A new global analysis suggests Canada’s major metros are among the hardest places on earth for young people to buy their first home, with Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal ranking near the bottom of a 70-city affordability index.

The study, from UAE-based developer Bloom Holding, estimates the typical first-time buyer in Vancouver enters the market at age 46, while those in Toronto and Montreal reach homeownership at around 40 and 39, respectively.

The findings echo a broader North American trend. In the United States, the median first-time buyer age has climbed to a record 40, according to the National Association of Realtors — up from 33 just a few years ago — as higher rates and decade-long price gains delay ownership for younger households.

Data points to a steep down payment hurdle in Canada

Bloom’s analysis calculates how long it takes an average-income resident in each city to save a 15–25% down payment, assuming they begin saving at around age 23. On that metric, Canadian metros stand out for the sheer time required to accumulate a deposit:

• Vancouver: price per m² $10,087 USD; estimated down payment $247,838 USD; first-time buyer age 46.
• Toronto: price per m² $7,314 USD; down payment $179,705 USD; age 40.
• Montreal: price per m² $6,938 USD; down payment $170,467 USD; age 39.

By comparison, first-time buyers in Bucharest (25) and Budapest/Vilnius (26) gain ownership nearly two decades earlier, on average.

Michael Davenport, Senior Economist at Oxford Economics, said the results align with Oxford’s internal affordability metrics. “Canada’s housing affordability challenges are disproportionately concentrated in major metro areas like Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver,” he said, adding that “Southern Ontario and British Columbia metros, such as Hamilton and Victoria, also rank among the most unaffordable in the country.”

While affordability has improved modestly alongside falling prices and lower mortgage rates, Davenport added that “(affordable) housing remains out of reach for many households, particularly in major Ontario and British Columbia metros.”

Monthly affordability is improving, but the downpayment hurdle isn’t

Oxford Economics’ Housing Affordability Index (HAI), which measures the borrowing capacity of a median-income household assuming a 20% down payment — a level not typical for most first-time buyers — has eased meaningfully over the past two years.

The national HAI fell from 130 in mid-2023 to 104 in Q2 2025, its lowest level since 2020. At that level, the average home is still about 4% more expensive than what a median-income household can borrow, but affordability is improving.

City-level results remain uneven: Vancouver’s HAI has fallen from 189 to 153, but remains the least-affordable metro in the country; Toronto’s has dropped from 163 to 132; and Montreal’s from 108 to 96, making it generally affordable on a borrowing basis.

Davenport emphasized that Oxford’s index only measures monthly affordability, pointing out that Oxford’s HAI “measures the borrowing capacity of the local median income household relative to local average house prices, and assumes households have a 20% down payment.” He noted that the Bloom Holding report highlights how saving for a down payment remains a significant challenge for many households — particularly in the GTA and GVA, where housing remains most unaffordable.

Policy has eased pressure, but deeper structural gaps remain

Governments have introduced measures aimed at improving affordability, including looser mortgage lending guidelines allowing 30-year mortgages for first-time buyers and new builds, GST reductions on eligible new homes, and programs designed to increase housing supply. Government measures to moderate immigration levels are also helping ease demand pressures.

Over time, Davenport expects national housing affordability to improve as supply expands faster than demand.

“Over the medium-to-long run, we expect housing supply will grow faster than housing demand at the national level, helping to keep house price growth in check and restore affordability at the national level,” he said. But he also cautioned that “major metros like Toronto and Vancouver will likely remain severely unaffordable over the long run.”

Written by the team at CMT

In the industry’s early years, Canadians often turned to mortgage brokers only when their bank couldn’t help. Today, many go because brokers can access every bank and a wider range of products.

While many of those traditional customers still rely on brokers, including newcomers, self-employed Canadians and those with credit challenges, brokers are now also popular among everyday borrowers who want more options, better service and a more tailored solution.

“Historically the perception was if you couldn’t get a mortgage at a bank you went to a broker, and that is still the case,” says Mark Tamburro, a broker with Get a Better Mortgage, part of The Mortgage Centre. “But now, the most qualified people also deal with us — the people who could get a mortgage from anyone — because they want you to shop around, to play one lender off the other and get them the best deal.”

While brokers now work with clients across all ages, incomes and credit profiles, each group turns to them for different reasons. Here are some of the most common groups…

Rate shoppers

Tamburro explains that when he began in the industry 33 years ago, his dad warned that he would be dealing with the “dregs of society,” likening the job to that of a used car salesman.

“As my business evolved and I became an expert at providing advice and a client-focused strategy, I was dealing with triple-A customers; doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, you name it.” he says. “The best and brightest wanted to deal with me because I gave them the customized service that most banks weren’t capable of offering.”

