For the 2024-2026 licensing cycle (April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2026), there are new continuing education (CE) requirements to renew your licence. The requirements consist of two components.

All mortgage brokers must renew their licences with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) each year before March 31.

About licence renewals

Your brokerage can begin the annual licence renewal starting February 1.

FSRA will send you an email 60 calendar days before the expiration date to let you know you will need to renew your licence. This is a courtesy reminder – it is your responsibility to know when your licence will expire and to ensure your email address is up to date with FSRA.

Note: while some renewals are processed quickly, others may require additional review. Submit your renewal application as soon as possible to avoid having your licence expire. Your brokerage can apply to renew your licence at any time during the 60-day window.

Renewal fee

The applicable fee for renewing a mortgage broker’s licence is $883 annually. The Principal Broker of your brokerage will submit the renewal fee to FSRA after reviewing your licence renewal application. You may need to discuss with your Principal Broker whether you need to provide your brokerage with your licence renewal fee so it can be paid on your behalf.

What if I have an inactive licence?

If you want to start practicing as a mortgage broker again, review how to reinstate broker licences.

What if I miss the deadline for renewing my licence?

If you don’t renew your licence before the expiration date, your licence will lapse and it will no longer be active. This means you will not be authorized to deal in mortgages in Ontario.

If you want to continue practicing as a mortgage broker after your licence lapses, review how to reinstate broker licences.

Requirements for renewing the licence

To qualify for licence renewal, you must:

  1. Have an active licence as a mortgage broker in Ontario.
  2. Be currently authorized by an established mortgage brokerage in Ontario to deal in mortgages.
  3. Have completed the mandatory Ontario Continuing Education (CE) Course for brokers during a year that ends in an even number.
  4. Reconfirm your suitability to hold a licence and meet all licensing requirements.

By reconfirming your suitability to hold a licence, you will need to verify that:

  • You are familiar with the laws of Ontario relating to the licensing of mortgage agents (levels 1 and 2) and brokers.
  • You will hold yourself out publicly and carry out business in good faith as a mortgage broker in the name in which you are licensed.
  • You are not engaged in any other business or occupation that would jeopardize your integrity, independence or competence.
  • You are of good character and reputation.
  • You have provided information about bankruptcies, lawsuits, criminal records, decisions from other regulators or licensing bodies and other employment information.
  • You are a suitable person to receive a licence and meet all licensing requirements.

Continuing Education Requirements

There are two components for continuing education:

  1. Conduct CE Requirements

    FSRA-accredited course providers will deliver the Conduct CE courses based on the following topics:

    • Business Ethics and Managing Conflicts of Interest
    • Mortgage Fraud
    • Mortgage Suitability
    • Cybersecurity

    Additional information and a list of FSRA-accredited course providers will be announced soon.

  2. Technical Knowledge / Professional Development Continuing Education (CE)

    To renew your licence, you are required to have completed 10 hours of Technical Knowledge / Professional Development CE (“Professional CE”) within the past two years, in accordance with Ontario Regulation 409/07 subsection 9(1)4.

    Only courses taken or completed during the licensing cycle will be credited toward the CE requirement. Licensees are required to complete 10 professional CE hours every two-year licensing cycle.

    CE hours exceeding the minimum requirement within any license term/cycle cannot be carried over to subsequent cycles.

    CE hours cannot be claimed for:

    • a course where course details cannot be supplied
    • a course/program the agent/broker registered for but did not attend
    • hours spent as an instructor or teaching a course
    • repeating a course, unless new content is demonstrated
    • courses that an agent/broker fails

Process to Report Professional CE hours

Licensees are responsible for keeping records of the completion of the Professional CE hours.

FSRA may request evidence of course completion during licensing reviews, desk reviews, examinations, or at any other time when additional information is required. FSRA may require evidence of course completion for the current and immediately preceding licensing periods. Acceptable evidence includes certificates or similar documents verifying attendance or successful completion. In some cases, FSRA may contact course providers directly to verify the documentation provided.

