BC · AB · SK — cross-Canada by co-broker desk

Mortgages built around how physicians actually earn.

Banks read a two-year T4 average. A resident three months from staff pay, a fee-for-service internist, an incorporated surgeon leaving income in the corp — none of them fit that template. The lender programs that do fit exist. This site shows you the math before anyone asks for your documents.

See what you could qualify for Find my career stage

Already own? Price your renewal →

$185K–$225KResident qualifying income under one major bank's projected-income table (PGY 1–2 vs PGY 3+)
10%Minimum down on projected-income insured programs — and 5% of it may be borrowed
$1,499,999Maximum purchase price for an insured mortgage in Canada
<24 monthsNew-to-practice window — qualify before you have two years of history

The difference a lender makes

Same resident. Same debt. A different answer.

A PGY-2 with a $200,000 line of credit walks into two lenders on the same day. One reads a training T4; the other reads the physician program. The gap isn’t small.

At a regular bank

Income counted$72,000
$200K line counted$6,000/mo
Qualifies for~$185,000

The right physician program

Income counted$185,000 projected
$200K line counted$1,800/mo
Qualifies for~$720,000

≈ $535,000 more — from lender choice alone.

See your own number

Illustrative — projected-income and line-of-credit treatments vary by lender and file. Run your real scenario in the affordability calculator; Ramin confirms the exact figures.

Start here

What best describes you?

Each stage asks a lender a different question. Pick yours and the page starts with the math that decides your file.

Resident New in practice Incorporated Established
Resident / FellowProjected income, PLOC, first purchase New in practiceContract income, locum, first renewal Incorporated physicianCorporate income, retained earnings, portfolio lending Established ownerRenewal, refinance, investment property

Rate check

Is the rate you're holding earning its keep?

Set your balance and rate. The result compares you against a working broker desk reference — 3.74% conventional variable, desk sheet dated July 14, 2026 — and prices the gap in dollars, not adjectives.

All tools →

Assumes a 30-year amortization. The reference is a floating desk rate — a fixed rate signed two years ago can look expensive today and still have been the right call then. This is about what renewal or a restructure could do now.

B
Gap to desk reference+0.71%
Interest cost of that gap, rest of term$0
Penalty to switch now (est)$0
Break-even on the switch—

Penalty estimated as three months’ interest (the common floor); fixed-rate IRD penalties can run higher and are lender-specific. At renewal the penalty is $0.

Have Ramin price the switch
“Every week I meet a physician who was told to come back in two years. Almost every time, the file didn't need two years — it needed a lender whose program reads medical income the way medicine actually pays it.”

— Ramin Hallaji, mortgage broker · BCFSA & RECA licensed

Career stages

Your stage decides the strategy

The same physician qualifies differently at each turn — residency, new practice, incorporation, buying a rental, renewing. Each is a different lender conversation, and a different set of numbers.

Residencyprojected income New to practicecontract & locum Incorporatedcorp lenses Establishedrenewal & rentals Every stage asks the lender a different question

Stage 01

Resident or fellow

Projected-income programs qualify you on what you're about to earn, not last year's stipend.

  • One major bank's table: $185,000 (PGY 1–2), $225,000 (PGY 3+) — tables are lender-specific
  • Minimum 10% down; 5% of it may be borrowed
  • Purchase under $1,500,000, owner-occupied

Stage 02

New to practice

Inside your first 24 months of practice, the projected-income lane stays open — no two-year history required.

  • Physicians & dentists: within 24 months of starting
  • Fee-for-service and contract income accepted by program lenders
  • Specialist tables run well above the resident figures

Stage 03

Established, fee-for-service

Now it's about how your income is read: gross billings, net after expenses, and which lender reads it best.

  • Two-year averages vs most-recent-year approaches
  • Stress-test planning across renewal dates
  • Rental and second-property layering

Stage 04

Incorporated

Retained earnings are invisible to standard math. Three different lender lenses can triple the income a file shows.

  • Salary + dividends at face value
  • Dividend gross-up at 1.38×
  • Net-income add-back programs (60% of corp NIAT)

Stage 05

Physician investor

Once you own where you live, rental property is the next lever — and physician income opens doors most investors don't have.

