Becoming a Mortgage Agent is not necessary hard. Its becoming a successful Mortgage Agent that is extremely hard. At The Westlake Team, we pride ourselves in helming with that success. With the proper infrastructure, mentorship and support, the results a new agent can have in their career is limitless.
To become a mortgage agent in Ontario, you must:
-Be 18 years or older
-Resident of Canada
-Be authorized by a Mortgage Brokerage to deal in mortgages
-Work for only one Mortgage Brokerage
-Meet the Mortgage Agent Educational requirements
Mortgage Agent Educational Requirements:
-Successfuly complete the mortgage agent educational programs that have been approved by the Superintendent, FSCO
-Apply for a Mortgage Agent license within two years of successfully completing one of the approved mortgage agent educational programs.
The following 4 Mortgage Agent Educational Programs are approved and available:
1. Remic - Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada inc.
2. MPC's - Mortgage Professional Canada
3. Community College (msg us for list or visit FSCO webpage)
4. CMBA - Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association Ontario
Once a Mortgage Agent passes the Mortgage Agent course they need to determine the right brokerage to join and/or team to join. In my opinion, this is the first major decision a new agent has to make that can have significant long terms career implications. The following are suggestions new agents should consider when joining a new team:
-What level of support is provided. From business development to underwriting, documentation, lender submission, funding, filing payroll and compliance.
-What experience the brokerage or team has with training newer agents. There is a big difference between providing access points to lenders and rates and the daily support a newer agent requires. There is a huge difference managing and experienced agent and helping a newer agent grow.
-What expectations the brokerage has for the new agent and the agent has for the brokerage. Being on the same page in terms of goals and the activities that will drive those results.
-Compensation and costs/fees - A very transparent compensation that perhaps is progressive in nature that changes with the agents experience and results...Regardless of the model, understanding how everyone earns revenue and the costs associated and whats being provided is extremely important.
-Access to office space, team meetings, training or support from industry leaders. Having a location to meet on a regular basis, conduct team meetings, bring in industry leaders and connect with newer agent on the team provides a team environment.
The list of questions and needs of each agent can go on for ever. We believe that infrastructure, support and mentorship are the three most important qualities a brokerage can offer and what we have implemented for our newer agents. If any one of these three key components are missing, its easy to see how a newer mortgage agent can fail.
Infrastructure is the brokerage or teams way of organizing its resources and company assets and creating an environment that sets the new agent up for success. Its combining these resources and assets from tools and technology to the experience of others and making it available to the new agent so they have the right infrastructure to support them.
Support is different than infrastructure. A company can provide a lot of support but fail by not having the right infrastructure. A simple example is not having the infrastructure set up with something as simple as how they will communicate when a lead or live deal comes in. Likewise, a brokerage or team can have a great infrastructure but not the right support to help implement the company assets. Having a person or persons that provides daily support and sets a solid path for communication at the onset and throughout the early stages of the newer agents career is extremely important. .
Mentorship is assigning a person or persons to the new agent to share with them in existing experiences and provides guidance on an ongoing basis. Its a form of support but I believe not reactive in nature but proactive,
From our experience when the brokerage and team combine a solid infrastructure with the right level of support and some form of mentorship, the new agent is given the best change for success.
If you are a new agent, recently licensed or at an early stage of your career and looking for a push in the right direction and the infrastructure, support and mentorship noted above, email
scott@thewestlaketeam.com or connect with us on our home page forms.