Brokers can help arrange mortgages. FairRate provides educational review context for supported renewal offers. They are different tools for different jobs.
Already received a renewal offer from your lender?
Check the rate against current Canadian mortgage benchmarks before you sign. FairRate is paid by you, not by lenders, and does not sell your information to brokers.
Most borrowers compare only after they have already signed. Free check first; paid report options after the check: Rate Fairness Report CA$24 · Full Renewal Decision Report CA$49. No broker calls. No data sold.
Use a licensed mortgage professional when you want help finding, applying for, arranging, or switching a mortgage. Use FairRate when you already have a supported 5-year fixed Canadian renewal offer and want educational market-context and scheduled-payment comparison before deciding what questions to ask next.
FairRate does not replace lender review, broker advice, legal advice, financial advice, underwriting, or approval.
| Question | FairRate | Mortgage broker or mortgage professional |
|---|---|---|
| Primary role | Educational review context for a supported existing renewal offer. | May help find, compare, apply for, arrange, or place mortgage options. |
| Current FairRate scope | Canadian 5-year fixed renewal offers only for benchmark-backed checker and paid benchmark reports. | Scope depends on the professional, licensing, lender access, borrower profile, and requested transaction. |
| Output | Market-context, scheduled-payment comparison, written-offer review prompts, and limitations. | Mortgage options, application support, qualification discussion, documentation guidance, and lender placement when applicable. |
| Advice and approval | No approval, no mortgage arrangement, and no legal, financial, brokerage, underwriting, or lender advice. | May provide regulated mortgage services depending on licensing, jurisdiction, and engagement. |
| Compensation | FairRate’s checker/report model is borrower-facing and does not arrange mortgage placement. | Broker compensation and fee models can vary by firm, product, file, and jurisdiction; ask for disclosures in writing. |
FairRate may be useful when the borrower already has a written renewal offer and wants a structured educational review of a supported 5-year fixed quote. It can help organize lender questions about the written rate, payment assumptions, penalty wording, prepayment privileges, portability, fees, restrictions, and expiry date.
A licensed mortgage professional may be useful when you want to shop lenders, switch institutions, refinance, change borrowing, adjust amortization, add or remove borrowers, or discuss qualification and approval. Those situations can involve documentation, lender criteria, fees, timing, and advice that FairRate does not provide.
FairRate Canada's benchmark-backed free checker and paid benchmark reports currently support Canadian 5-year fixed renewal offers only. Variable-rate offers, shorter fixed terms, refinances, purchase mortgages, and complex restructuring scenarios should not be forced against that reference.
FairRate provides educational market-context and scheduled-payment comparison. It does not arrange mortgages, guarantee approval, guarantee another rate, guarantee savings, or provide legal, financial, brokerage, underwriting, or lender advice.
No. FairRate is not a bank, lender, mortgage broker, mortgage agent, brokerage, underwriter, lawyer, or financial advisor. It provides educational market-context and scheduled-payment comparison for supported renewal offers.
A licensed mortgage professional may be useful when you want help finding, applying for, arranging, or switching a mortgage, or when your situation requires advice about lender options, qualification, documentation, and approval.
FairRate is useful when you already have a supported 5-year fixed Canadian renewal offer and want educational context about the written rate and estimated scheduled-payment comparison before deciding what questions to ask next.
Yes. FairRate can help you review a supported offer, and a licensed mortgage professional can help with mortgage shopping, lender applications, qualification, or placement when needed.
Important limitation: FairRate Canada is an independent consumer-paid educational comparison and reporting product — not a lender, mortgage broker, mortgage agent, law firm, financial advisor, or mortgage underwriter. FairRate does not arrange mortgages, take applications, approve credit, or sell mortgage inquiries to lenders or brokers. The current benchmark-backed checker and paid benchmark reports support 5-year fixed renewal offers only and use fresh public 5-year fixed comparison context when a usable source is available. Broader Bank of Canada data may be used for contextual purposes. Results are not a lender quote, approval, qualification result, personalized advice, or guarantee of a lower rate or savings. Verify current rates, eligibility, fees, penalties, product terms, and switching costs with the relevant lender and, where appropriate, a licensed mortgage professional or other qualified advisor.