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Canada’s mortgage leaders shine at 2025 CMAs
Returning for their 19th year on May 1, the Canadian Mortgage Awards (CMAs) were another roaring success as hundreds of mortgage professionals gathered under one roof at Toronto’s Congress Centre to toast the best and brightest of the industry.
From standout brokers and brokerages to behind-the-scenes underwriters and philanthropic leaders, the evening honoured the full spectrum of professionals shaping Canada’s mortgage landscape. The awards recognized achievements in both traditional and emerging areas of the industry, including private lending, alternative finance, and reverse mortgages.
Emerging talent took centre stage with the Young Achiever of the Year award, sponsored by CENTUM. Adrian Schultz of CENTUM emphasized the vital role of youth in the future of the industry. “We see young people as the future,” he said. “This is the beginning of a career path in the business. There’s a very good living to be made, and you’re helping Canadians achieve their dreams.”
REMIC sponsored the Canadian Broker of the Year award, won by standout performer Sabeena Bubber. Joe White, chief executive officer at REMIC, highlighted the importance of celebrating the outstanding achievements of mortgage professionals throughout the industry. “This award is the cream of the crop,” he said. “It’s something the industry needs to embrace and joyfully talk about – those helping Canadians with homeownership and financial freedom.”
At the other end of the career spectrum, the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Haventree Bank, recognized decades of meaningful impact. For Haventree’s chief operating officer John Bourassa, the award served as a moment to reflect: “We work in silos most of the year, so it’s important to come together and realize the scale of positive change we offer through our services.”
New brokerages also earned the spotlight. Leanne Conroy of MCAN Home, sponsor of the New Brokerage of the Year award, underscored the need for fresh ideas. “Everything is evolving so quickly. We need new brokerages with innovation and ingenuity to keep the industry alive and moving forward.”
Elevating unsung heroes and women leaders
Behind every successful deal is a hard-working underwriter – a fact recognized by the Canada Mortgage and Financial Group Award for Lender Underwriter of the Year (Alternative and Private). For CMFG’s Ameera Ameerullah, the award is long overdue: “Underwriters are usually behind the scenes doing all the hard work… It’s important to let them know they’re appreciated.”
The contributions of women in the industry were celebrated through the Woman of Distinction Award, presented by Home Trust. Elizabeth Cescon, vice president of residential underwriting, shared words of encouragement for women striving in the business: “Put yourself out there. Try new things. Don’t second-guess yourself, and surround yourself with strong women who can support your direction.”
The spirit of giving back was also on display. The RFA Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service highlighted the human side of the mortgage industry. Cheryl Buhs, vice president of national sales, spoke to the heart of the initiative: “RFA is really big into community service and charities – it’s a huge pillar of our values.”
Regional excellence and growing niches
For Taylor Lewis of Canadian Mortgages Inc., sponsoring the Broker of the Year – Private Lending award was about recognizing key players in a niche sector: “We work with brokers across the country, and we regard ourselves as one of Canada’s top private lenders. It felt only right to give out this award.”
Reverse mortgages, once a lesser-known product, also took the spotlight with a dedicated category sponsored by Equitable Bank. Shan De Mel, senior regional channel manager, said the timing couldn’t be more appropriate: “This award goes to show the popularity of reverse mortgages in today’s environment… We’re proud to be the first to sponsor it.”
After nearly two decades, the CMAs are clearly still as important as ever – both as a means of celebrating outstanding achievements within the mortgage industry and allowing mortgage professionals to come together as a community.
Shawn Allen, founder of Matrix Mortgage Global – which sponsored the regional broker award for Eastern Canada, Quebec and Ontario – reflected on the mortgage space’s resilience. “The industry went through a hard time with COVID, and now we need to show solidarity,” he said. “These awards are about giving back and celebrating achievements.”
A word from the editor
On behalf of myself and the team at Canadian Mortgage Professional, I’d like to extend huge congratulations to the Excellence Awardees and winners of the Canadian Mortgage Awards for 2025.
The Canadian Mortgage Awards is a fixture in the national mortgage industry calendar, a premier independent awards event that’s going from strength to strength as its 20th anniversary approaches next year.
At its heart, the Canadian Mortgage Awards has always been about putting the spotlight on the industry’s outstanding performers across a range of different categories – and this year we went bigger than ever, introducing new categories to recognize the mortgage sector’s top innovator champions and reverse broker specialists.
