Key takeaways
- →Current MBA registrants who intend to keep providing mortgage services after October 13, 2026 must complete all required MSA transition education by September 22, 2026.
- →Missing the deadline means the registration does not transition to a licence — the person or brokerage becomes unlicensed, may face BCFSA disciplinary action including administrative penalties, and in-flight files may need to be put on hold or transferred.
- →There is no automatic grandfathering: registration converts to a licence only if the required MSA transition education is completed by the deadline, with no blanket exemption.
- →Even students partway through the current Mortgage Brokerage in BC course must still separately complete MSA transition education before applying for licensing under the new framework.
For anyone already registered under BC's Mortgage Brokers Act, the Mortgage Services Act doesn't apply itself automatically. Conversion from registration to licence depends on completing a specific set of transition education by a hard deadline — September 22, 2026, three weeks before the MSA itself takes effect.
This piece covers what that deadline actually requires, what happens if it's missed, and the one exception people commonly assume exists but doesn't: being mid-course in today's licensing program does not excuse a registrant from also completing the separate MSA transition education.
01 · What's the deadline, and what happens if a registrant misses it?
All current MBA registrants who intend to keep providing mortgage services after October 13, 2026 must complete all required MSA transition education by September 22, 2026.
Missing that deadline means the registration is not transitioned to a licence: the person or brokerage is considered unlicensed, may face BCFSA disciplinary action including administrative penalties, and any in-flight files may need to be put on hold or transferred to another licensed party.
02 · Does my registration convert to a licence automatically?
No. Registration converts to a licence automatically only if the registrant has completed the required MSA transition education by the September 22, 2026 deadline — there is no exemption for existing registrants simply because they're already registered under the MBA.
03 · What transition education is required, and what does it cost?
All transition courses are delivered online by UBC Sauder School of Business; registration runs through Sauder's BCFSA registration portal.
| Course | Fee | Length |
|---|---|---|
| MSA: Getting Started (mandatory prerequisite for everyone, launched September 9, 2025) | $25 | About 30 minutes |
| MSA: The New Principal Broker — Part One (launched November 12, 2025, includes a 3-session virtual classroom series held January 2026) | $100 | About 3 hours |
| MSA: The New Principal Broker — Part Two (launched April 15, 2026) | $50 | About 2 hours |
| MSA: The New Mortgage Broker (launched April 15, 2026) | $150 | About 5 hours |
Per BCFSA's own FAQ, the total cost of all MSA transition education courses combined comes to $175 — the figure appears to total the core mortgage-broker path (Getting Started plus The New Mortgage Broker).
Don't let a compliance deadline eat your pipeline
Transition education takes hours. Your files still need to move.
Treadstone's fulfillment associates keep files moving while you work through MSA transition education, freeing up the hours the coursework actually takes.
04 · What if I'm already partway through the current Mortgage Brokerage in BC course?
Being enrolled in, or having completed assignments toward, the current pre-MSA Mortgage Brokerage in BC course does not substitute for MSA transition education. Even students mid-way through that course must still separately complete the MSA transition education before applying for licensing under the new framework — see the two entry paths during the transition for how the current course and the new licensing course now sit side by side.
For a dated, step-by-step version of everything in this piece, see the BC MSA Transition Checklist, and for how Treadstone works with Canadian mortgage professionals to keep file volume moving through a transition like this one. Brokers planning underwriting skill as a next step can also see Treadstone's Canadian Mortgage Underwriting Course waitlist.
Frequently asked questions
This article is general information to help you scale — not a substitute for tailored advice on your specific business, licensing, or compliance obligations. All figures are illustrative examples for planning purposes; actual costs vary by province, market, and brokerage.