Tamburro says rather than a used-car salesman, he now sees his job more aligned with that of a financial advisor who specializes in debt products, or what he calls a “debt advisor.”

“They come to us for advice, they come for us for pricing alternatives, they come to us for selection, and they come for us for unique strategies that aren’t available through traditional vendors,” he says.

Newcomers

Those who are new to Canada face a range of barriers that can make it harder for them to purchase a home, providing an opportunity for brokers to offer unique value.

According to a recent survey of newcomers by TD, more than three quarters worry about making financial mistakes, and more than half say they’ve struggled to manage their finances since arriving in Canada.

“We always talk about how a broker can help with financial literacy, but that trust piece is huge for new-to-Canada clients,” says Rachelle Gregory, Senior Vice President of Originations at Merix Financial. “They lack familiarity with the system, so they’re going to the brokers in their community who will be able to provide culturally sensitive service, understand their needs, offer language options and connect them to lenders.”

First-time homebuyers

Like newcomers to the country, those who are new to the market similarly look to brokers to demystify what can be an intimidating process. According to Mortgage Professionals Canada’s latest consumer survey, 45% of first-time homebuyers said they were likely to use the services of a broker, as well as 40% of those aged 18 to 34.

“We find that the younger generation doesn’t want to be told what to do; they want someone to bring them options,” says Gregory. “The traditional model of going into the local bank and having them sell only the products they offer is not part of their DNA.”

Gregory adds that there is a misconception that first-time buyers are less informed than their more mature peers, arguing that, thanks to the Internet and social media, these buyers are among the savviest.

“Because of that, they want to make sure that they have somebody that’s giving them a lot of options,” she told Canadian Mortgage Trends. “They also want brokers to give them more tools, like budgeting strategies and financial advice, rather than just a mortgage.”

Second (or third, or fourth)-time homebuyers

After making strong inroads with first-time buyers in recent years, many brokers say they’ve established lasting relationships with a new generation of customers who are now ready to upgrade or renew.

“About 45% of first-time buyers use brokers, and that number has been pretty steady for five or 10 years, so a lot of those clients are now going back to the broker that got them set up in the first place,” says Jason Nugent, a broker with Neighbourhood Mortgage Source, part of Dominion Lending Centres.

Credit-challenged

Brokers aren’t just well-positioned to help first-time buyers return to the market in a stronger position. The broker channel also has a longstanding reputation for helping clients facing financial challenges rebuild and strengthen their credit profiles over time.

“Bad things happen to good people, whether it’s a job loss, marital breakdown, or credit that got out of control,” Nugent says. “If they’ve got a credit score in a certain range, the banks just aren’t set up to help them, but brokers have options for them.”

Those options could include alternative lenders, private lenders, credit unions, and other institutions that are able to work with clients across a broader financial spectrum.

“A broker can take them to an alternative lender, consolidate some of that debt, get them back on track so their credit is good, and we can help get them on the path back to a traditional lender,” Nugent says. “The Big Five banks just aren’t set up to do that.”

Self-employed

Another significant and growing group that often turns to brokers is the self-employed, whose financial records can pose unique challenges when applying for loans.

According to Statistics Canada, there were 2.75 million self-employed Canadians as of April 2025, up nearly 3% from one year prior.

“A lot of self-employed clients make the required income, but through write-offs and things like that, they don’t necessarily meet the same criteria as traditionally employed people,” Nugent says. “The banks just aren’t in a position to help those clients — they tend to lean more towards fully verifiable income, like what line 15,000 shows on your tax return — whereas brokers have options with alternative lenders that will consider gross earnings, which lets them buy houses they can afford, but not in the bank’s eyes.”

Seniors

Brokers are well-suited to help borrowers at all ends of the income, employment, credit score and even the age spectrum.

Once a niche product, reverse mortgages have seen a surge in interest as Canada’s aging population and rising costs push more retirees to tap into their home equity to help manage expenses.

“You’ve got seniors that are wanting to stay in their house, but they still need help, so they’re tapping into that reverse mortgage to pay for a PSW (personal support worker),” Nugent says. “There’s a growing number of seniors that are taking on reverse mortgages or converting because the equity in their home is exploding, and I think brokers have been a major part of that.”

Nugent explains that reverse mortgage clients typically need more time to evaluate their options, and often want other family members and trusted professionals, like their lawyer or accountant, to be part of those conversations.

“A reverse mortgage [sale] can take up to a year, and you may meet with a senior two or three times to make sure they fully understand the product,” Nugent says. “Banks generally don’t have the time to sit down with a senior three or four times to talk about a product they don’t even offer directly, so they’re working with brokers because they have direct access to the product and a better understanding of how it works.”