Qualifying Professional CE course hours

Courses must be related to the technical aspects of the mortgage brokering sector to qualify as Professional CE hours. These are some examples of what qualifies as a CE hour and what does not.

Courses that qualify for CE: Courses that do not qualify for CE:
  • Legal, legislative and regulatory matters
  • Fundamentals or principles of mortgage brokering
  • Ethics and professional responsibility
  • Mortgage fraud
  • Client needs analysis
  • Proper use of mortgage products
  • Managing brokerage operations
  • Accounting and financial considerations related to mortgage brokering
  • Cybersecurity
  • Risk management principles
  • FSRA’s webinars or FSRA-hosted events on regulatory updates and guidelines in the mortgage brokering sector
  • Sales techniques, including motivation, marketing and promotion, consumer psychology or telephone best practices
  • Recruiting
  • Office skills, such as computer training
  • Management training
  • Company-specific product training
  • Volunteering
  • Professional networking
  • Activities unrelated to mortgage brokering
  • Language courses

Professional CE Documentation Required for Licensing Renewal

To confirm the completion of Professional CE hours, agents and brokers will need to provide the following details at the time of licensing renewal:

  • course name
  • course provider
  • CE hours completed
  • date of completion

New Criminal Record check process

FSRA is changing its licensing processes for background criminal checks to ensure the processes remain up to date. Criminal record checks are part of FSRA’s rigorous licence qualification process to protect consumers by ensuring only suitable individuals sell or offer financial products and services in Ontario.

FSRA now requires licence applicants to complete their criminal record checks through our approved vendor, Triton Canada (Triton). If you have disclosed information about a criminal matter, or FSRA has received information that you may be involved in a criminal matter, you may be required to complete a background check after you have submitted your renewal application.

If required, FSRA will notify you, and will send a link to Triton’s website to complete the background check. Once completed, you will need to provide the 8-digit confirmation number found in your Triton invoice to FSRA. A fee of $19.15 applies for Triton’s service, and the background check is valid for 90 days.

Please monitor your email frequently for any information requests from FSRA. If you have any further questions about the new background check process, please contact us.

Frequently asked questions – Background check process

Ready to renew?

After your Principal Broker initiates the licence renewal process, you must complete the following steps:

  1. Click on the renewal link sent by your Principal Broker. This link will take you to Licensing Link.
  2. Enter your Licensing Link PIN, which was provided to you on your first mortgage broker application. If you have forgotten your PIN, you can reset it by following the instructions on the Licensing Link page.
  3. Complete your licence renewal application and click "Submit."

Your brokerage's Principal Broker will review your licence renewal application and submit it with the required fee.

Please note you will need to complete a private mortgages course from a FSRA approved course provider by March 31, 2024. See FSRA’s mortgage brokering hub for information about the transition period.

Find answers to frequently asked questions about mortgage broker license renewals.

New private mortgages course and challenge exam

All mortgage brokers must complete the Challenge Exam or Private Mortgages Course before renewing their licence in March 2024. The Challenge Exam is only available to brokers who have five years or more continuous licensing experience as of April 1, 2023. The Challenge Exam must be completed by October 31, 2023, and may only be attempted once. Individuals who do not pass the Challenge Exam must complete the Private Mortgages Course.

In February 2023, all active mortgage brokers received an email advising the if they are eligible to take the Challenge Exam or must complete the Private Mortgages Course to maintain their licence after March 31, 2024.

Brokers who do not meet the new education requirements will transition to the mortgage agent level 1 licence upon licence renewal on April 1, 2024. If you transition to a mortgage agent level 1 licence, you will only be able to transact in mortgages where the lender is a financial institution.

Visit FSRA’s information hub for the New Licensing Requirements Transition to learn more about new licensing requirements.

Frequently asked questions - MB Renewals