  • Rental income and the coverage ratio lenders read first
  • Down payments often funded from the professional line of credit
  • How the new debt reshapes what you still qualify for

Stage 06

At renewal

Banks count on a quiet signature. Your renewal is a live negotiation — and often a chance to re-qualify under a professional program.

  • The bank's letter priced against a competing rate over the full term
  • Switching at renewal is usually penalty-free — timing is everything
  • Established physicians may re-qualify on a better lens than before

Incorporated physicians

The corp is earning. Make sure a lender can see it.

Three lender lenses — draw only, grossed-up dividends, add-back — read the same corporation very differently, and the spread is rarely small.

All tools →

A medical professional corporation is a tax structure, and the better it works for tax, the worse a standard mortgage application reads. Pay yourself $120,000 from $500,000 of billings and most lenders see… $120,000.

Lenders that work with incorporated professionals use three different lenses on the same corp. The face-value lens counts salary plus dividends as drawn. The gross-up lens multiplies eligible dividends by 1.38 — the CRA gross-up factor — before ratios are run. And add-back programs go furthest: they credit your personal draw plus 60% of the corporation's net income after tax, because that money is yours even if you left it in the company.

Which lens applies is lender- and program-specific — matching the file to the lens is most of the job. The three lenses below show the spread on your numbers, side by side.

CORP draw only grossed up add-back One corporation, three qualifying incomes

Draw only

Counts the salary and dividends you actually paid yourself — nothing else.

$180,000

qualifying income

Grossed-up dividend

Multiplies eligible dividends by the CRA gross-up factor of 1.38 before the ratios run.

$202,800

qualifying income

Add-back

Your draw plus 60% of what the corporation kept after tax — it’s still your money.

$297,000

qualifying income

Borrowing gap, best vs worst lens — at 4.5× income$0

Corp net income is approximated as billings less a 25% overhead allowance, minus salary and dividends. Your accountant-prepared financials replace that sketch — and the 4.5× line is a sizing convention, not an approval.

Source: CRA — eligible dividend gross-up (38%). Add-back programs and the 60%-of-NIAT credit are lender-specific, not a CRA rule.

Why specialized

What a generalist file misses

Income that ramps

Residency to staff pay can be a 4× jump inside a year. Averaging backwards misses it; projected-income programs price it in.

PLOC on the file

A six-figure line of credit isn't a red flag — it's how medical training is financed. How each lender treats the payment differs, and that difference is plannable.

The corp veil

Standard underwriting stops at your personal NOA. Professional programs read the corporation too — gross-ups, add-backs, retained earnings.

Licensed + co-brokered reach

Personally licensed in BC (BCFSA) and Alberta (RECA). Saskatchewan and the rest of Canada run through a co-broker access desk — I structure the file and stay on it end to end.

$1,499,999Insured purchase ceiling — at $1,500,000 the file needs 20% down
3.10%Default-insurance premium at 15–19.99% down on projected-income medical programs
90%Maximum loan-to-value on insured physician purchases
39 / 44GDS / TDS qualifying ceilings used on insured files

Reviewed for accuracy by Ramin Hallaji, licensed mortgage broker (BCFSA / RECA) · last updated July 2026. Program figures verified against insurer and lender factsheets on file. Programs are lender-specific and change — numbers here are for orientation, not a commitment to lend.

Planning tools

Run your own numbers first

A full set of calculators, tuned to physician files — the mortgage, the line of credit, the debt, and the plan around them. Defaults start at a real desk sheet (July 14, 2026) — drag them to your numbers. Planning math, not approvals.

Affordability

Stress-tested maximum with resident projected-income mode.

Rent vs buy

Seven western cities, honest closing costs, break-even year.

PLOC payoff

Interest-only drift vs a payoff plan vs rolling it into the mortgage.

Renewal check

Your bank's letter vs a competing rate, priced over the term.

Rental property

Cap rate vs city benchmark, cash flow, debt coverage.

Corp income lenses

Three lender readings of the same corporation, side by side.

Prepay or invest

Surplus cash: the mortgage, or the market — after tax, honestly.

Open the full tools hub →

Calculator · Affordability

What can I qualify for?

Full OSFI B-20 math: you qualify at the greater of your rate + 2% or 5.25%, inside 39% / 44% GDS and TDS ceilings. Residents: flip the mode and qualify on a projected-income table.

