How to Get Realtor Referrals as a Mortgage Agent in Canada

If you want to know how to get realtor referrals as a mortgage agent in Canada, here is the honest version: pick a short list of realtors whose buyers you can actually serve, offer them something they feel on every deal (fast pre-approvals, real communication, files that close on time), ask for one buyer to prove it, and then over-deliver on that first file. Referral fees and gift baskets are a side issue. Realtors send buyers to the mortgage agent who makes their deals close and keeps them out of awkward phone calls with clients.

This guide walks through that process step by step: who to approach, what to say, how to follow up, how to keep the relationship once files start coming, and the provincial rules on referral fees, co-branded advertising and email outreach that you need to check before you do any of it.

How to get realtor referrals in five steps

Shortlist five to ten realtors who are active in your area and whose buyers fit what you do well.
Decide what you offer them, in one sentence, before you meet. Speed and communication usually matter more than anything else.
Make a low-pressure first approach, ideally through an introduction, an open house or a real reason to talk.
Ask for one buyer, not a partnership. A single file lets them test you with little risk.
Treat that first file as the audition, then keep the relationship warm with useful contact and honest tracking.

The rest of this page goes through each step in detail.

Which realtors should a mortgage agent approach first?

Not every realtor is a good partner, and the biggest names in your market are often the worst place to start. A top producer often has a lender or mortgage agent they have trusted for years. You will spend months trying to get a seat at a table that is already full.

Look for these instead:

Buyer-side realtors who are busy but not famous. Agents doing steady volume with buyers in your area, often on a team or a few years into the business.
Realtors whose buyers match your niche. If you are good with self-employed borrowers, newcomers to Canada or B-lender files, look for realtors who work with those buyers. A realtor in Brampton or Surrey who serves newcomer families needs a mortgage agent who knows which lenders have newcomer programs.
Realtors who share a language or community with you. It matters in a lot of Canadian markets, and it makes the referral feel natural to the buyer.
Newer realtors with momentum. They are hungry, they answer their phones, and they will remember who helped them in year one.

To build the list, look at who is listing and selling in the neighbourhoods you know, who keeps appearing at open houses on weekends, and who your own past clients bought through. Keep it to five to ten names. Twenty realtors you see once a quarter is worse than five you actually know.

What do realtors want from a mortgage agent?

Realtors are not looking for the lowest rate in town. They want their deals to close, their clients to stay happy, and their weekends not to be wrecked by a financing problem. That is what you are offering. Be specific about it.

Fast, honest pre-approvals

When a realtor has a buyer ready to write an offer on Saturday, they need to know what that buyer can actually afford. Commit to a turnaround you can keep, such as an answer the same day you have the documents. Be clear with both the buyer and the realtor that a pre-approval is not a final approval: the lender still has to approve the property and verify the file. Never promise a rate or an approval to get the business, which is a compliance problem as well as a trust problem.

Communication during the deal

Silence is the fastest way to lose a realtor. Tell the realtor when the file is submitted, when conditions come back, when you have a commitment, and well before the financing condition date if anything is shaky. Get the borrower’s permission to share status updates with their realtor at the start, so you are not handing out their personal information without consent.

Someone who can save a hard file

A realtor’s nightmare is a firm deal falling apart because the buyer’s bank changed its mind. If you can place self-employed borrowers, handle a low credit score with a B-lender, or arrange a private second when a deal needs bridging, say so. Hard files are where realtors find out who is worth referring.

Respect for their client

Do not refer the buyer to a different realtor later, do not undercut their advice, and do not go quiet once the deal funds. The buyer is their client too.

Co-marketing that brings them business

Realtors like partners who help them find buyers, not just finance them. More on this below, including the advertising rules.

How to approach a realtor for the first time

The best first contact is an introduction from someone you both know: a past client who bought through them, a real estate lawyer, a colleague at your brokerage. Next best is meeting them where they work.

Open houses. Go on a quiet Sunday afternoon when the realtor is sitting alone. Look at the house, be friendly, and do not pitch for the first ten minutes. Ask what kind of buyers are coming through and what is stalling their deals right now. Then say what you do in one sentence.

A specific offer, not a general one. “I’d love to work together” means nothing. Try something closer to this:

“If you have a buyer who got turned down by their bank or is self-employed, send them my way. I’ll look at the file and tell you within a day whether there’s a workable path, and I’ll keep you updated the whole way through.”

That gives them a concrete reason to try you, and it costs them nothing.

A useful leave-behind. A one-page sheet on what a buyer needs for a pre-approval in your province, or how the stress test works, with your brokerage name and licence number on it. Something they can hand to a buyer, not a brochure about you.

Phone and email. A short call to a realtor’s business line is normal in this industry. Email is fine too, but it falls under CASL, so read the email section below before you send anything to a realtor you have never met.

