Key takeaways
- →Mortgage Professionals Canada's provincial associate/salesperson courses (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador) run roughly 40 hours online, but Manitoba's course specifically ends in a final in-person examination.
- →REMIC's Ontario courses offer the widest format range — in-class, live webcast, fully online, or a mixed mode — with an estimated 47 course hours across its Level 1, Level 2, and Broker courses.
- →UBC Sauder's current BC course uses a blended distance format: an eBook manual, pre-recorded video and audio, and live Zoom lectures and workshops, with assignments and a final exam rather than continuous in-class attendance.
- →No single format is objectively better — the right choice depends on how you learn, your schedule's flexibility, and whether you want the accountability of scheduled live sessions.
Ask five newly licensed mortgage professionals which course format they'd recommend and you'll get five different answers, mostly shaped by how each person actually studies rather than which format is 'better.' The good news is that most provinces now offer more than one delivery option.
This comparison sticks to formats that are actually documented on regulator or provider pages — where a source didn't specify hours or delivery mode, that's noted rather than guessed.
01 · What does a self-paced online mortgage course actually involve?
The clearest example is Mortgage Professionals Canada's provincial associate/salesperson courses. In Manitoba, MPC describes its course as 'roughly 40 hours online with a final in-person examination,' with exam rewrites available for students who need them, and a rule requiring registration for an MSC licence within six months of a successful exam date. Its Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador provincial associate courses are built on the same 6th edition textbook, Introduction to the Canadian Mortgage Industry, and priced identically at $375 for the e-text option or $425 for a printed text.
The self-paced structure means you set your own daily study schedule within the course's registration window — but Manitoba's in-person final exam requirement is a reminder that 'online' doesn't always mean the entire process happens on a screen.
02 · How do REMIC's Ontario course formats differ from each other?
| Course | Formats offered | Estimated hours |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage Agent Level 1 (RMAC) | In-class, live webcast, online, or mixed mode | 47 hours (estimated) |
| Private Mortgage Course (Level 2) | In-class, live webcast, or online (a separate 'online option' box on the same page states 80 study hours) | 47 hours (estimated); 80 hours per the online-option box |
| Mortgage Broker Course | Live webcast or in-class | 47 hours (estimated) |
REMIC's own published pages aren't fully consistent with each other on the Level 2 course's hours — the course-summary box says 47 hours while a separate online-option box on the same page says 80 — so both figures are shown here as published rather than reconciled. Enrolment periods also vary: Level 1 allows one week up to six months, while Level 2 and the Broker course allow one week up to a full year.
Whichever REMIC format you pick, all three courses currently share a 3-hour, in-person-or-online-proctored final exam.
03 · What does UBC Sauder's distance-learning format look like in BC?
The current pre-MSA Mortgage Brokerage in British Columbia course is blended: an eBook manual, pre-recorded video and audio content, live Zoom lectures and workshops, and academic support by email — there's no in-class-only option. Assignments (20 multiple-choice sets, submitted at a maximum of two per week) must be completed within 12 months of registering, and the final exam must be passed within two years of finishing assignments, with two exam attempts allowed per registration.
The new Mortgage Services Licensing Course, opening for registration August 4, 2026 with its first exam sitting October 13, 2026, replaces this course under the incoming Mortgage Services Act — its specific format hadn't been published in full detail as of this research.
04 · How should you actually choose a format?
- →If you need external deadlines to stay on track, a live-webcast or in-class format with scheduled sessions builds that structure in for you.
- →If your work schedule is unpredictable, a self-paced online course with a generous enrolment window, like REMIC's one-year Level 2/Broker window, gives you the most flexibility.
- →If the course ends in an in-person exam requirement, as Manitoba's does, confirm the exam location and scheduling well before you assume you can finish entirely from home.
- →Price differences between formats are usually modest within the same course — format should be chosen for fit, not to save a small amount on tuition.
For a deeper look at fitting a course around a full-time job specifically, see Part-Time Path to a Mortgage Licence. And whichever format you study in, Treadstone's Canadian Mortgage Underwriting Course waitlist is worth joining early, alongside Treadstone's fulfillment services for brokers ready to scale past a solo practice.
However you got licensed
The next skill gap is underwriting, not format.
Treadstone helps newly licensed brokers and agents build the underwriting literacy and back-office capacity that let a solo licence turn into a scaling practice.
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.