Here’s a funny thing about lending based on Line 15000 of your Notice of Assessment: It’s a neat little box to underwrite against. Works great if you’re a salaried employee. Not so great if you’re running a fishing charter in Campbell River where thres fishing season, and the rest of the year.
We get it. Income isn’t always tidy. Sometimes it’s seasonal. Sometimes it’s sitting in a corporation. Sometimes it’s a mix of three different sources that would make an accountant cry. The banks need their boxes checked. We just need to see the money exists.
Banks love consistency. Show them two years of steady T4 income with a good GDS/TDS and they’ll practically throw money at you. But show them a perfectly healthy business that makes 80% of its revenue between May and September? Suddenly you’re “high risk.”
It’s not that seasonal businesses are risky. Ski hills have operated on this model forever. So have golf courses, marinas, and half the tourism industry in BC. The risk isn’t in the seasonality – it’s in pretending these businesses books should look like a downtown law firm.
Forget trying to squeeze your client’s income into formulas designed for office workers. We look at the complete picture:
We’re not trying to revolutionize lending here. We’re just willing to look at income the way it actually exists in places like Vernon or Revelstoke.
The fishing guide whose accountant is really good at finding truck-related tax deductions. Shows $35K on paper but somehow bought a $70K boat last year. Cash business. Seasonal work. The math works if you look at it right.
The consultant who keeps everything in their corporation. Personal income? Minimal. Corporate bank account? Healthy. The money’s there, just wearing a different hat.
The couple with mixed income – she’s got a government job, he runs a landscaping business. Combined, they’re solid. Separately, the numbers look weird after income splitting. Banks want them both to nearly qualify individually. We look at reality.
The artist/contractor/seasonal worker combo who makes money five different ways and none of them fit in Box A. Their income looks like abstract art to a bank’s algorithm. To us, it just looks like rural BC.
It’s not that banks don’t want to help. They literally can’t. B20 guidelines don’t bend, even when common sense says they should. It’s like trying to play jazz with sheet music – no room for improvisation.
Provincial regulation gives us room to think. When your client has 50% down but their income comes in waves, we can actually have a conversation about it. Novel concept, right?
We’ve been lending in small-town BC for over 20 years. We know what real income looks like in places where the biggest employer might be the mill, the mine, or the summer tourist season.
Your client in Tumbler Ridge doesn’t need to pretend their income looks like a Vancouver tech worker’s. They need a lender who understands that some years the fishing’s good, some years it’s great, and the mortgage still needs to get paid either way.
Self-employed contractor in Golden. Last three years: $85K, $45K, $120K. Average works out fine, but try explaining that pattern to a bank.
Banks would need two years of steady income to even look at this. We need 48 hours to say yes.
Our rates are higher than the banks. Of course they are – we’re doing the math they won’t do. The risk is higher. But here’s what matters: paying 3-5% more beats not getting the mortgage at all. Beats losing the property. Beats trying to make your income look like something it’s not.
This isn’t about finding cheap money. It’s about finding money that understands how people actually earn a living in British Columbia.
If your client’s income story needs more than three lines to explain, the banks are already reaching for the decline stamp. We’re just getting interested.
Variable income lending isn’t complicated. It’s just lending for people whose paychecks don’t always come from payroll departments. In a province built on resources, tourism, and small business, that’s a lot more of us than you think.
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Yes - Income for area should make sense.
Document Name | Description | Tags |
---|---|---|
Identification | Two pieces of ID (front and back), where at least one piece is government issued photo identification. | |
Credit Bureau | An Equifax credit bureau for each borrower on the application, pulled within 30 days of submission. | |
Equifax Credit Bureau | Credit report dated within 30 days for all borrowers. Required for creditworthiness assessment. | |
Subject Property Appraisal | An appraisal of the property by one of our approved appraisers. | |
Confirmation of Ability to Pay | An explanation of clients income and their ability to afford payment. We may require confirmation of income by way of 3-12 months of bank statements, T1 Generals, T4s or Notice of Assessments - this is determined on a case by case basis. | |
FINTRAC/AML Verification | Anti-money laundering compliance verification. Link sent after initial documents received. | |
VOID Cheque & Signed PAD | Included in mortgage commitment. Pre-authorized debit form is to set up monthly payments. Must be signed by all borrowers unless mortgage term is to accrue interest. | |
Form 10 | Regulatory form required for mortgage transactions. Must be signed by all parties. | |
Lawyer/Notary Information | Contact details for legal representation including name, address, and phone number. | |
Notice of Assessment | Most recent CRA assessment confirming no personal income taxes owed. |
Community Name | Max LTV | Special Terms |
---|---|---|
Salmon Arm | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Enderby | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Duncan | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Merritt | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Port Alberni | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Powell River | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Quesnel | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Vernon | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
100 Mile House | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Barriere | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Clearwater | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Lillooet | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
North Cowichan | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Campbell River | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Summerland | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Vanderhoof | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Sun Peaks | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Ladysmith | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Lake Cowichan | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Oliver | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Princeton | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Qualicum Beach | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Ashcroft | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Chase | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Clinton | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Fraser Lake | 45.0% | Standard product terms |
Lumby | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Sayward | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Armstrong | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Osoyoos | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Coldstream | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Fort St. James | 45.0% | Standard product terms |
Sicamous | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Gold River | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Penticton | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Spallumcheen | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Cache Creek | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Keremeos | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Midway | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Greenwood | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Castlegar | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Colwood | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Comox | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Courtenay | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Cranbrook | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Creston | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Cumberland | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Dawson Creek | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Esquimalt | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Fernie | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Fort St. John | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Fruitvale | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Grand Forks | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Highlands | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Houston | 45.0% | Standard product terms |
Kamloops | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Kelowna | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Kimberley | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Lake Country | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Langford | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Nakusp | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Nanaimo | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Nelson | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
North Saanich | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Peachland | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Pemberton | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Port Hardy | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Prince George | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Prince Rupert | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Radium Hot Springs | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Revelstoke | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Rossland | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Saanich | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Sooke | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Terrace | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Tofino | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Trail | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Tumbler Ridge | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Valemount | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Victoria | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
View Royal | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
West Kelowna | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Williams Lake | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Metchosin | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Sidney | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Oak Bay | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Golden | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Canal Flats | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Elkford | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Invermere | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Sparwood | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Ucluelet | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Burns Lake | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Smithers | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Kaslo | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
New Denver | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Salmo | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Silverton | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
Slocan | 55.0% | Standard product terms |
McBride | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
New Hazelton | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Kitimat | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Montrose | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Warfield | 60.0% | Standard product terms |
Parksville | 70.0% | Standard product terms |
Lantzville | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Pouce Coupe | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Taylor | 50.0% | Standard product terms |
Gibsons | 65.0% | Standard product terms |
Logan Lake | 55.0% | Standard product terms |