How to follow up without being a pest

Plenty of mortgage agents give up after one coffee. One coffee is rarely enough for a realtor to hand you a buyer they care about, so the follow-up is where referrals are won.

A simple rhythm that works:

Within a week of meeting: send something useful that you promised, such as the pre-approval checklist or an answer to a question they asked.
Every few weeks after that: a short, relevant note. A change in lender policy, a note after a Bank of Canada rate announcement on what it means for their buyers, or an invite to something you are running.
After a month or two: ask directly. “Do you have one buyer who’s not pre-approved yet? I’d like the chance to show you how I work.”

If a realtor tells you they are happy with their current lender or does not want to hear from you, accept it, note it in your CRM and stop. Pushing past a clear no is how you get a reputation in a small local market.

Your first referred deal is the audition

When the first buyer arrives, treat it like the most important file you have this month, because it is. The realtor is watching how quickly you call the buyer, whether the buyer comes back saying good things, and whether they ever have to chase you for an update.

What over-delivering looks like:

Contact the buyer the same day the realtor sends them (inside calling hours if you phone), and tell the realtor you have done it.
Send short updates at each milestone, with the borrower’s consent, without waiting to be asked.
If something goes wrong, call the realtor before they hear it from their client, and come with a plan.
After the deal funds, thank them properly and tell them how it went.

One well-handled file does more for a realtor relationship than a year of coffees. For how to handle the buyer side of that first call, our guide on following up with mortgage leads covers the timing and the scripts.

Co-marketing with realtors and the advertising rules

Once a realtor has seen you close a deal, co-marketing gives them a reason to keep you close. Ideas that tend to work:

A first-time buyer evening or webinar, where the realtor covers the buying process and you cover qualifying, down payments and the stress test.
A shared, plain-English guide for buyers in your city, with both of you on it.
Short videos together answering real buyer questions, posted on both of your accounts. Our guide to mortgage broker social media has more on what to post.
A small paid campaign for a co-hosted event, run on Facebook and Instagram. Mortgage ads there fall under a special ad category with limited targeting, which our page on Facebook ads for mortgage brokers explains.

Co-branded material is advertising for both of you, so it has to meet both regulators’ rules. In Ontario, O. Reg. 188/08 requires a mortgage brokerage to show its authorized name and licence number clearly and prominently in its advertising and public materials, and to use the name an agent is licensed under.

On the real estate side, O. Reg. 567/05 under TRESA requires the realtor’s registered name and their brokerage’s registered name to appear clearly and prominently. Section 7 of O. Reg. 188/08 and section 37 of TRESA both ban false or misleading advertising.

Other provinces have their own advertising requirements, including where your licence number and brokerage name belong on ads, so in practice: get both brokerages’ compliance contacts to approve the piece before it goes out, and never put a rate or approval promise on it. Our mortgage marketing compliance checklist covers the rest.

Referral fees between mortgage agents and realtors: what to check

This is where many agents get into trouble, so here is what the rules we checked actually say. It is not legal advice, rules change, and your brokerage may have stricter policies. Ask your principal broker before any money or benefit changes hands.

Ontario, mortgage side. Under O. Reg. 188/08, if your brokerage pays or will pay a fee or other benefit to another person in connection with a mortgage, it has to tell the borrower in writing who receives it and how it is calculated, and get the borrower’s written acknowledgement (section 22). Conflicts of interest also have to be disclosed in writing (section 27). If you refer a client to a realtor for a fee, section 23 requires you to tell the client in writing, before or when you make the referral, about your relationship with the realtor and whether a fee is involved.

Ontario, real estate side. O. Reg. 567/05, section 23.1, requires a realtor to disclose to their client any financial benefit they may receive from another person in connection with their services, including an estimate of its value, and to make best efforts to get a written acknowledgement. The Trust in Real Estate Services Act, section 31 (2), says a salesperson can only accept remuneration for trading in real estate from their own brokerage. Expect the realtor’s brokerage to want any payment routed to it, not to the agent personally.

Alberta. RECA regulates both realtors and mortgage brokers. Its Real Estate Act Rules require a licensee who refers someone and may receive a referral fee to disclose that in writing and keep a copy (rule 45), and mortgage brokers and associates can only pay or accept remuneration through the brokerage they are registered with (rule 70). Rule 70 also limits incentives and inducements that do not come from the brokerage, so check before you send gift cards.

British Columbia. BCFSA’s Real Estate Services Rules, section 56, require a realtor who receives remuneration for recommending or referring a client to a mortgage broker licensed under the Mortgage Services Act to promptly disclose the source and amount to the client. The mortgage side has its own disclosure requirements under the Mortgage Services Act, so check BCFSA’s current guidance for brokers.

Quebec and other provinces. In Quebec, mortgage brokers have been overseen by the AMF since 2020 and real estate brokers by the OACIQ, each with its own rules. The AMF has published guidance on referrals between real estate brokers and mortgage brokers worth reading first. Other provinces differ again. Check with your regulator and your brokerage before you offer or accept anything.

