An individual who wishes to become licensed as a mortgage broker in Ontario must:

• be 18 years of age or older,
• be a resident of Canada,
• have a mailing address in Ontario that can receive registered mail (it cannot be a post office box),
• be authorized by a Mortgage Brokerage to deal or trade mortgages on its behalf,
• work for only one Mortgage Brokerage,
• have successfully completed an approved education program for mortgage agents,
• have been licensed as a Mortgage Agent for at least 24 months, during the 36 month period before applying for the Mortgage Broker licence*, and
• successfully complete the approved educational course and exam for Mortgage Brokers, up to three years before applying for a Mortgage Broker licence.

*In certain circumstances, experience under the Mortgage Brokers Act may satisfy this requirement.

Mortgage Broker Education Requirements

To meet the education requirements for a mortgage broker licence, you must:

• successfully complete the Mortgage Broker Education Program approved by the Superintendent, FSCO

AND

• apply for the mortgage broker licence within three years of successfully completing the approved Mortgage Broker Education Program.

There are two exceptions to the requirements above:

• Financial Services Underwriting Program: If you were enrolled on July 1, 2008 in the Financial Services Underwriting Program offered by Seneca College, you are not required to successfully complete the Mortgage Broker Education Program. Instead, you can rely on Seneca College’s Financial Services Underwriting Program to meet the education requirements for a mortgage broker licence. To do this, you must: 1) successfully complete Seneca College’s Financial Services Underwriting Program, and then 2) apply for the mortgage broker licence within one year. Please note that you must do both of these things before July 1, 2011.

• Real Estate Brokers: You are not required to successfully complete the Mortgage Broker Education Program if you were a registered as a real estate broker under the Real Estate and Business Broker Act, 2002 on July 1, 2008 and you apply for a mortgage broker licence before July 1, 2009.

The Mortgage Broker Education Program

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has awarded the contract for the development and provision of the mortgage broker education program to Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology. Successful completion the program satisfies the educational requirement for a mortgage broker licence under the Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act, 2006.

The program consists of an online course of study and a period of in-class seminars followed by the qualifying examination. The five-day in-class study seminars are offered at least once yearly at a location in Ontario where the demand is the greatest.

The program is provided in English by Seneca College and in French by La Cité collégiale.

The link to the English provider’s site is : Seneca College

The link to the French provider’s site is : La Cité collégiale