ID
2024-003

Type
Policy
Sector
Mortgage Brokering
Status
Public comment closed
Date
Comment Due Date

Thank you for providing your feedback on FSRA’s proposed Guidance on Mortgage Agent and Mortgage Broker Licensing Suitability.

The request for submissions is now closed.

We appreciate the comments and questions received to date and look forward to sharing with you the final Guidance. Stay up to date on Guidance releases on our newsroom. Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our mailing list for quick updates.

To better protect consumers, Ontario’s financial services regulator, FSRA, is proposing guidance that clearly explains how we assess if current or aspiring mortgage agents or brokers are suitable to be licensed. This is the first time we are providing guidance to the sector on this topic.

FSRA wants to ensure all mortgage agents and brokers treat customers fairly and adhere to all regulatory obligations. When issuing a licence, FSRA considers many factors such as an applicant’s educational and technical qualifications, integrity and honesty, and past and current conduct. By taking this step FSRA is providing consumers with an extra layer of protection.  

The Guidance also serves as a guide to help mortgage brokerages and principal brokers fulfill their legal obligation to screen and monitor applicants, agents and brokers for suitability.  

If FSRA has reasonable grounds to believe that an applicant, agent or broker is not suitable to be licensed, FSRA may take regulatory action, including refusing, revoking or suspending a licence.  

Review the proposed Guidance and submit your feedback. The consultation period is now open and will close on May 6, 2024. 

Learn more:

FSRA continues to work on behalf of all stakeholders, including consumers, to ensure financial safety, fairness, and choice for everyone. Learn more at www.fsrao.ca. 

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Sector Comment Date posted
Mortgage Brokering
[2024-003] Taylor Lewis - Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association (CMBA) Ontario
FSRA's suitability guidance is a large step forward in maintaining integrity in the mortgage brokering profession as well as protecting the consumers. While it is theoretically sound in the sense of creating further guidelines and penalties for "bad apples" this will inevitably have to change the license renewal process on FSRA's part as well as the Mortgage Agent/Broker's part. It's important to ensure that the renewal process is smooth to avoid any unjust interruption to an agent's license as well as the ability to challenge before a renewal deadline.

Overall, CMBA Ontario is an organization that believes in pushing the Mortgage Brokering industry forward and holding our industry to a higher standard is never a negative. As long as the process does not impeded Agents and Brokers who are acting in good faith and in the best interests of the consumer. based on the suitability guidelines, FSRA and CMBA Ontario are aligned in the principle of holding the industry to a high standard.
Mortgage Brokering
[2024-003] Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC)

Mortgage Brokering
[2024-003] Joe White - Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada Inc.
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