Once again, we also gave recognition to mortgage professionals the length and breadth of Canada, with broker awards recognizing the brightest brokering lights from coast to coast to coast.
We’re proud to bring this event to the mortgage community every year – and we also couldn’t be prouder of the amazing achievements of an industry that continues to play an indispensable role in helping Canadians realize their homeowning dreams.
We all know recent times have seen economic volatility, steadily rising borrowing costs, an affordability crisis and a tough market for many homebuyers. But through the countless conversations we’ve had with mortgage industry professionals throughout 2024 and 2025, we’ve been constantly struck by the ceaseless commitment of the mortgage community to dig deep and deliver for clients even in the most challenging of times.
That’s a huge part of what makes celebrating the achievements of the industry each year so rewarding – and a big reason we’re so committed to honouring you each year. Our sincerest thanks for joining us in May, and we hope to see you in 2026 to celebrate a landmark two decades of the Canadian Mortgage Awards!
Fergal McAlinden
Managing Editor - North America Mortgage
Gallery
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AWARD CATEGORIES
Winners and Excellence Awardees
Alternative Broker Specialist of the Year
WINNER
- Harman Batta
Mortgage Alliance
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Eduardo Pontes
Seventy Seven Park
- Gogi Luthra
AKAL Mortgages Inc.
- Jason Anbara
Jason Anbara Mortgage Alliance
- Jason Sohl
MCC – Capital360 Corp
- Max Escrogin
Maventure Mortgage Co
- Muhammad Aamir Khalique
DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group
- Pip Dhaliwal
Freedom Capital Inc.
- Rashmeet Kaur
AKAL Mortgages Inc.
- Steve Futyer
TMG The Mortgage Group – KW Mortgage Team
- Sylvain Poirier
Dominion Lending Centres
- Zeynep Babir
8Twelve Mortgage Corp.
Broker of the Year – Commercial
WINNER
- Joanna Zhou
TMG The Mortgage Group
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Ahmed Hatata
Green Mortgage Solutions Inc.
- Alexander Durand
Mcommercial
- David Mayrand
Mortgage Architects – Maoki
- Denis Gagné Nadeau
Multilogements.ca
- Jean-François Labrecque
Multilogements.ca
- Jonathan Gagnon
Orbis Mortgage Group
- Mary Grace Tatangelo
Mcommercial
- Mike Chiu
Capital West Mortgage Inc.
- Nadeem Keshavjee
Greenbirch Capital
- Peter Quinn
Multi-Prêts Commercial
- Stephen Thomas
Mortgage Alliance – HALO Mortgage Advisory
- Vanessa Thomas
Mortgage Alliance – HALO Mortgage Advisory
- Vic Cotton
Avenue Financial
The Matrix Mortgage Global Award for Broker of the Year Regional – Eastern Canada (Quebec and Ontario)
WINNER
- Paul Meredith
Paul Meredith Team – PMT Mortgage Corp.
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Chantal Chevalier
Orbis Mortgage Group
- Charles-Antoine Boudreau
Planiprêt
- Gurpreet (Goldy) Singh
Mortgage Alliance
- Matthew Picciuto
Vine Group Mortgage Brokerage
- Meaghan Hastings
The Mortgage Coach
- Philippe Boucher
Mortgage Alliance
- Pierre-Charles Jolicoeur
JA Hypothèques
- Rakhee Dhingra
Mortgage Savvy
- Tracy Valko
DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group
- Veronique Caron
Multi-Prêts Hypothèques
Broker of the Year Regional – Maritimes/Atlantic Canada (Newfoundland, PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick)
WINNER
- Leslie Penney
Verico East Coast Mortgage Brokers
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Chris Vye
Estate Mortgage – The Mortgage Centre
- Daniel Cox
Mortgage Alliance – United Group
- David Clarke
TMG The Mortgage Group Atlantic Inc
- Ellen Flores-Abad
8Twelve Mortgage Corp.
- Manpreet Singh
Verico East Coast Mortgage Brokers
- Rob Jennings
Verico East Coast Mortgage Brokers
Broker of the Year Regional – Western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia)
WINNER
- Sabeena Bubber
Verico Xeva Mortgage
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Atif Muhammad
Atlas Mortgage Group
- Bart Rygal
Verico Xeva Mortgage
- Candice Carr
Kindred Mortgage Co.
- Dan Miller
Miller Mortgages Ltd.
