? The problem might be that you are not reviewing your financial situation with lenders that have lending policies more favorably aligned with your financial situation.

Case in point:

Issue --> I had a prospective client recently connect with me who was frustrated with what they could be approved for. The secondary job they had as a self-employed delivery driver and Canada Child Benefit (CCB) received for children aged 13 and 14 was not able to be utilized in calculations for affordability with the initial lender they visited.

Solution --> By exploring multiple lenders we were able to find lenders that would fully utilize this income (secondary job and CCB) in their assessment.

Result --> Affordability of the prospect increased from $450,000 to $600,000.

Expanding the affordability can be a big deal for many. It may open up new purchasing options, such as moving from a condo to a detached home or buying in an urban area closer to work instead of in a rural area with a long commute.

And yes, the rate and costs were basically the same as the initial lender.

03/23/2026

A big miss by first-time home buyers I am seeing often right now? Not setting up the FHSA (First-Time Home Savings Account) soon enough.

Your contribution room (the amount you are allowed to put into the FHSA) only starts accumulating once the FHSA is opened. This is different from how contribution room works for a TFSA or RRSP. Thus, if a first time home buyer waits to open an FHSA they are reducing the contribution room they have for an FHSA which directly reduces the amount they can save on taxes.

Key takeaway  if you are eligible for a FHSA and think you will be buying a home in the next 15 years, open an FHSA, even if you are not going to put a lot of money into it anytime soon.

From the Canada Revenue Agency:
• Who is eligible for an FHSA: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/first-home-savings-account/opening-your-fhsas.html
• How FHSA contribution room works: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/first-home-savings-account/contributing-your-fhsa.html

If you, or someone you know, wants more details on utilizing the FHSA effectively or want to start planning for the purchase of a new home effectively just send me a message.

Find out your FHSA participation room, and learn about how your FHSA participation room and FHSA carryforward are calculated.

03/02/2026

Let’s keep this quick and to the point on rate movements for fixed-rate mortgages:

Bond yields and mortgages:
o Bond yields are historically closely correlated with fixed-rate mortgage movements.
o Bond yields have been volatile lately. As of March 2, 2026 at 10:00 AM, they’re moving up.
o See the chart snippet below.

Control what you can control:
o If you need to set up a new mortgage in the near future (renewal, refinance, purchase, etc.), take action.
o How: submit an application and/or secure a rate hold.

Risk/Reward:
o Risk to you:
▪ Typically no cost to put a rate hold in place, but it does take some time.
▪ It usually takes less than an hour to set up a rate hold or request a pre-approval.
o Reward (*potentailly) to you:
▪ Every 0.10% matters — you save roughly $100/year in interest per $100,000 of mortgage balance (or $1,000/year per $1 million) in the early years.
▪ Scale that by your mortgage size and term length, and if rates move more than 0.10%, the savings can add up quickly.

Reach out if you want to discuss.

02/17/2026

New Blog Out:

Increasing Affordability With....

Purchase-Plus-Improvement Financing

https://www.borrowwithrob.ca/increasing-affordability-with-purchase-plus-improvement-financing