Quebec is the one province where mortgage brokering isn't regulated alongside real estate. Since May 1, 2020, oversight of mortgage brokering in Quebec sits with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the province's financial-sector regulator, rather than a real estate council. The credential you earn is a certificat de courtier hypothécaire, not a licence in the terminology used elsewhere in Canada — a small but real distinction if you're researching across provinces.
This roadmap covers the practical sequence: complete the AMF's required training program, pass both required exams, apply for your certificate, get attached to a licensed firm, and understand the ongoing obligations — continuing education and professional liability coverage — that keep your certificate active.
Step 1. Understand who regulates mortgage brokering in Quebec
The AMF licenses and disciplines individual courtiers hypothécaires and the firms (cabinets en courtage hypothécaire) they work through. A separate credential, the dirigeant responsable (responsible officer), applies to the person accountable for a firm's compliance — roughly analogous to a managing or principal broker role elsewhere in Canada, though the AMF's framework and terminology are distinctly Quebec's own.
Don't assume rules from other provinces apply here: Quebec's training program, exam structure, and continuing education cycle are all set independently by the AMF and don't map one-to-one onto BCFSA or RECA's systems.
Step 2. Complete the Programme de qualification en courtage hypothécaire (PQCH)
Before the AMF will let you write the qualifying exams, you need to complete the Programme de qualification en courtage hypothécaire (PQCH), the AMF's required training program for prospective courtiers hypothécaires. It's delivered in two modules through AMF-recognized institutions, including several cégeps and colleges across the province, and covers both the deontological/regulatory side of the work and the practical, product-level side.
Confirm current program length and delivery format directly with an AMF-recognized provider before enrolling, since it can vary by institution and schedule — see the AMF's PQCH curriculum outline for the official program structure.
Step 3. Pass both exams the AMF requires
Completing the PQCH leads into two separate AMF examinations, not one. The first tests knowledge of professional deontology and the laws and rules governing the industry; the second tests practical knowledge of mortgage products, strategies, and mechanisms. Both need to be passed before the AMF will issue a certificate — treat them as two distinct study efforts rather than one combined test.
Confirm current exam details with the AMF directly: pass standards and scheduling are set and updated by the AMF, and are best verified on the AMF's own mortgage broker page rather than an older secondary source.
Step 4. Get attached to an AMF-licensed cabinet
A courtier hypothécaire certificate doesn't operate independently — you need to be attached to a firm the AMF has authorized to act as a cabinet en courtage hypothécaire. As a newly certified trainee, your practice is typically covered by the professional liability insurance your employer carries, alongside the protections of the AMF-administered Fonds d'indemnisation des services financiers (Financial Services Indemnification Fund) — understanding what that coverage does and doesn't include is worth doing before you start taking client files, not after.
As with any province, the firm you choose shapes your first year more than almost any other decision — our brokerage interview scorecard applies just as well to evaluating a Quebec cabinet as it does anywhere else.
Step 5. Submit your certificate application to the AMF
With training complete, both exams passed, and a firm confirmed, the application for your certificat de courtier hypothécaire goes to the AMF. Once approved, you're listed in the AMF's public register and can begin acting as a courtier hypothécaire under your firm.
For the document-gathering side of this application — identification, proof of training completion, and what a firm typically needs from you before it will sponsor the application — see our licensing application checklist.
Step 6. Understand your ongoing obligations once certified
- →Continuing education: the AMF runs continuing education for courtiers hypothécaires on a multi-year cycle, tracked in units the AMF calls UFC (unités de formation continue) — confirm the cycle dates currently in force on the AMF's continuing education page rather than assuming a past cycle still applies.
- →Professional liability coverage: confirm with your firm exactly how your coverage works and what the Financial Services Indemnification Fund does and doesn't protect against.
- →Record-keeping: keep proof of every continuing education activity you complete — see our continuing education tracker for a simple way to stay ahead of the cycle instead of scrambling near the deadline.
For the fuller list of what stays live on your certificate after your first year, see Quebec's ongoing courtier hypothécaire obligations. Once you're certified and placed with a firm, see how Treadstone supports Canadian mortgage professionals building a book of business from day one.