Mortgage Marketing Compliance in Canada: A Checklist

Mortgage marketing compliance in Canada comes down to a handful of habits: identify your brokerage and licence where your regulator requires it, never promise approvals or rates, disclose properly when you advertise a rate, get consent before you email or text, and keep records of everything you publish. Your principal broker or compliance officer has the final say, so treat this guide as a working checklist and not legal advice.

A quick note before we start. I’m a marketer, not a lawyer or a regulator. Rules differ by province, they get updated, and your brokerage may add its own stricter policies. Where I say “check”, I mean it: confirm with your compliance contact and with the current regulator guidance before you launch anything.

Who sets the rules for mortgage advertising?

Mortgage brokering is provincially regulated, so the first question is always which province your licence sits in.

Ontario: FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario) licenses mortgage brokers, agents and brokerages and publishes expectations on advertising.
British Columbia: BCFSA (BC Financial Services Authority).
Alberta: RECA (Real Estate Council of Alberta) oversees mortgage brokers.
Quebec: the AMF (Autorite des marches financiers) and, for some activities, other bodies.

Other provinces have their own regulators. If you are licensed in more than one province, you need to meet each province’s rules for ads that reach that province.

Beyond the provincial layer, federal rules apply too: CASL for electronic messages, the federal competition and advertising laws against misleading claims, and privacy law (PIPEDA, or provincial equivalents) for how you handle borrower data. Then there are the platform rules from Meta and Google, which are not law but can shut your account down.

Mortgage advertising compliance checklist for ads

Run every ad through these questions before it goes live.

Does it name the licensed brokerage, and where required, show the licence number? Many regulators expect the brokerage name and licence number on advertising. Rules vary on format and placement, so ask your compliance contact how it should appear on a small image ad versus a video.
Does it avoid promising approvals? “Guaranteed approval”, “everyone qualifies” and “bad credit, no problem” are the phrases that cause trouble. You can’t promise an outcome the lender controls.
Does it avoid promising specific rates or savings? “Save $500 a month” or “lowest rates in Ontario” is a claim you would have to prove. Rates change daily and depend on the borrower.
If a rate is advertised, are the required disclosures there? More on this below.
Is every claim true and provable? “Over 500 families helped” is fine if you can show it. Otherwise cut it.
Are testimonials handled properly? Written permission, genuine statements, and nothing implying the same result for everyone. Check your regulator’s position on testimonials, since it differs.
Is the product described fairly? A HELOC, a private second and a reverse mortgage each have costs and risks. Ads shouldn’t hide them.
Do you know who approved it? Keep a name and date. Some brokerages require pre-approval of every ad.

If you run Facebook or Google campaigns, this checklist applies to the creative, the headline, the form, and the page it leads to. We cover the campaign side in Facebook ads for mortgage brokers and Google ads for mortgage brokers.

What to do when you advertise a rate

An advertised rate is the highest-risk thing most brokers publish. Regulators in several provinces expect that when you quote a rate, you also give the information a consumer needs to understand it, which often includes the annual percentage rate (APR) or an equivalent cost-of-borrowing disclosure, the term, and any conditions or fees that affect the rate.

The practical approach:

Don’t quote a rate in an ad unless you have to. Lead with the outcome (a free review, a renewal check) and quote rates in the conversation.
If you do show one, make the disclosures visible and legible, not buried in grey text.
Remove or update any rate ad the moment the rate is no longer available. Old rate posts that float around social media are a common problem.
Confirm the exact disclosure format with your compliance officer. I am not going to guess at the specific wording your regulator requires, because it differs and it changes.

Landing pages and websites

A landing page is advertising too, so the same rules apply, and a few extras.

Put the brokerage name, licence details and a way to contact you in the footer or near the form.
Link to a real privacy policy that says what you collect and how you use it.
Make form consent explicit. If you plan to call, email or text, the form should say so, and the consent box shouldn’t be pre-ticked.
Keep headline claims consistent with the ad that sent people there. A mismatch is both a conversion problem and a compliance problem.
Avoid pressure language such as “rates going up tomorrow, apply now” unless it is true and you can support it.

