A professional practice.
A personal mortgage plan.

Rob Goodman is a Mortgage Agent Level 1 in Toronto - North York Centre specializing in Mortgages for Incorporated Professionals. His work also reaches incorporated clients across the wider Greater Toronto Area who run into the same wall.

Here's the problem most incorporated professionals run into: the bank looks at your T4 and sees almost nothing, even though your corporation brought in real money this year. Your accountant structured things to minimize tax, which is exactly what should happen for your business — but that same structure can make a strong income look weak on paper. You're left wondering if you'll be stuck with a smaller mortgage, a higher rate, or a flat no, even though you know your numbers are solid.

• Incorporated professionals often get pushed into the wrong lending lane because their income looks complicated on paper, not because the file is weak
• Lenders want consistent corporate financials — two years of clean documentation matters more than one strong year
• Timing an application around your corporate year-end can change how your income is read, so plan this before you apply
• Rob Goodman works through corporate structure upfront so North York clients aren't surprised later

Most incorporated professionals get assessed on their personal Line 15000 total income (what the CRA called line 150 before 2019; see the CRA's T1 income tax package), not what the corporation actually generates — and that single fact is what pushes strong files into B-lender territory. Two years of corporate financials, dividend history, and retained earnings are the standard documents lenders ask for, and when those years don't tell a clean, simple story, the file stalls. This is where Rob Goodman, Mortgage Agent Level 1 in Toronto - North York Centre, spends most of his time — untangling corporate income structures for physicians, dentists, consultants, and other incorporated professionals so the picture a lender sees actually matches the strength behind it. Part of my process is asking a lot of questions early — how income was structured, what was retained versus drawn, what the accountant's reasoning was — because the more detail I have, the more precisely I can match the file to a lender who actually reads corporate income the way it deserves to be read.

Lenders qualifying an incorporated professional in North York are reading two years of financials, not one pay stub. That means two years of corporate tax returns, two years of personal tax returns, a Notice of Assessment for each, and often a year-to-date financial statement from the corporation. Part of my process is to ask a lot of questions about how your accountant has structured retained earnings versus salary versus dividends — not to second-guess that structure, but because the more detail I have upfront, the better I can match your file to a lender who reads it the way it deserves to be read. Some lenders average two years of income. Others will consider the most recent year if it's trending stronger. Some want a letter from your accountant confirming the business can sustain a lower personal draw. None of this is guesswork on my end — I will ask, I will confirm, and I will tell you straight whether your current corporate structure is going to help or work against you with a given lender before we go there. Short, clear, transparent conversation, no surprises in underwriting.

Here's the short version: when you apply matters almost as much as how you apply. Lenders typically ask for two years of filed corporate financials plus personal tax returns, and if your year-end just passed but your accountant hasn't finalized the statements yet, you're stuck showing an older, weaker picture of your income.

I ask every incorporated client the same early question: when does your fiscal year close, and when do your financials actually get filed? That gap — sometimes three, four, even six months — can be the difference between a lender seeing your best year or your second-best year. Part of my process is asking enough questions upfront to map that timeline before we touch an application, not after.

For professionals in North York Centre carrying variable corporate income year to year, this isn't a minor scheduling detail. A mortgage submitted two months before updated financials are ready can lean on numbers that understate what you're actually earning now. A mortgage submitted two months after can use the stronger year. I will map that calendar with you, coordinate around it, and time the submission so your application reflects where your corporation genuinely stands — not an outdated snapshot of it.

Can I still qualify if my accountant minimized my personal income for tax purposes?

This is probably the question I hear most from incorporated professionals in North York, and the honest answer is: it depends on the lender. A lower personal income on paper is typically a reasonable, deliberate choice for tax reasons — but it can work against you with a lender that only looks at line 150 on your tax return. Part of my process is asking enough questions upfront to understand how your corporation is structured, then matching that picture to lenders who assess incorporated applicants more broadly. I won't promise a specific outcome, because every file is different, but I'll tell you straight whether your current structure is likely to help or hurt.

What if a bank already turned me down — is that it?

No, and I'd ask you not to treat one answer as the final word. A decline from one lender often reflects that lender's internal guidelines, not a true read of your financial strength. Nothing is guaranteed, but a single no is rarely the complete story once your full corporate picture is properly presented.

Do I need a certain number of years of incorporation before I can get a mortgage?

Lenders generally want to see an established pattern, and two years of corporate financials tends to be a common benchmark. How recently you incorporated and how your income has trended also factor in. If you're newer to incorporation, that's worth discussing early, before you've found a property.

Will I need a bigger down payment because I'm incorporated?

Not necessarily — down payment requirements come down to property value, property type, and how your income is documented, not your corporate status alone. Where this gets specific to you is how a lender interprets your corporate income relative to the purchase price. That's worth a direct conversation so we can look at your actual numbers rather than a general rule.