Training pay PGY 3+ Program income Specialty What a lender is allowed to count

Projected-income figures are each lender’s published estimate for your stage — your signed contract and specialty set the exact number, which Ramin confirms for your file.

30-year is the default and lowers the payment; a 30-year rate typically prices about 0.20% above 25-year, so switching to 25 drops the rate above by 0.20%. Change either freely.

Student debt counts in your TDS like any monthly payment. Some physician programs defer or structure it more kindly — the exact treatment is lender-specific, and Ramin confirms it for your file.

Lenders typically count about half of rental income toward qualifying (the rest is assumed to cover the property’s own costs) — the exact add-back varies by lender.

$0

Estimated maximum purchase price

Maximum mortgage$0
Monthly payment at your rate$0
Stress-test qualifying rate5.74%
Binding ratioGDS
Line of credit counted against you$0/mo
Insurance premium added to your mortgage$0
Sask. PST on premium — cash at closing$0
BC property transfer tax — cash at closing$0
Stress-tested GDS/TDS result$0
4.5× income rule of thumb$0

Your file at a glance

Property tax auto-estimated at 0.50% (BC), 0.85% (AB), 1.10% (SK) of the price per year; heat at $100 per month; half of condo fees counted — the standard qualifying treatment.

Sources: OSFI — minimum qualifying rate · CMHC — GDS / TDS ratios (39 / 44) · Dept. of Finance — $1.5M insured cap

Calculator · Rent vs buy

Keep renting through residency, or buy now?

Both paths costed over your horizon: rent with increases, or own with closing costs, property tax, upkeep — minus the equity you keep when the horizon ends.

All tools →

—

Break-even: —

Net cost of owning$0
Total rent paid$0
Closing costs at purchase$0
Equity at the end$0

Owning cost = down payment + closing + every payment, tax and upkeep dollar, minus the equity you walk away with (value less remaining mortgage). Selling costs if you exit (realtor, legal) aren’t modeled — they push a very early break-even later. 30-year amortization. Under 20% down the mortgage is insured — the projected-income physician premium (3.10% at 15–20% down, 4.10% at 10–15% down) is added and financed, and insured pricing assumes an insurable purchase under $1.5M. BC purchases include Property Transfer Tax; first-time-buyer and new-build exemptions can reduce it — not applied here. Alberta and Saskatchewan have no provincial land transfer tax.

Source: BC gov — Property Transfer Tax (1% / 2% / 3% tiers). Alberta and Saskatchewan levy no provincial land transfer tax.

Calculator · Line of credit

The PLOC: pay it down, or fold it in?

Interest-only minimums make a professional line of credit comfortable to carry and slow to leave. Price your payoff plan against rolling the balance into a mortgage.

Rate defaults: PLOC at prime (4.45%), mortgage at the desk's 3.74% conventional variable — July 14, 2026 sheet. Set both to your actual quotes. Rolling a PLOC into a mortgage needs equity room and its own approval.

—

Time to zero at your committed payment

Interest-only minimum right now$0
Interest paid on the payoff plan$0
Interest if rolled into mortgage, same payment$0
Difference$0

Source: Interest Act (RSC 1985, c. I-15) — Canadian mortgage interest compounds semi-annually, not in advance; the payoff and roll-in math follow that convention.

Same line · what it does to your approval

How your line of credit is counted — five very different answers

Your line doesn't change — but the monthly payment a lender counts against you for it swings enormously, from 3% of your whole limit down to a 15-year amortization on just the balance. Same line, wildly different mortgage.

StrictestGentlest limit 3% 1.5% 1% 15-yr am. The same line, five different verdicts

Each lender sizes the monthly payment it counts for your line differently — strictest to gentlest below. The 15-year figure uses the Bank of Canada 5-year benchmark (we use 5.25%). Approval impact is shown at the 5.25% stress-test floor over 30 years; it's the most it can cost you, capped by what your income actually supports.