- Deb White
White House Mortgages
- Inam Qureshi
Syndicate Lending Corporation
- Lisa Gryba
One Link Mortgage & Financial
- Nestor de Quiroz
Fi-Nest Mortgage Inc
- Sharnjit Gill
VERICO Superior Mortgage Inc.
- Surinderjit Khamba
Coast to Coast Mortgage Group
- Tracy Regier
Tango Financial – Compass Mortgage Group
- Zaheed Valli-Hasham
City Wide Mortgage Services – VH Mortgage Group
Brokerage of the Year (25 employees or more)
WINNER
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group
- Get a Better Mortgage Inc.
- Orbis Mortgage Group
- Quantus Mortgage Solutions
- Ratehub.ca
- Tango Financial
- The Mortgage Advisors
- TMG The Mortgage Group (Atlantic) Inc.
- Verico East Coast Mortgage Brokers
- Verico Xeva Mortgage
Brokerage of the Year (fewer than 25 employees)
WINNER
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- CENTUM Home Lenders Ltd.
- Choice Financial Corp.
- Fi-Nest Mortgage
- Homewise Solutions Inc.
- Intouch Mortgage Solutions Inc.
- Kindred Mortgage Co
- Mortgage Simplicity
- Mortgage Outlet
- VERICO Superior Mortgage
Digital Innovation in a Brokerage
WINNER
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- 8Twelve Mortgage Corp.
- Blue Pearl Mortgage Group
- Citadel Mortgages
- DLCG
- Homewise Solutions Inc.
- Premiere Mortgage
- Quantus Mortgage Solutions
- Syndicate Lending
- Tango Financial
- TMG The Mortgage Group
Industry Service Provider of the Year
Winner
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Blu Mortgage
- Dolphin Enterprises Ltd
- FundMore
- Haventree Bank
- Mortgage Marketing Coach
- Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada Inc.
- Solidifi
- Tactical Mortgage Solutions (TMS)
- The Mortgage Nerd training courses
Innovator Champion of the Year (individual award)
WINNER
- Joe Fakhri
Scarlett Network
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Adrian Schulz
Centum Financial Group Inc.
- Chris Grimes
FundMore
- Inam Qureshi
Syndicate Lending Corporation
- Jared Stanley
Neighbourhood Holdings
- Ross Taylor
Concierge Mortgage Group
- Russ Morrison
Tactical Mortgage Solutions (TMS)
- Tom Hall
BluMortgage
- Tristan Kirk
Citadel Mortgages
Lender BDM of the Year (prime)
WINNER
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Adam Meger
RFA Mortgage Corporation
- Andrew Fedewicz
TD Canada Trust
- April Morin
Merix Financial
- Cam DelliPizzi
MCAN
- Francesca Papasodaro
TD Canada Trust
- Geoff Semple
Manulife
- Harriet Cammayo
MCAN
- Jordan Speer
RFA Mortgage Corporation
- Manny Sevatzian
First National Financial LP
- Phil Wiseman
MCAP Service Corporation
- Ryan White
MCAN
- Shane Lapointe
- Stefan Mandic
TD Canada Trust
Lender BDM of the Year (specialist – alternative and private)
WINNER
- Isabel Eydlin
First National Financial LP
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Amanda Carnevale
Strive Capital Corporation
- Arlen Ekstein
Tembo Financial Inc.
- Bernice Lim-Tran
HomeEquity Bank
- Francis Massie
Equitable Bank
- Jayson Zilkie
Shelter Lending Corporation
- Jerry Wieliczko
Hosper Mortgages
- Jo-Anne Fleming
First National Excalibur
- Kyle Williams
First Circle Financial
- Lisa Alentejano
Equitable Bank
- Matt Vasselin
CMLS – AVEO
- Matthew Sheriff
CWB Optimum Mortgage
- Neil Maclaine
Home Trust Company
- Reaza Ali
Fisgard Asset Management Corporation
- Selenne Marin
Home Trust Company
Lender Underwriter of the Year (prime)
WINNER
- Anne-Marie Koebel
RFA Mortgage Corporation
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Gary Brar
RMG Mortgages
- Jeremy Hewitt
CMLS
- Laura Aiken
MCAP
- Rodney Greenlaw
Strive
- Suresh Packianathan
Strive
- Susan Anthony
First National Financial LP
- Traci Merkel
MCAP
- Vania Santos
Strive
The Canada Mortgage and Financial Group Award for Lender Underwriter of the Year (specialist – alternative and private)
WINNER
- Drew Wiens
Haventree Bank
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Aaron Ballantine
MCAN
- Andrew Taylor
Alta West Capital
- Brynne Burgess
MCAP Eclipse
- Catalin Popa
Hillmount Capital
- Darren Schienbein
CWB Optimum Mortgage
- Grant Plunkie
Shelter Lending Corporation
- Jaclyn Brazier
Bridgewater Bank
- Jessica Carreiro Phu
CMI Financial Group
- Kevin Cheng
PHL Capital Corp.
