If your income structure is complicated, that's exactly where we work best.

Most major banks default to your net income from your T1 General, the number after you've claimed every allowable deduction. For self-employed borrowers who are appropriately minimizing taxable income, that number is often low by design. Banks then use that number to assess what you can carry. The result frequently doesn't reflect your actual financial position.

There are lenders who approach self-employed income differently. Some use a two-year average of gross business income. Some use bank statements showing actual cash flow. Some use stated income programs where your declared income is accepted with supporting documentation rather than verified against a T1. We know which lenders use which approach and which one is right for your file.

Most programs require two years of self-employment history, meaning two years of filed taxes showing self-employment income. If you're newly self-employed, options are more limited but they do exist, particularly if you were previously employed in the same field.

If you're approaching the two-year mark, it's worth a conversation now. How you structure your income in year two can affect what you're able to qualify for. We'd rather you know that before you've filed.

We've watched self-employed clients walk into first conversations already in a defensive posture: pre-explaining, pre-apologizing, braced for a no. In most cases, the no they received from their bank was a no from one lender using one underwriting approach. It was not a final verdict on their file.

Come to us with your documents and let us read the file. We'll tell you honestly what we can do and what the options look like.