A newcomer mortgage is a special mortgage product offered by Canadian lenders designed to make it easier for newcomers to Canada to purchase homes despite difficulties they may face. Some common difficulties for newcomers are that they may not have a Canadian employment history, it may be more difficult to prove income and savings, and they may have a limited Canadian credit history. Both your credit history and your employment history play an important role in qualifying for a conventional mortgage, so for newcomers, this can make it very hard to qualify.

In a newcomer mortgage, banks are less strict on these requirements, though there are additional criteria for eligibility that go above what may be required for a conventional mortgage to make up for the lower standards in these other areas.

Different lenders offer mortgages to newcomers, but they do have various different criteria and mortgage terms and are offered under different product names. Some of these include the CIBC Newcomer to Canada Program Mortgage, RBC Mortgage for Newcomers to Canada Program, and Scotiabank StartRight Mortgage Program. Consider working with a mortgage broker to help you find and compare these different programs to see what is right for you.

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