- Nancy Ribeiro
Glasslake Funding
- Olga Bondari
Tembo Financial Inc.
- Qasim Iftikhar
First National Excalibur
- Zack Muir
Keystone Capital Ltd
Mortgage Industry Employer of Choice
WINNER
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- BMO BrokerEdge
- Centum Financial Group Inc.
- CMI Financial Group
- CWB Optimum Mortgage
- HomeEquity Bank
- MCAN
- MCAP
- Ratehub.ca
- RFA Mortgage Corporation
- Tango Financial
- TMG The Mortgage Group
National Broker Network of the Year
WINNER
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Centum Financial Group Inc.
- Dominion Lending Centres
- Verico Financial Group Inc.
National Brokerage of the Year
WINNER
- Invis Mortgage Intelligence
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Mortgage Alliance
- Mortgage Architects
- Multi-Prêts Hypothèques
- Pineapple Financial
- Syndicate Lending Corporation
- TMG The Mortgage Group
The Canadian Mortgages Inc. Award for Broker of the Year – Private Lending
WINNER
- Reza Ghazi
Greenflow Financial
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Amandeep Singh
AKAL Mortgages Inc.
- Ameera Ameerullah
Canada Mortgage and Financial Group
- Asim Ali
DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group
- Bogdan Muzychka
Benson Mortgages
- David Clarke
TMG The Mortgage Group Atlantic Inc.
- Davinder Powar
AKAL Mortgages Inc.
- Geoff Lee
GLM Mortgage Group
- Gurpreet (Goldy) Singh
Mortgage Alliance
- Jordan Kissock
Verico Xeva Mortgage
- Rob Jennings
Verico East Coast Mortgage Brokers
- Shirl Funk
Shirl Funk Mortgages Ltd
The Centum Financial Award for Young Achiever of the Year
WINNER
- Akshay Gupta
Foundry Mortgage Capital Corp.
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Jenna Hall
Kindred Mortgage Co.
- Jess Dusome
BRX Mortgage
- Joey Emond
Multi-Prêts Hypothèques
- Mathieu Hallé
TMG The Mortgage Group – The Hallé Team
- Muskan Muskan
AKAL Mortgages Inc.
- Natasha Taylor
8Twelve Mortgage Corp.
- Ola Broda
Flare Mortgage Group
- Riley Boychuk
Boychuk Mortgages
- Sydney Tolentino
Citadel Mortgages
- Tyler Hibbs
Lending Niagara – Mortgage Architects
The Equitable Bank Award for Broker of the Year – Reverse Mortgages
WINNER
- Kyle Benzies
DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Ajay Singh
Centum Presto Mortgage / Retire Better
- Doug Girvan
Mission 35 Mortgages
- Jon McKay
DLC Mortgage House
- Mathieu Lebrun
Multi-Prêts Hypothèques
- Michael Sneddon
Reverse Mortgage Pros Inc.
- Rebecca Awram
Indi Mortgages
- Samia Newton
Mortgage Alliance The Art of Mortgages Inc.
The Haventree Bank Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Mortgage Industry
WINNER
- Steven Ranson
HomeEquity Bank
The Home Trust Award for Woman of Distinction
WINNER
- Caroline Rapson
Centum Financial Group Inc.
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Deanne Wheelan
East Coast Mortgage Brokers
- Denise Laframboise
BRX Mortgage
- Elaine Taylor
Mortgage Alliance
- Elizabeth Wood
CMI Financial Group
- Kristy-Lynn Maxwell
Verico Financial Group Inc.ss
- Larissa Meleca
M3 Financial Group
- Leah Zlatkin
Mortgage Outlet
- Luisa Hough
Verico Xeva Mortgage
- Natasha Bridgmohan
Natasha Bridgmohan & Team – Powered by Mortgage Intelligence
- Rakhee Dhingra
Mortgage Savvy
- Shannon Hillman
Capital West Mortgage Inc.