Our view: do not build realtor referral partnerships on money. Even where a disclosed referral fee is permitted, it changes how a buyer hears the recommendation, and a realtor who refers for a fee may move to whoever pays more. The realtors worth having refer you because their deals close.

CASL rules when you email realtors

Canada’s anti-spam law, CASL, applies to commercial emails and texts sent to realtors just as it does to borrowers. Three points matter here:

Published business email addresses. Under the CRTC’s guidance on implied consent, consent can be implied when a realtor has conspicuously published their own email address (or had it published, for example on their brokerage profile), has not said they do not want unsolicited messages, and your message relates to their business role. The CRTC reads this narrowly. It requires more than the address simply being findable. An address on the realtor’s own site or their brokerage profile can count, but one that someone else copied, scraped or compiled into a list on their own does not. Bought or scraped realtor lists are a bad idea.
The referral exemption. If someone who has an existing business, family or personal relationship with both of you refers you, you can send one first message without consent under section 4(1) of the Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations (see the CRTC’s CASL FAQ), as long as it gives the referrer’s full name and says the message is sent because of their referral. Your identification and an unsubscribe method still need to be in it.
Ask for express consent. The cleanest route is to ask in person: “Can I add you to my monthly partner update?” Then record the date and how they agreed. Every commercial message still needs your identification and a working unsubscribe.

Our guide to email marketing for mortgage brokers has more on what a good partner email looks like.

How to work with realtors as a mortgage agent once referrals start

Getting the first few referrals is the hard part. Keeping them takes less effort but more discipline.

Meet each active partner once a quarter. Ask what is working, what is not, and what their buyers are struggling with.
Send business back. When a past client of yours wants to sell or a new buyer comes to you without a realtor, introduce them to a partner who fits, with the client’s permission. If any fee is involved, the disclosure rules above apply. If you generate purchase leads from your own ads, some of those buyers will not have a realtor yet, which gives you something to send back.
Spread your risk. If one realtor sends half your files, a slow market or a change at their brokerage can cut your income overnight. Keep building two or three more relationships even when things are good.
Own your mistakes quickly. Every agent has a file go sideways. The realtors who stay are the ones who heard about it from you first.

How to track realtor referrals

If you do not track referrals, you will spend time on the realtors you like instead of the ones who send you deals. Set up a few fields in your CRM, or a spreadsheet if you are just starting:

Realtor name and brokerage
Date of first contact and every follow-up
Each buyer referred, the date, and the outcome (pre-approved, firm, funded or lost, and why)
Business you sent to them
Notes on preferences, such as how they like updates

Review it every quarter. Often you will find one or two realtors doing most of the work, and a few you keep having coffee with who have never sent a buyer. Spend your time accordingly. If you are choosing a system, see our guide to choosing a CRM for mortgage brokers in Canada.

Realtor referrals are one channel among several. For how they compare with renewals, ads and SEO, read how to get mortgage leads in Canada, and if you are in your first year, our plan for getting clients as a new mortgage agent shows where realtors fit in your first 90 days.

Questions brokers ask

How long does it take to get referrals from a realtor?

Usually longer than agents expect. A realtor is trusting you with a client, so expect several useful contacts before a first buyer, and steady volume only after you have handled a deal or two well. Plan on months, not weeks, and keep other lead sources running meanwhile.

Can a mortgage agent pay a realtor a referral fee in Canada?

It depends on the province and both brokerages’ policies. The rules we checked in Ontario, Alberta and BC all require written disclosure to the client. In Alberta both sides can only pay or accept fees through their brokerage, and in Ontario and BC expect the realtor’s brokerage to want any payment made to it. Check with your principal broker and regulator before offering anything.

What should I bring to a first meeting with a realtor?

A one-sentence description of who you help, a clear turnaround promise you can keep on pre-approvals, and a useful one-page buyer handout with your brokerage name and licence number on it. Ask more questions than you answer.

How many realtor partners should a mortgage agent have?

Enough that losing one does not hurt you badly, but few enough that you can serve each one properly. We would aim for three to five active partners, with a few more relationships in progress.

Can I email realtors I have never met?

Only carefully. CASL allows implied consent for a realtor’s own conspicuously published business address when your message relates to their work, and it allows one first message after a referral from someone with an existing relationship with both of you. Asking for express consent in person is safer.

Do realtors care about the rate I can get their buyers?

Less than you might think. They care that the buyer is approved, that the deal closes on time and that the client is happy. Never promise a rate or approval to win a referral.

Want more buyers coming to you, not just through realtors?

Realtor referrals work best alongside a source of borrowers you control. If you would like to talk through how ads could fill the gaps, 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 campaigns as a managed service or pay per lead, month to month with no long contracts, and the leads we generate are 100% exclusive and never resold.