Get an Edmonton-area mortgage from a broker who works your file directly

Working with a broker based near Calgary changes nothing about your Edmonton mortgage, because none of it needs to happen across a desk. I built my whole practice around being accessible to people I cannot see in person: recorded Loom videos that walk you through your numbers, phone calls when you want a voice, and a document-collection process designed to be as easy as possible. I have arranged several mortgages in Edmonton and the surrounding communities, comparing 50+ lenders to find each client their best fit.

A Calgary guy’s confession about Edmonton

I will be honest about the rivalry. I was born in the late ’80s in Flames country, so I do not really remember the wars, but I knew right away I was supposed to hate the Oilers, and the Elks by extension, and when you grow up that way you make assumptions about the city too. Then life kept taking me north: hockey trips, my sons’ birthday parties at the West Edmonton Mall wave pool, more visits every year. Somewhere along the way I came to appreciate what Edmontonians already know: it is a beautiful city built around its river, with no shortage of natural places to spend a day. I will not pretend to know Edmonton’s neighbourhoods the way I know Airdrie’s, but I know its mortgage market, and I rate it as one of the strongest in the province.

How working together actually looks

Everything runs at your convenience. I send short recorded videos explaining your options so you can watch them on your own schedule and replay anything that was not clear. Questions get answered by phone or message the same way they would for a client down the street from me. Documents move through a simple secure upload rather than a stack of paper. First-time buyers, move-up families, investors, self-employed owners: the same 50+ lender comparison applies to all of them, and you deal with me directly, not a call centre.

What an Edmonton purchase actually costs to get into

The single family benchmark price in the City of Edmonton was $528,000 in June 2026, according to the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. That number does more work than any other on this page.

The minimum down payment is 5 percent of the first $500,000 of the price and 10 percent of the portion above it. At the benchmark:

On a $528,000 Edmonton home
5% of the first $500,000	$25,000
10% of the remaining $28,000	$2,800
Minimum down payment	$27,800

And a great deal of the Edmonton market sits under $500,000, where the whole requirement is a flat 5 percent, with none of the tiering. On a $450,000 home that is $22,500.

Set that beside Calgary, where the detached benchmark was $739,400 in September 2026 and the minimum lands near $48,940, and you have the practical difference between the two cities in one line. The rules are identical. The arithmetic is not.

Same rules, different numbers

This is worth stating clearly because it comes up on nearly every Edmonton call.

Down payment minimums, the federal stress test, default insurance rules and the $1.5 million insured ceiling are federal. They apply identically in Edmonton, Calgary and everywhere else in Canada. Nobody gets a different rate because of which city the house is in either: a mortgage is priced on the term, the amortization, whether it is insured and your own file.

What changes is what the money buys, and therefore three things: which down payment tier you land in, how far a given income reaches, and how quickly the equity you build becomes useful. In a market at this price point, more buyers stay inside the flat 5 percent tier, more first purchases are detached rather than attached, and the gap between renting and owning closes sooner.

The condo market, and the fee that eats your approval

Edmonton has a deep condo and townhome market at prices well under the detached benchmark, and it is where a lot of first purchases here happen.

The detail that catches people is that lenders count a portion of your monthly condo fee inside the ratios that decide your maximum mortgage, alongside the payment, the property taxes and the heat. At the stress test rate over a 25-year amortization, roughly $596 of monthly payment supports $100,000 of mortgage, so $300 a month of counted fee is about $50,000 less mortgage you can be approved for. Two units at the same asking price in two buildings will not produce the same approval.

The building gets assessed as well as you. Lenders read the reserve fund study, the estoppel certificate and the board minutes, and some will not lend on a unit under about 500 square feet, or where a high share of the building is rented. Order the documents the day your offer is accepted, and send me the address early, because on a condo that is often the fastest way to know where you stand.

Investors, and why Edmonton files look different

A price point this far below the payment a tenant will pay changes the arithmetic on a rental, which is why a good share of my Edmonton conversations are investment files.

A rental you will not live in needs at least 20 percent down, because default insurance on a small rental stops at 80 percent of value. From there the whole game is how the lender counts the rent. Some add a share of it, commonly half, to your qualifying income. Others offset a share of it against the property’s mortgage payment, taxes and heat, and some offset as much as 90 percent, which is far friendlier because a property that roughly covers its own costs stops consuming your borrowing power.

There is a second layer: lenders treat the property you are buying differently from rentals you already own, and most run the figures through their own rental worksheet rather than a published rule. If you hold other properties, bring the whole picture to the first conversation rather than one file at a time. Investment property mortgages sets out both layers.

One condition applies everywhere: an appraiser will generally not attribute income to a suite that does not comply with local bylaws, so a basement paying real rent every month can be worth nothing on your application if it is not legal.

Suites, and the rule that changed

If you own here and have a basement or a lot that could be more, the financing improved recently.

A homeowner can now refinance up to 90 percent of the as-improved value of the property, to a maximum value of $2,000,000, amortized over as much as 30 years, specifically to build a self-contained secondary suite. The property has to be owner-occupied, it can have no more than four units when finished, and the suite has to be self-contained and compliant with local bylaws.

“As-improved” is the unusual part. The lending is measured against what the property will be worth once the suite exists rather than what it is worth today, which is what makes the project financeable at all. Confirm what is permitted where you are, get a real quote for the work, then have the financing structured against the improved value.

Buying new in Laurel, Rutherford or Griesbach

A large share of Edmonton’s growth is new construction, and a new build is a different transaction from a resale.

The builder takes a deposit up front, commonly 5, 10 or 20 percent, and it counts toward your down payment rather than sitting on top of it. Your lender advances nothing until possession day. A standard rate hold runs 90 to 120 days, and extended holds on new construction reach around 18 months at the longest depending on the lender, so on a pre-construction purchase the length of the hold deserves as much attention as the rate.

Two rules favour you on a new home. A first-time buyer can recover up to $50,000 of the GST paid, in full where the home is valued at $1,000,000 or less, which covers essentially the whole Edmonton market. And a newly built home allows a 30-year amortization on an insured mortgage whether or not you have owned before.

And keep the file still between signing and possession. Many lenders re-verify income and credit shortly before closing, so a new vehicle loan or a job change in month ten can undo an approval on a house you have already committed to.

Renewals and refinancing from a distance

When your term ends, your lender’s letter is a starting point rather than their best offer.

Since November 21, 2024 a straight switch to a new lender at renewal no longer requires passing the federal stress test, provided the balance does not increase and the amortization does not lengthen. At maturity there is normally no penalty, and the incoming lender often covers the appraisal and legal costs. None of that requires anyone to be in the same room, which is precisely the point of how this practice is built. Renewals covers the timing.

Free, no-pressure consultations

Every conversation starts the same way: free, and with no obligation. I look at your numbers, explain your options in plain language, and let you decide. Let’s get you into the right Edmonton home.

The consultation is free, carries no obligation, and there is no credit check just to have it.