Self-Employed Mortgage
Self-employed income doesn't fit neatly into a bank's underwriting form. We know the lenders whose forms actually work for business owners.
Book a Free ConsultationRichmond has a substantial self-employed community — contractors, incorporated professionals, restaurant owners, retail operators, logistics business owners who supply the YVR corridor. Many of them run genuinely profitable businesses and can absolutely carry a mortgage. Many of them also get declined when they walk into a bank branch.
Here's why. A bank's mortgage specialist looks at your Notice of Assessment — specifically your "Total Income" from line 15000. If you run a corporation and you've structured your compensation to minimize personal tax (keeping earnings in the company, paying yourself a mix of salary and dividends), that line number can be much lower than what the business actually produces. The bank's system can't add back retained earnings, business depreciation, or dividend income in the way a proper self-employed qualification can. So it declines you, not because you can't afford the mortgage, but because your income doesn't fit the format.
BFS programs are specifically designed for this situation. Different lenders approach them differently, but in general terms they allow for:
CMHC offers a specific BFS-insured product for self-employed borrowers with a minimum two-year history, allowing down payments from 10% on properties up to the CMHC purchase price ceiling. The documentation requirements are more detailed than a standard insured mortgage, but the rate is the same — you're not penalized in rate for using the BFS product.
Most programs want to see two full years of self-employment before they'll use self-employed income for qualifying. The logic is that one year could be a good year that doesn't reflect sustainable income; two years starts to show a pattern. If you're at the one-year mark, that doesn't mean no options exist, but the options are narrower and typically require a stronger down payment or a co-applicant.
There's also a scenario where you were previously employed in the same field and recently went self-employed. A plumber who worked for a company for eight years and went independent six months ago is a different risk profile than someone who launched their first business from scratch. Some lenders will consider this context. We know which ones.
Self-employment takes different forms. A sole proprietor reports business income directly on their personal return — that income is more straightforward to use for mortgage qualification because it shows up clearly on the NOA. An incorporated business owner pays themselves through salary and/or dividends, and the income picture requires looking at both personal and corporate returns together.
If you're incorporated and your personal NOA income looks low relative to what the business earns, we'll structure the income presentation to lenders who can evaluate the full corporate picture. That's not creative accounting — it's presenting what's actually there in a format the right lender can use.
If you've been declined once: don't assume the answer is no. A decline from one lender's branch tells you that lender's branch couldn't handle your file — not that no lender can. We place self-employed mortgages regularly through both A lenders (credit unions, trust companies, some Schedule A banks with BFS desks) and B lenders. Tell us what you were told and we'll tell you what's actually possible.
Tell us about your business structure and what you've been quoted or declined. We'll work from there.
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Mortgage Calculator →Common questions
Banks use the "total income" line from your Notice of Assessment. If you retain earnings in a corporation or structure compensation for tax efficiency, that NOA line is lower than what the business actually produces. The bank's underwriting system can't accommodate that gap — it declines based on the number, not the financial reality.
Business for Self programs allow self-employed borrowers to qualify using alternative income documentation — corporate returns, business bank statements, accountant letters — rather than just T4 slips. CMHC offers an insured BFS product for borrowers with at least two years of self-employment history and a minimum 10% down payment.
Most programs want two full years. At the one-year mark, options exist but are narrower — you'll likely need a stronger down payment, a co-applicant, or you may be looking at an alternative lender. We'll tell you exactly where the options sit based on your specific timeline.
For a CMHC-insured BFS mortgage, the rate is the same as a standard insured mortgage — no premium for being self-employed. For alt-lender or stated income products, the rate is higher, which is the tradeoff for accepting more flexible documentation. We'll show you the options across the spectrum so you can decide what structure makes sense for your situation.
Tell us your situation and we'll tell you what's actually possible.