Facebook Ads vs Google Ads for Mortgage Brokers in Canada
Facebook ads vs Google ads for mortgage brokers comes down to one difference. Google shows your ad to someone who is already searching for a mortgage. Facebook and Instagram show it to someone who was not looking yet but fits the profile. Google leads are usually readier and cost more. Facebook leads are usually cheaper and need more follow-up. Most Canadian brokers who run both end up using Facebook for volume on refinance, HELOC and renewal offers, and Google for high-intent searches like private seconds and “mortgage broker near me”.
That is the short version. The rest of this guide explains where each one wins, where each one burns money, and how to decide if you can only afford one.
The core difference: demand capture vs demand creation
Google Ads captures demand that already exists. A homeowner in Mississauga types “refinance to pay off debt” and you appear. They have a problem today and they are comparing options today.
Facebook and Instagram ads create demand. A homeowner in Surrey scrolling at 9 p.m. sees an ad about rolling credit card balances into their mortgage. They were not planning to call a broker tonight, but the ad names a problem they have, so they tap.
Neither is better in general. They do different jobs:
| Google Ads | Facebook and Instagram | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees it | People searching right now | People who fit the profile |
| Typical cost per lead | Higher | Lower |
| Lead readiness | High | Mixed |
| Volume ceiling | Limited by searches in your area | Much larger |
| Best products | Private, B-lender, purchase, broker searches | Refinance, HELOC, debt consolidation, renewals, first-time buyers |
| Biggest risk | Wasted clicks on broad keywords | Slow follow-up on cold leads |
Where Google Ads wins
Google is strongest when the borrower knows what they need and uses specific words to find it. Searches like “private second mortgage Ontario”, “self-employed mortgage broker” or “mortgage after consumer proposal” come from people with a live file. The person typing them is often a week or two from a decision.
A few things make Google work well for brokers:
- Narrow keyword lists. Ten tightly chosen phrases beat two hundred loose ones. “Mortgage” on its own will eat your budget on students researching homework and people looking for their bank’s login page.
- City and product pages. Sending a Brampton private lending search to your generic home page wastes the click. A page that answers that exact search converts far better.
- Negative keywords. Add “rates today”, “calculator”, “jobs”, “course” and your bank-name variations early, or you will pay for curiosity.
Where Google struggles is volume. There are only so many people in Kelowna searching for a reverse mortgage this month. Once you are showing for all of them, spending more mostly raises your cost per click.
Our page on Google ads for mortgage brokers covers setup in more detail.
Where Facebook and Instagram win
Meta’s strength is reach. A refinance offer can run across the Greater Toronto Area or all of Alberta, with the offer itself doing the work of drawing in homeowners, often for less than a typical day of Google clicks. You can also test five angles in a week to see which problem people respond to.
It works best when:
- The offer names a specific problem. “Five payments into one” or “renewal letter just arrived?” pulls better than “trusted mortgage advice”.
- The form qualifies a little. One or two questions, such as whether they own a property and what the money is for, filter out the curious without scaring off real borrowers.
- Someone calls within minutes. A Facebook lead is warm for a short window. Call the next morning and many will not remember filling out the form.
Mortgage ads on Meta run under a special ad category. That limits targeting by age, gender and fine-grained location, so you cannot aim at “homeowners aged 45 to 60 in one postal code”. Your creative and your offer do the targeting instead. The words and images decide who stops scrolling.
See Facebook ads for mortgage brokers for the full breakdown.
Lead quality: what “cheaper” really means
Brokers often judge the two platforms on cost per lead and pick Facebook because the number is smaller. That is the wrong number to stop at.
The useful number is cost per funded deal. A Facebook lead might cost a fraction of a Google lead, but if it takes three or four times as many leads to fund one file, the gap closes. Some brokers find Google cheaper per deal for private and specialty lending, and Facebook cheaper per deal for refinance and HELOC. You will only know by tracking your own files for a few months.
Track these for each platform:
- Leads
- Leads you actually reached by phone
- Leads that became an application
- Funded deals
- Spend
We go deeper on this math in our guide to mortgage lead cost.
Facebook ads vs Google ads for mortgage brokers: which should you start with?
If you can only run one platform, use these as a rough guide.
Start with Google if you work a niche with clear search terms (private lending, self-employed, newcomers, bad credit), you have a page built for that niche, and you would rather have fewer, readier borrowers.
Start with Facebook if your strength is refinance, HELOC, debt consolidation or renewals, you or your team can call new leads within minutes during business hours, and you want enough volume to fill a calendar.
Run both if you have the budget and the follow-up capacity. A common split for brokers who do refinance work is most of the budget on Meta for volume, with a smaller Google campaign on a handful of high-intent phrases.
Whatever you pick, put your name, licence number and brokerage name on the ad and landing page where your province requires it, and never promise a rate or an approval. Our mortgage marketing compliance guide covers FSRA, BCFSA, RECA and AMF expectations.
Common mistakes on each platform
Google:
- Bidding on “mortgage rates” and paying for rate shoppers who will never call
- Sending every ad to the home page
- Ignoring the search terms report, which shows what people actually typed
- Running ads at 2 a.m. when nobody will answer the phone
Facebook and Instagram:
- Boosting a post instead of running a proper lead campaign
- Using the same tired stock photo of a handshake
- Asking eight questions on the form, which kills volume
- Letting leads sit overnight
Does it change by province?
The platforms work the same way across Canada, but the market does not. Ontario and BC have the most competition for clicks, so Google costs tend to run higher there. In smaller markets such as Saskatchewan or Atlantic Canada, a well-built Facebook campaign can cover a whole province. Quebec needs French creative and French landing pages if you want real results. Our province pages cover the local rules and markets.
Questions brokers ask
Are Facebook leads worse than Google leads for mortgages?
They are earlier in the decision, not worse. A Facebook lead often needs a conversation to turn into a file, while a Google lead is more likely to be shopping already. With fast follow-up, Facebook leads fund plenty of deals.
How much should a mortgage broker spend on ads to start?
Spend enough to get real data within a month, and no more than you can afford to treat as a test. Many brokers start small on one platform and one product, then scale what works. Judge results on funded deals, not clicks.
Can I target homeowners on Facebook in Canada?
Not directly by homeownership. Meta’s special ad category for mortgage and housing ads limits targeting. Your ad copy and form questions do the filtering, for example by asking whether they own a property.
Should I use Google Local Services Ads or regular Google Ads?
In Canada, Local Services Ads currently cover mostly home-service trades and do not include mortgage brokers, so regular search ads are the realistic option. Check your Google Ads account in case that changes. Regular search ads give you more control over keywords and landing pages, which matters for specialty lending.
How fast should I call a Facebook mortgage lead?
As fast as you can, ideally within five minutes during business hours. Our guide on how to follow up with mortgage leads has a full contact schedule.
Want help choosing?
If you would like a second opinion on which platform suits your book, book a free strategy call. This site is run by Amplify Leads, founded by Anthony Thai, who has 10+ years in digital marketing. We run Facebook, Instagram and Google campaigns for Canadian mortgage professionals, month to month with no long contracts, and every lead is 100% exclusive and never resold. You can see the two ways we work, a managed campaign or pay per lead, on how it works.