$0

The monthly gap between the strictest and gentlest treatment — same line of credit, "phantom" debt you aren't actually paying

3% of your limit — strictest; counts room you've never touched$0/mo
3% of your balance — the most common rule$0/mo
1.5% of your balance — e.g. Scotia, when the line is held elsewhere$0/mo
1% of your balance — some lenders$0/mo
15-yr amortization at benchmark — Scotia's own line; gentlest$0/mo
StrictestGentlest

Why this may differ

Nothing in law sets one method. A lender chooses how to convert revolving credit into a monthly obligation for its own debt-service test, and those internal policies differ by lender, by product, and by whether the line is held with them or elsewhere. Payment figures on this page use Canada’s semi-annual compounding convention under the Interest Act (RSC 1985, c. I-15). Treatments shown are described by method, not ranked as good or bad lenders — the strictest method for one borrower can be irrelevant for another. Ramin confirms the current rule for whichever lender your file goes to.

Which side of this you land on comes down to the lender — and it's rarely posted on their website. It's the first thing a broker who runs physician files checks. Trimming a limit before you apply can help, but cutting room you'll need for practice or licensing costs is its own risk — worth a conversation, not a reflex.

Calculator · Renewal

Price the renewal letter before you sign it

Banks count on busy people signing the first offer. Enter the letter's rate and any competing quote — the difference is computed over the whole term, not just per month.

Both sliders start at the same desk reference on purpose — the comparison begins when you enter your real letter.

$0

Interest difference over the term

Payment at the bank's offer$0
Payment at the competing rate$0
Monthly difference$0
Balance gap at term end$0

Source: Interest Act (RSC 1985, c. I-15) — every payment figure uses Canada's semi-annual compounding convention.

Calculator · Rental property

Does the rental actually carry itself?

Cap rate against a city benchmark, monthly cash flow after the mortgage, and the coverage number lenders read first.

All tools →

Operating costs = property tax, insurance, condo fees, management, maintenance — everything except the mortgage. Rental pricing differs from owner-occupied; set the rate to your quote. Switching to 25-year nudges the rate down about 0.20%, the usual 25-vs-30 spread.

$0

Monthly cash flow after mortgage

This property's cap rate0%
City benchmark cap rate0%
Net operating income / year$0
Monthly mortgage payment$0
Debt service coverage (NOI ÷ payments)0.00

City benchmarks are planning reference points, not appraisals: Vancouver 3.5%, Victoria 4%, Kelowna 4%, Calgary 5%, Edmonton 5.5%, Saskatoon 6%, Regina 6.5%.

Calculator · PLOC strategy

Prepay the mortgage, or invest?

You’ve got surplus cash. Paying down a mortgage earns a guaranteed, tax-free return equal to your rate — investing has to beat that after tax to be worth the risk. Here’s the honest line, for your bracket.

All tools →

$0

Edge over the horizon

Prepay the mortgage — guaranteed$0
Invest instead — expected$0
Return you’d need to break even0%
PLOC after-tax borrowing cost0%

Prepaying is guaranteed and tax-free; investing carries risk and the return shown is only an assumption. Taxable growth is approximated as taxed each year (conservative). Borrowing through a PLOC to invest can make that interest tax-deductible — it also adds leverage and risk. Educational math, not advice — Ramin maps it to your real file.

Compare · Physician mortgage programs

The programs, side by side

Most physicians never see this laid out. Same borrower, very different doors — the insured programs take 10% down (a conventional route like TD needs 20%), and it’s the insurance premium, how they qualify your income, and how they count your line of credit that shift from lender to lender.

10% down — standard premium

First National · MCAP · Strive. Monoline lenders on the standard insured grid — the lowest premiums (2.80–4.00%). Trade-off: MCAP won’t take a borrowed down payment.

Compare these lenders ↓

10% down — projected income

Scotiabank · Manulife · BMO. Big-bank programs that qualify you on program income before the T4s exist. Trade-off: the elevated premium grid (3.10–4.10%).

Compare these lenders ↓

20% down — conventional

TD’s professional route. No insurance premium at all, 30-year amortization. Trade-off: the most cash up front.