If you are building or rebuilding your site, our guide to mortgage broker SEO covers the structure, and the compliance basics above should be built in from the start.

Email and text: CASL in plain English

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, CASL, covers commercial electronic messages: email, text messages and some social messages. The core ideas are consent, identification and unsubscribe.

Consent. You generally need consent before you send a commercial message. Consent can be express (someone clearly opted in, and you can prove it) or implied in limited situations, such as an existing business relationship within a time window. Implied consent expires, so don’t treat an old client list as permanent permission.
Identification. Messages must clearly identify who is sending them and include your contact details.
Unsubscribe. Every message needs a working unsubscribe method, and you have to honour requests promptly.
Proof. If you are challenged, the burden is on you to show you had consent. Store the date, source and wording of each opt-in.

Buying a list of emails and blasting it is the fast way into trouble. Leads who filled out a form asking to hear from you are a different matter, which is one reason we insist on exclusive mortgage leads rather than shared lists. Even then, check that the consent language on the form matches how you intend to follow up. Have your lawyer or compliance officer look at your actual consent wording.

Do-not-call rules (the National Do Not Call List) also affect phone outreach, with their own exemptions. Ask your compliance contact how they apply to you.

Meta’s special ad category for credit

On Meta (Facebook and Instagram), ads about mortgages and other credit products fall under the special ad category for credit. In practice this restricts targeting options. You can’t narrow audiences by certain personal characteristics or use lookalike audiences the usual way, and some interest and demographic targeting is limited. Choosing the wrong category or none at all can get ads rejected or an ad account restricted.

Meta changes these rules from time to time, so check the current policy in Meta’s own documentation. Also remember that platform approval is not the same as regulatory approval. An ad can pass Meta’s review and still breach your regulator’s advertising rules.

Keep records

If a complaint or audit lands on your desk two years from now, you want to be able to show what you published and when. Keep:

A copy or screenshot of every ad, post, email template and landing page version, with dates it ran.
The approval from your principal broker or compliance officer, where required.
Consent records for every lead you message.
Any rate or promotion you advertised and the date it ended.

A shared folder with dated subfolders is enough. Retention periods differ by regulator, so ask how long you must keep marketing records.

Compliance and growth are not opposites

Brokers sometimes treat compliance as a brake on marketing. In my experience, clear ads with proper identification actually convert fine, and they protect a licence that took years to earn. It is much easier to build compliant campaigns from day one than to clean up a year of questionable posts.

If you want more ideas on where to put your effort, read mortgage marketing ideas and how to get mortgage leads. Our guide to mortgage broker social media also covers posting within the rules.

This site is run by Amplify Leads, a Toronto agency founded by Anthony Thai, who has 10+ years in digital marketing. Our leads are 100% exclusive and never resold, and we work month to month with no long contracts.

Questions brokers ask

Do I have to put my licence number on every ad?

Many regulators expect the brokerage name and licence number on advertising, but formats and exceptions differ by province. Ask your principal broker or compliance officer what applies to your licence and to each ad format.

Can I advertise a mortgage rate on Facebook?

You can in many cases, but you take on disclosure obligations, which often include APR or equivalent cost-of-borrowing information. Many brokers avoid rate ads and lead with an offer such as a free renewal review. Confirm with your compliance contact.

Can I text leads who filled out a Facebook lead form?

Only if you have valid consent for text messages. The form should say clearly that you will contact them by text, and you should store a record of that consent. Include your identification and an opt-out in every message. When in doubt, ask your compliance officer to review the form wording.

What does Meta’s special ad category for credit change?

It limits targeting options for ads about credit products, including mortgages, to reduce discrimination. You need to declare the category when you set up campaigns. Check Meta’s current policy, since the details are updated periodically.

Is this guide legal advice?

No. It is general information from a marketing perspective. Rules change and your situation may differ. Your principal broker, compliance officer or a lawyer has the final say.

What happens if my ad breaks the rules?

Outcomes depend on the regulator and the issue, and can range from a request to take the ad down to formal action. I won’t guess at specifics. Fix problems quickly, document what you changed, and tell your compliance contact.

If you want a campaign built with these guardrails from the start, the strategy call is free and there is no pressure to sign anything. You can book a call here.