Written by the Marketing team at CMT

According to Mortgage Professionals Canada’s 2025 Consumer Survey, one-third of Canadians used a mortgage broker to secure their current mortgage. However, two-thirds say they’re at least somewhat likely to work with a broker in the future, and 81% of those who have used one before intend to return, compared with just 58% of bank mortgage customers.

Client satisfaction when working with a broker was also up across nearly every attribute tracked in the survey compared with 2024, including ease of doing business, reliability, knowledge, trust, timeliness, personalisation and communication.

At the same time, the survey highlighted a few misconceptions about how brokers operate, how they’re compensated and how they differ from the Big Banks.

What brokers do

Serve everyone

Colin Shea, the principal broker at TMG Performance, describes brokers as the bridge between lenders and everyday Canadians.

“A lot of times, the clients don’t really understand what the bank is looking for, and the bank needs to hear things the way they want to hear them,” he says. “Brokers are the intermediaries that can help smooth out the edges and help the two communicate.”

That role, however, has evolved over time, leading to some outdated ideas about the broker community.

There was a time when brokers were limited to non-bank products and largely served borrowers turned away by traditional lenders. Now, brokers can work with clients at every credit level and have access to products from most of Canada’s Big Six banks.

“There still is a little bit of that misconception—especially among the older generation—that we only deal with B-lenders, we don’t deal with the bank and we’re more of a last resort,” says Shea. “That’s for sure changed.”

Though some still see brokers as a place for those with few options, the opposite is now true. While banks are limited to selling their own products, brokers have access to products across many providers, from non-bank lenders to most major financial institutions, allowing them to offer clients more options.

Understand the products they’re selling

Many of the mortgages facilitated through brokers are provided by the major banks, leading many to assume that the bank’s staff are the main experts on the subject.

Just because their logo is on the paperwork, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the representatives at the local branch have a deep understanding of the product.

“The person at the branch is a generalist — they understand a little bit about mortgages, credit cards, bank accounts, RSPs (registered savings plans), and all the other financial tools they offer — we only focus on mortgages,” Shea says. “Good mortgage brokers know their bank guidelines better than the person at the branch.”

What brokers don’t do

Brokers don’t typically charge fees to the client directly

One of the biggest misconceptions about mortgage brokers is how they get paid.

According to MPC’s 2024 consumer survey, respondents who chose not to work with a broker most often cited concerns about having to pay for the service.

While brokers can charge clients directly in specific situations, these cases are uncommon. For most traditional mortgages, the broker is compensated by the lender rather than the borrower.

“If you’re putting a borrower into a prime mortgage, the lender pays the broker for sending them that deal, which is colloquially referred to as a ‘finder’s fee,’” explains Katie Caravaggio, the Vice President of Membership and Professional Development for MPC.

In other words, Canadians who qualify for a traditional mortgage and turn to a broker to help them find the best deal do not pay the broker directly, since the lender they choose covers the compensation.

“When it comes to the private or MIC (mortgage investment corporation) side, there is a finder’s fee that goes to the mortgage broker, but for these deals there’s more work for the broker, and more risk, so the broker may charge the client directly,” Caravaggio explains. “There are stipulations around those costs, it is a regulated space, and the mortgage broker must provide a disclosure to that client in advance as to what they’re charging them and why.”

Most borrowers, and especially those who qualify for a traditional loan with a major bank, never see a bill from their broker, while the few that do typically require specialized services not offered by banks, and are informed of those fees in advance.

Brokers don’t offer services without a licence

The rapid growth in the housing market during the low-interest pandemic period may have created the impression that brokers were entering the industry as part of a gold rush.

Mortgage brokers, however, need licences to sell loan products in Canada and undergo training before they can legally work in the industry.

“There are educational requirements involved in obtaining a licence to practise as a mortgage broker across Canada, there are different acts and regulations per province, but they all generally follow a similar path,” says Caravaggio.

“There is mandated education, there are background checks, an approval process, a requirement to join a brokerage that has a principal broker, so there is a process to become a broker,” she adds.

Brokers don’t give you the same one-size-fits-all advice found online

Canadians can find plenty of mortgage information online, and many prefer to research what may be the biggest financial decision they’ll make. However, even with more information at their fingertips, key details and lender-specific options aren’t always accessible, meaning those who go it alone may miss out.

“They don’t have access to the suite of lenders that a mortgage broker has,” Caravaggio says, explaining that some loan products are offered exclusively through brokers and are not available to individual consumers. “People can do their own research, but not everything is accessible to them, so why not utilize someone who has expertise in that area?”

Furthermore, while online advice is often generic, brokers seek to gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ financial situation to offer more personalized recommendations.

“A good broker understands a client’s financial history and can be the expert that places them in the most suitable mortgage,” Caravaggio says. “They dig in deep with a client to find out exactly what they want and present them with suitable options based on their expertise.”

Written by the Marketing Team at CMT