Compare this route ↓
LenderMin downMax financingAmortizationInsured premiumGood to know
First NationalMedical Professionals10%90%25 yr · 30 for 1st-time / new build2.80–4.00%Lower standard-premium monoline; 120-day rate hold
MCAPMedical Professionals10%90%25 yr · 30 for 1st-time / new buildStandard grid10% own funds; borrowed down payment not allowed
StriveHealthcare Professional10%90%30 yrStandard grid10% down with a 30-yr amortization; also covers chiropractors & physiotherapists
ScotiabankProjected Income for Physicians10%90% insured25 yr · 30 uninsured3.10–4.10%Qualifies on your signed contract; counts your line of credit on balance, not limit
Manulife BankHigh-Ratio Projected Income10%90%30 yr3.10–4.10%Down payment can be gifted or borrowed; income table runs higher
BMOProfessional Program — Medical10%90% insured25 yr · 30 for 1st-time / new build3.10–4.10%Insured loan capped near $750K (metro) / $600K (rest of Canada)
TDProfessional Lending20%80% conventional30 yrNone — conventionalNo insurance premium, but you need 20% down

Resident qualifying income is broadly aligned — most use about $185,000 (PGY 1–2) and $225,000 (PGY 3+), with Manulife running higher, and each lender publishes a specialty schedule for newly practising physicians. Figures verified from lender factsheets and current as of July 2026 — programs, rates and premiums change, and not every lender lends in every province, so confirm current terms on your own file. More lenders (including National Bank and several BC & AB credit unions) are being added.

Working with your advisor

Your mortgage, coordinated with your plan — not competing with it.

Most physicians already have a financial planner, wealth advisor, or accountant. A mortgage should fit inside that plan, not fight it — so I work alongside the people who already steward your money, and I stay firmly in my lane.

Bring your planner

I structure the mortgage around your bigger picture — incorporation, investments, retirement — and coordinate with your advisor and accountant so it complements the plan instead of working against it.

For advisors & planners

Refer your physician clients with confidence. I finance the mortgage and hand the relationship straight back — no investment pitch, no cross-sell, no attempt on the assets you manage. The mortgage is the whole mandate.

Borrow, don’t sell

Where it helps, I structure financing that preserves the portfolio — so your client reaches liquidity without triggering a sale or a tax event, coordinated with you and their accountant.

Arrange an introduction

FAQ

Asked in almost every first call

I'm a resident with barely any income history. Can I really buy?

Yes — through projected-income programs, where you qualify on a lender's table for your stage rather than your stipend. One major bank's table reads $185,000 for PGY 1–2 and $225,000 for PGY 3+, with specialist figures well above that; tables differ by lender. Minimum 10% down, owner-occupied, purchase under $1,500,000.

Can part of my down payment come from my line of credit?

On medical projected-income programs, yes: 10% down minimum, and 5% of it may be borrowed — a PLOC is the usual source. The insurer charges roughly 0.40–0.50% more in premium for the borrowed portion, and the PLOC payment is counted in your ratios.

I'm incorporated and keep most income in the corp. What do lenders see?

Depends entirely on the lender's lens: face-value salary plus dividends, dividends grossed up 1.38×, or add-back programs crediting 60% of the corporation's net income after tax on top of your draw. The same corp can show a six-figure spread in qualifying income across those three readings. The corp calculator above shows your spread.

What is the stress test, exactly?

Federally regulated lenders must qualify you at the greater of your contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%, even though you pay the contract rate. It shrinks maximum borrowing by design. The affordability calculator applies it automatically.

Does my PLOC balance kill my ratios?

It's counted, but how the payment is read is lender-specific — and that's exactly where structuring matters. On a physician file, a PLOC is expected debt, not a character flaw; the job is choosing the lender whose treatment of it fits your numbers.

I just started practice. Do I have to wait two years?

Usually not. Physicians and dentists within 24 months of starting practice fit the projected-income lane (veterinarians and optometrists within 12 months). After that window, standard self-employed and professional programs take over — different math, still workable.

You're in BC — what if I'm in Saskatchewan or Ontario?

I'm personally licensed in BC (BCFSA) and Alberta (RECA). Elsewhere in Canada, your file runs through a co-broker access desk: a locally licensed broker signs where required, and I structure the file and stay on it end to end.

Are the rates on this page my rate?

No — calculator defaults come from a dated desk sheet (July 14, 2026) so the starting math is honest, and every one is a slider. Your rate depends on the file: insured versus conventional, property, income shape, closing timeline.

Which lenders actually offer physician mortgage programs?

