Mortgage Broker · Greater Vancouver, British Columbia

Greater Vancouver Mortgage Broker — Large Loans, Strata Files, Since 2012

At Vancouver price points the stress test takes its biggest bite out of the strongest borrowers, and the strata you choose can decline you all on its own. Both are structuring problems.

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  • Self-employed, newcomers, bruised credit, commercial and private

Greater Vancouver, BC · Local market reality

In Greater Vancouver, the problem isn’t your income. It’s the size of the loan your income has to carry.

Illustrative: the MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price across Metro Vancouver was approximately $1,088,800 in July 2026, down 6.2% year over year.

Source: Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, July 2026. Figure is illustrative, changes monthly, and is not a TruWest Mortgage claim, valuation or guarantee. Confirm current data before relying on it.

Greater Vancouver carries the highest price points in the country, and that single fact reshapes every file written here. A physician, a senior engineer, a lawyer four years into partnership. These are borrowers no lender would call risky. They have clean credit, real savings and durable income. They are still routinely told no, and not because of anything they did wrong.


The reason is arithmetic. The federal stress test under OSFI’s B-20 guideline requires every federally regulated lender to qualify you at a rate above the one you will actually pay. That buffer is applied to the whole mortgage. On a smaller loan it trims the edges. On a Greater Vancouver loan it removes a substantial block of borrowing power, which means the stress test squeezes hardest exactly where incomes are strongest, because the loan size is doing the damage, not the borrower profile.


Then there is the building itself. A large share of Greater Vancouver purchases are strata — condos and townhomes — and in strata financing the lender assesses two things, not one. Your file, and the building. The depreciation report, the contingency reserve fund, the age and envelope history, whether the strata is self-managed, whether it is in litigation, whether rentals are restricted. A perfectly qualified buyer can be declined because of the strata they chose. Most people find this out after their offer is accepted.


Since 2012, TruWest Mortgage has built Greater Vancouver files with both halves in view. We present income the way an A-lender needs to see it, we check the strata documents against lender policy before the subject-removal clock runs out, and where the loan size genuinely pushes a file past A-lending today, we map the alternative-lending route with a plan back. We structure files to qualify. We do not evade any qualification rule.

  • Loan size drives the squeeze — the stress-test buffer applies to the whole mortgage, so it costs Vancouver borrowers far more purchasing power
  • Strong borrowers, not marginal ones — professionals with clean credit and real savings hit the qualifying ceiling here
  • Lenders assess the building too — depreciation report, contingency reserve, self-management, litigation and rental restrictions can decline a strata
  • Strata review belongs before subject removal — document problems found after an accepted offer are expensive
  • Insured and uninsured are different worlds — down payment, amortization and the maximum insured purchase price change which lenders are available
  • Rental and secondary income is read unevenly — how much of a suite or condo rental a lender counts decides approvals at these price points

General information for Greater Vancouver and British Columbia, not advice on your specific file, and not a commitment to lend. Lender income treatment, strata requirements and qualification criteria vary by lender and program and change over time; every application is assessed on its own facts under the applicable federal guidelines.

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All calculator results are estimates for illustration only. They are not a commitment to lend, a rate offer, a pre-qualification, a pre-approval, or financial advice. Actual qualification depends on a full review of your credit, income, documentation and the policies of individual lenders. Tax rules and insurance premiums are subject to change.

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Mortgage solutions

The solutions Vancouver files most often need.

Home Purchase Mortgages

At Vancouver price points the insured and uninsured distinction shapes the whole file.

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Self-Employed Mortgages

Consultants, contractors and incorporated professionals whose income does not read as a paycheque.

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Investment Property Mortgages

Strata rental restrictions, small units and how lenders treat condo rental income.

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Commercial Mortgages

Mixed-use and multi-family across the city, underwritten on the asset rather than on you.

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Mortgage Refinancing

Equity take-out and restructuring, including the penalty maths that decides whether it is worth doing.

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Greater Vancouver mortgage questions

Straight answers for Greater Vancouver buyers.

General information for British Columbia: not advice on your specific file. Every situation is assessed on its own facts under the federal qualification rules.

  • My income is strong and my credit is clean. Why am I still short on the mortgage amount I need in Vancouver?

    Because the stress test scales with the loan, not with you. Under OSFI’s B-20 guideline, every federally regulated lender must qualify you at a rate higher than the one you will pay, and that buffer applies across the entire mortgage. In a lower-priced market it trims your maximum modestly. At Greater Vancouver price points it removes a large block of borrowing power from borrowers whose finances are genuinely strong. Nobody can waive that rule. What changes the outcome is which lender’s income treatment, amortization and debt-servicing ratios fit your file, and those vary meaningfully from one lender to the next.

  • Does putting more than 20% down actually help me qualify for a larger mortgage in Vancouver?

    It changes which lenders and which products are available, which is not quite the same thing. Above 20% down your mortgage is uninsured, which can open longer amortizations at some lenders, and a longer amortization lowers the qualifying payment, which can lift your maximum. Below 20% you are in insured territory, which prices differently and is capped by the federal maximum insured purchase price, a real ceiling in this market. There is no single right answer; the correct structure depends on your down payment, the property and your timeline. That comparison is exactly what we run before you commit.

  • Can I be declined because of the condo building rather than because of my own finances?

    Yes, and in Greater Vancouver it happens regularly. Lenders assess the strata alongside the borrower. A weak contingency reserve fund, an overdue or concerning depreciation report, active litigation, a self-managed strata, a high proportion of rentals, or a building with envelope history can all cause a decline or a restricted approval, even where your income and credit are excellent. This is why we review strata documentation against lender policy early, rather than discovering the problem during subject removal when your options have narrowed.

  • Will rental income from a suite or an investment condo help me qualify?

    Often, but how much help you get is entirely a lender-policy question. Some lenders offset a generous share of documented rental income against the property’s costs; others add a smaller portion to your income; a few apply meaningful haircuts or want a longer history than you have. The same lease on the same condo can move your qualifying amount substantially depending on where the file is placed. We document the rental income properly for lender underwriting and place the file with the lender whose treatment actually fits your situation. We do not inflate income to reach a number.