Mortgage Lead Cost in Canada: How to Judge What a Lead Is Worth

Mortgage lead cost in Canada depends far more on the source, the product and your follow-up than on any price sheet. Shared leads look cheap and convert poorly. Exclusive leads cost more per lead and convert better. Facebook leads usually cost less than Google leads, and referrals cost time rather than cash. The number that tells you whether a lead was worth buying is not cost per lead at all. It is cost per funded deal, and most brokers never work it out.

This guide shows you how to work it out, what moves the number up or down, and the questions to ask any lead vendor before you hand over a card.

Why cost per lead misleads you

Cost per lead is easy to see, so it is the number everyone quotes. It is also the number that leads brokers into bad decisions.

Picture two sources. Source A gives you leads at a low price, but one in fifty becomes a funded file. Source B costs several times more per lead, and one in twelve funds. Source B is often the cheaper way to fund a deal, even though its price per lead looks worse on paper.

A lead is only an opportunity to have a conversation. What you are really buying is the chance to fund a file, and that depends on:

Whether the lead is shared with other brokers
How the lead was generated and what the person was promised
Whether the form qualified them at all
How fast you call
How good you are on that first call

The three numbers to track

You need three figures per lead source. Keep them in your CRM or a plain spreadsheet. Either works if you update it every week.

Cost per lead: total spend divided by leads received.
Contact rate: leads you actually spoke to divided by leads received.
Funding rate: funded deals divided by leads received.

From those, cost per funded deal is total spend divided by funded deals. Compare that against what a funded file earns you after splits and fees, and you know whether a source pays.

A worked example

These numbers are made up to show the math. They are not a quote or a benchmark.

Say you spend $2,000 on a source in a month and get 50 leads. That is $40 per lead. You reach 35 of them by phone, a 70% contact rate. Three of them fund. Your cost per funded deal is about $667.

Now say a cheaper source gives you 100 leads for the same $2,000, at $20 per lead. You reach 40 because many were shared and already talking to someone else. One funds. Your cost per funded deal is $2,000.

The “cheap” source cost three times as much per deal.

What pushes mortgage lead cost up or down

Shared vs exclusive

Shared leads go to several brokers, sometimes four or five. By the time you call, the borrower may have spoken to two of your competitors. Exclusive leads go to you alone, which is why they cost more and convert better. We explain the difference on our exclusive mortgage leads page.

The product

Leads for different products behave very differently:

Refinance, HELOC and debt consolidation: usually the most volume, because so many homeowners have equity and expensive debt.
Renewals: often efficient to generate, because every mortgage comes up for renewal on a date the borrower can tell you, and easier to close if you reach them before they sign the lender’s offer. See mortgage renewal leads.
Private and B-lender: smaller audiences and often higher cost per lead, but the files can be worth more.
First-time buyers: plenty of interest, longer timelines, more pre-approvals that never fund.
Commercial: fewer leads, much larger files.

The region

Competition drives cost. Ad prices in the GTA and Metro Vancouver tend to run higher than in Regina or Moncton because more brokers are bidding for the same people. Quebec needs French ads to perform, which some vendors simply do not offer.

The platform

Facebook and Instagram leads usually cost less per lead than Google, because Google shows ads to people already searching. Google leads are usually readier. Our guide to Facebook ads vs Google ads for mortgage brokers compares them side by side.

Your follow-up

This is the one you control completely. The same lead costs you more if you call it the next day. Brokers who call within minutes and keep trying for a week see better contact and funding rates from the same spend. Our guide on how to follow up with mortgage leads lays out a schedule.

Questions to ask any lead vendor

Before you buy, ask:

Is each lead exclusive to me, or sold to other brokers too? Get the number in writing.
How are the leads generated? Ads, comparison sites, sweepstakes and “rate quote” forms produce very different people.
What did the borrower see before they filled out the form? If the ad promised a rate, you inherit an angry borrower.
What questions are on the form? A form with zero qualifying questions sends you a lot of noise.
What happens with fake or duplicate leads? A fair vendor has a clear replacement policy.
Is there a contract? Long lock-ins on an untested source are a warning sign.
Does the ad carry my licence details where my province requires it? Compliance is still your responsibility. See our compliance guide.

Buying leads vs generating your own

You can buy leads per lead, or run your own campaigns and own the whole system.

Buying per lead is simpler. You pay for results, someone else handles the ads, and you can start quickly. The trade-off is less control over the targeting and the offer.

Generating your own means paying for ad spend and the work of building and running the campaigns. It takes longer to tune, but you control the message, the form and the budget, and you learn what your market responds to.

Neither is right for everyone. Many brokers start by buying and move to their own campaigns once they know their numbers. The guide on how to get mortgage leads compares every source, including the free ones.

Questions brokers ask

How much do mortgage leads cost in Canada?

It varies widely by source, product, region and whether the lead is shared. Rather than chasing a benchmark, track your own cost per funded deal for each source over two or three months and compare.

Are cheap mortgage leads worth it?

Sometimes, but cheap usually means shared or poorly qualified. Test a small batch and measure how many you reach and how many fund before buying more.

What is a good cost per funded deal for a mortgage broker?

One that leaves you comfortable profit after splits, fees and your time. Work backwards from what an average funded file earns you, and decide what share of that you are willing to spend to win it.

Why are exclusive mortgage leads more expensive?

Because you are the only broker who gets them. The vendor cannot spread the cost across several buyers. In exchange, you are not racing other brokers to the phone.

How do I lower my cost per mortgage lead?

Tighten the offer around one specific problem, test new ad creative regularly, keep the form short but qualifying, and call faster. Faster follow-up does not lower cost per lead, but it lowers cost per funded deal, which is what matters.

Talk it through

If you want help working out what leads are worth for 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 work two ways, a managed campaign or pay per lead, both month to month with no long contracts. Every lead we generate is 100% exclusive and never resold. Details are on how it works.