More than most physicians realize, and they fall into camps. The monoline lenders — First National, MCAP and Strive — take 10% down at the lower standard insurance premiums; the big banks — Scotiabank, Manulife, BMO — also take 10% down and lean on your projected future income at a somewhat higher premium; and a conventional route like TD needs 20% down with no premium at all. Which one wins turns on your premium cost, your province, and how your line of credit is treated. The Compare lenders section on this page lays them side by side.

Should I wait until I'm an attending to buy?

Usually you don't have to — projected-income programs exist so residents and new attendings can buy on what they're about to earn, and insured pricing at a low down payment is often better than conventional. Waiting can mean a higher price and lost equity. The exception is if you expect to relocate within a couple of years; then renting can win. The rent-vs-buy calculator stress-tests exactly that trade-off for your timeline.

Does locum income work?

Often, yes — locum earnings are treated as self-employed income. Most lenders want about two years of it and take an average, but some physician-program lenders will work with a shorter history when the booking record and agency contracts are steady. If you're newly locuming, the projected-income lane may still fit while that track record builds. The exact treatment is lender-specific, so it's worth a quick file review.

Do I need a mortgage broker, or can I go straight to my bank?

Your bank can only offer its own programs. A broker who runs physician files compares the whole field — the projected-income lenders, the two premium grids, and above all how each lender counts your line of credit, which alone can move your approval by hundreds of thousands. On a physician file, that matching is most of the value; the lender you qualify best with is rarely the one you already bank with.

What documents will I need to apply?

For a projected-income file, usually: confirmation of your residency or fellowship enrolment, or your signed employment/associate contract with specialty and start date; proof of licensure or College registration; recent Notices of Assessment plus a current income document; your down-payment source with about 90 days of history (a gift letter if any of it is gifted); and your line-of-credit and other debt details. Ramin sends a tailored checklist once your lender is chosen.

Glossary — terms this page uses
PLOC
Professional (student) line of credit — the revolving credit line that finances medical training; interest-only minimum payments.
GDS / TDS
Gross and Total Debt Service ratios — housing costs (GDS) and housing plus all debts (TDS) as a share of gross income. Insured ceilings: 39% / 44%.
Stress test
Qualifying at the greater of contract rate + 2% or 5.25% (OSFI B-20), while paying the contract rate.
Projected income
Program income assigned from a lender's table for your training stage, replacing your actual current pay.
NIAT
Net income after tax — what the corporation keeps after expenses and corporate tax; add-back programs credit 60% of it.
Dividend gross-up
Multiplying eligible dividends by 1.38 (the CRA gross-up factor) before running ratios.
LTV
Loan-to-value — mortgage as a share of the property's value. Insured physician purchases run to 90%.
Cap rate
A rental's net operating income divided by its price — the yield before mortgage costs.
DSCR
Debt service coverage ratio — net operating income divided by annual mortgage payments; above 1.00 means the rent covers the debt.

Who structures your file

A broker who does this for a living

Physician files are a specialty inside a complex-mortgage practice — residents, new-to-practice, and incorporated professionals. Here's the track record behind the math on this page.

Ramin Hallaji, licensed mortgage broker
Ramin Hallaji
Licensed Mortgage Broker

Ramin Hallaji-Dezfouli structures physician files for a living — residents qualifying on projected income, new-to-practice programs, and incorporated professionals across BC and Alberta, with Saskatchewan files co-brokered.

Licensed under Mortgage Guru Financial within DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group, he runs the file personally from first call to funding — evenings and weekends included, because medicine doesn’t keep office hours either.

Verify BC licensing on the BCFSA registry and Alberta licensing via RECA ProCheck. Full practice at mortgageguru.ca.

Top 5%DLC Master Club — of 4,000+ Dominion Lending Centres brokers nationally
$150M+Funded across 200+ mortgages in BC & Alberta
Rising StarCMP Rising Star of Canada — Canadian Mortgage Professional, 2022
31+Verified client & professional recommendations on LinkedIn

Get started

Fifteen minutes, before the paperwork

First call maps your stage, your structure, and which lender lens fits. You leave with a number and a plan — documents come later, and only the ones that matter.

Call 778-879-6768 WhatsApp ramin@mortgageguru.ca Check my current rate

Goes straight to Ramin’s inbox — you’ll get a same-day reply and a short confirmation email. Please don’t include sensitive financial documents here.