The MCAN Award for New Brokerage of the Year
WINNER
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- BrokerSquared Mortgage Group
- Diverse Mortgage Group
- Echo Mortgage
- Mortgage Alliance HALO Mortgage Advisory
- RTC Mortgage
The REMIC Award for Canadian Broker of the Year
WINNER
- Sabeena Bubber
Verico Xeva Mortgage
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Harman Bhatta
Mortgage Alliance
- Joanna Zhou
TMG The Mortgage Group
- Kyle Benzies
DLC AIMI Collective Mortgage Group
- Leslie Penney
Verico East Coast Mortgage Brokers
- Paul Meredith
Paul Meredith Team – PMT Mortgage Corp.
- Reza Ghazi
Greenflow Financial
The RFA Award for Excellence in Philanthropy & Community Service
WINNER
- Paul Bojakli
Quantus Mortgage Solutions
EXCELLENCE AWARDEES
- Alta West Capital
- Ameera Ameerullah
Canada Mortgage and Financial Group
- Bekim Merdita
Rocket Mortgage Canada
- Blue Pearl Mortgage Group
- Carey Benvenuti
Lending Niagara – Mortgage Architects
- Empire Mortgage Group
- Hema Amin
Mortgage Alliance
- Michelle Ross
TMG The Mortgage Group
- PHL Capital Corp.
- Rachelle Gregory
Merix Financial
- Sabeena Bubber
Brokers Who Care
Stage 1 – Nominations
The call for nominations was open to all mortgage professionals and organizations – including brokers, brokerages, lenders, BDMs, underwriters, agents, and service providers – from across Canada.
Nominations ran from November 4, 2024, to January 17, 2025, at 11:59 pm ET.
To submit a nomination, participants proceeded to the Nominate page of the website and provided the nominee’s contact details and a brief reason for nomination within a 300-word limit.
There was no fee to submit a nomination.
Stage 2 – Research
The Canadian Mortgage Awards team conducted research and drew on knowledge and information gained through Canadian Mortgage Professional magazine to support and supplement the nominations received and to ensure that no one deserving of recognition was missed. Excellence awardees were determined from both pools of information.
A corresponding announcement was then made across our media outlets.
Stage 3 – Excellence Awardees
Once all nominations were considered and research was complete, excellence awardees were selected in each category (except the Lifetime Achievement category) and notified via email or phone.
All excellence awardees were then invited to complete a detailed submission, which was an opportunity to address the category criteria in more detail. All submissions remained confidential unless otherwise marked and were not shared with any third parties other than the judges.
Excellence awardees were officially announced in March 2025 on the event website and promoted in CMP magazine and online channels.
Stage 4 – Judging
All submissions from the excellence awardees were forwarded to the independent judging panel comprising mortgage and finance industry leaders and senior representatives. The panel assessed and voted for their winners in each category according to the relevant category criteria.
Voting commenced in March–April 2025, and the judges’ decisions were impartial, balanced, incisive, and fair. Any judge with a conflict of interest in a category recused themselves from judging that category.
Stage 5 – Winners
Using a simple points system to aggregate judges’ votes, the excellence awardee with the top score in a category was named the winner.
Winners were announced at the awards show on May 1, 2025, and on the event website. They were also promoted in CMP magazine and online channels
2025 Judging Panel
-
Scott Andison
CEO
Ontario Home Builders’ Association
-
Ross Cadastre
VP, Client Engagement
MIR Digital Solutions
-
Samantha Gale
CEO and Co-Founder
Canadian Association of Private Lenders
-
Mary-Anne Gillespie
Owner & CEO
Red Apple Coaching and Consulting
-
Trevor Koot
CEO
BC Real Estate Association
-
Tom Lebour
Past President
Mississauga and Toronto Regional Real Estate Board
-
Dr. Ann McAfee
President, Retired Co-Director
City Choices Consulting, Planning City of Vancouver
-
Chad Mooney
Senior VP - Business Development: CMBA Ontario Board of Director
MCF Mortgage Investments
-
Lisa Patel
Founder
Property Princess Group
-
Andrew Perrie
CEO
The Fine Estates Team
-
Gary Schwartz
President
Canadian Lenders Association
-
Joseph White
President
Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada Inc. (REMIC)
Association of Mortgage Investment Professionals (AMIPROS)
