Key takeaways
- →FSRA names four approved providers for the Level 1 licence: Mortgage Professionals Canada, CMBA-Ontario, REMIC, and Humber Polytechnic.
- →Level 2 (Private Mortgages Course) narrows to three approved providers: Mortgage Professionals Canada, CMBA-Ontario, and REMIC.
- →FSRA's broker-course guidance points to a single competitively procured provider, but two providers currently market broker-upgrade courses — confirm current status before enrolling.
- →Course completion has a shelf life: Level 1 and Level 2 education must be completed within two years of applying for that licence.
Ontario doesn't leave course selection up to guesswork at any licence level. FSRA names its approved education providers directly on its own licensing pages, and the list changes as the licence level goes up — wider at Level 1, narrower at Level 2, and murkier once you reach the mortgage broker course.
This article works through exactly who's approved at each stage, straight from FSRA's own pages, plus the one spot — the broker course — where FSRA's guidance and current provider marketing don't fully line up.
01 · Which providers does FSRA approve for the Level 1 course?
FSRA names four approved education providers for the mortgage agent Level 1 licence, and any one of them satisfies the education requirement for a first-time application:
- →Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC)
- →Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association—Ontario (CMBA-Ontario)
- →Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada Inc. (REMIC)
- →Humber Polytechnic
The completion window matters as much as the provider: FSRA requires the approved Level 1 program to be completed within two years of applying for the licence. Finish the course too far ahead of actually submitting the application, and the completion certificate can lapse before FSRA ever sees it. See our full Level 1 path for how the course fits into the rest of the application.
02 · Which providers are approved for the Level 2 Private Mortgages Course?
The approved list narrows once an agent moves toward Level 2. FSRA's Level 2 page names three approved providers for the Private Mortgages Course (PMC):
- →Mortgage Professionals Canada
- →Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association—Ontario
- →Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada Inc.
Humber Polytechnic, approved for Level 1, does not appear on FSRA's Level 2 provider list. The same two-year completion window applies here too — the PMC must be finished within two years before applying for the Level 2 licence. This is also the stage where day-to-day duties expand most noticeably from Level 1.
03 · Who is approved to teach the mortgage broker education program?
This is the one place FSRA's own guidance and the current market don't fully agree. FSRA's 2021 accreditation guidance states that for the mortgage broker licensing course, FSRA uses a competitive procurement process to select a single course provider.
In practice, more than one provider is active: as of this writing, both Mortgage Professionals Canada (through its Ontario Mortgage Broker Education Program) and REMIC (through its Mortgage Broker Course) independently market broker-upgrade courses, each describing itself as FSRA-approved. FSRA's own “become a mortgage broker” page doesn't name a single exclusive provider to resolve this — confirm the current status directly with FSRA or your sponsoring Principal Broker before enrolling in either.
Whichever course you take, the completion window is longer than at the earlier levels: FSRA requires the approved broker education program to be completed within three years before applying for the broker licence, versus two years for Level 1 and Level 2.
Licensed is the starting line, not the finish
Build the underwriting judgment the course doesn't teach.
Treadstone's Canadian Mortgage Underwriting Course gives newly licensed agents and brokers the file-reading skill FSRA's approved courses don't cover. Join the early-access waitlist, or see how our fulfillment team gives a new licensee back the hours to build a book.
04 · Does it matter which approved provider I choose?
FSRA doesn't rank its approved providers, and meeting the education requirement is the same regardless of which one you pick. What differs is format, hours, price, and exam structure — see REMIC vs. MPC for a detailed, published-figures comparison of the two most commonly compared providers.
The course only gets you licensed — it doesn't teach the underwriting judgment that comes after. Treadstone's Canadian Mortgage Underwriting Course (early-access waitlist) picks up where the FSRA-approved licensing course leaves off, and our work with Canadian mortgage professionals is built around freeing up the hours a newly licensed agent needs to actually build a book.
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.