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A chattel mortgage is a loan secured against personal property — most often a manufactured or mobile home that isn't permanently affixed to land the owner holds title to — registered under a province's Personal Property Security Act instead of against the land itself.
A chattel mortgage applies when a home sits on land the borrower doesn't own outright — typically a leased lot in a mobile home park or community — so there's no land title against which to register a conventional charge. Instead, the home is registered as personal property on the province's Personal Property Security Registry (PPSR), similar in mechanics to vehicle financing.
Because the lender's security is weaker than a charge against real property, chattel financing typically carries a rate premium of roughly 1–3 percentage points over a standard mortgage and a shorter amortization. If the borrower later buys the underlying land and permanently affixes the home to a foundation, the chattel loan can be refinanced into a conventional mortgage registered against the land title.
Registered under provincial PPSA: chattel mortgages are registered under each province's Personal Property Security Act (for example, in BC or Alberta) through the Personal Property Security Registry, not the land titles office.
Used mainly for homes on leased land: the structure is most common for manufactured or mobile homes in leasehold communities where the borrower doesn't hold title to the underlying lot.
Higher rate, shorter amortization: because the security is personal property rather than real property, chattel loans generally price 1–3 percentage points above a comparable land-secured mortgage.
Can convert to a real-property mortgage: purchasing the land and permanently affixing the home lets a borrower refinance out of a chattel mortgage into a standard mortgage registered against title.
Definitions reflect Canadian federal and provincial rules as of the “Updated” date above. Not advice for any specific file.
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