Shopping your mortgage at renewal could be the most valuable hour you spend this year. Your bank sends a number, and it looks reasonable. But the broker you call has access to lenders and specials that never show up at the branch, and half the people renewing this year intend to shop around. The question is whether you’re one of them.

The subprime lending market in Canada has nearly doubled, from 8% to 16% of all mortgages, and it’s not because people are less creditworthy. Bank regulators have tightened the rules for traditional lenders, pushing otherwise qualified buyers into a space that used to be reserved for higher-risk borrowers. Meanwhile, if you bought at the 2021 or 2022 peak, selling your house to escape an underwater mortgage might mean writing a check to the buyer to cover the gap.

The renewal cliff everyone feared in 2024 turned out less steep than predicted. But most people still don’t know what a broker can access that their bank won’t offer. That gap, between what you’re quoted and what’s actually available, is worth closing before you sign anything.

Topics: mortgage renewal Canada, mortgage broker, subprime lending, housing market 2025, underwater mortgage

GUEST: Dan Eisner | https://www.truenorthmortgage.ca | @‌truenorthmortgage

Originally aired on2026-02-18