Canada's alternative lending sector has moved well beyond bruised credit and last-resort approvals. Joel Cote of Haventree Bank, Avish Buck of MCAN Financial Group, and Jared Stanley of Neighbourhood Holdings examine how sky-high home prices, rising self-employment, and complex income structures have reshaped the borrower profile. The discussion covers what separates top-performing brokers, how to frame files for success, and where opportunity sits as a record-breaking renewal wave reshapes the market.
Canada's alternative lending sector has shifted from a fringe option to a recognized path for a widening range of borrowers. Joel Cote, chief operating officer of Haventree Bank, tracks that shift closely, pointing to income complexity, loan-to-income limits, and renewal pressure as structural accelerants. "We've evolved quite extensively from a stereotypical lender of last resort. It's now more of an intentional path, one that supports the growing segment of a wide range of borrower types," Cote says. With nearly 2.7 million Canadians self-employed and over 60 percent of outstanding Canadian mortgages set to renew in 2025 or 2026, the conditions driving borrowers toward alternative products are structural, not temporary. The shift is not a market anomaly; it is the new baseline for a broad category of creditworthy Canadians.
The profile of the alternative borrower has changed significantly over the past decade, and the old stereotype of the credit-damaged applicant no longer holds. Avish Buck, SVP and chief operating officer of MCAN Financial Group and president of MCAN Home Mortgage Corp, frames it directly. "The typical alternative borrower is now a financially stable, income-capable client whose credit history or income structure doesn't fit outdated lending frameworks," Buck says. "The income picture isn't as clear-cut as it once was." Self-employment represents 13.2 percent of Canada's employed population, growing three percent year over year as of March 2025. Multigenerational co-purchases, new-to-Canada professionals, and gig economy workers are arriving with strong fundamentals and unconventional files that simply require a different kind of lender.
Top-performing alternative brokers lead with the full story, including the parts that are difficult to explain. Jared Stanley, chief operating officer of Neighbourhood Holdings, draws on an unexpected reference point: FBI hostage negotiation tactics from Chris Voss' book Never Split the Difference. The brokers Stanley values most do not document dump, and they do not hide bad news. Some "tell me straight up, 'the borrower admits they were an idiot,'" he says. "Then they get into what happened and why, and what plan is now in place going forward. It makes underwriting files so much easier because you can just focus on the solution." Brokers who bury problems only erode underwriter trust when the truth eventually surfaces, and that erosion is difficult to rebuild over time.
Clear storytelling and upfront disclosure separate a smooth approval from a stressful rework. Cote warns brokers against forcing underwriters to reconstruct a narrative from incomplete documents. At Haventree Bank, a deal with complications does not trigger an automatic decline. The operating philosophy is direct: bad things happen to good people, and a well-framed file acknowledges that reality. Buck draws the same line on presentation quality. "The difference between a great broker and one who's not as well versed is how they paint the picture and provide the details required to make it work," he says. That means knowing prepayment penalties, renewal fees, and each client's life-cycle stage from the very first conversation, before a single document changes hands.
Choosing the right alternative lender matters because that lender becomes part of the client relationship, not just a transaction counterparty. Buck is unambiguous on this point. "When a broker works with MCAN, it means they trust us with their client, and that's something we take seriously," he says. "Trust is the core of any relationship." Consistency through difficult markets is another test worth applying: MCAN continued lending when competitors paused or pulled back. Cote also advises brokers to understand how a lender actually processes a deal, not just who the business development manager is. Speed, certainty of close, and clear communication separate a reliable lending partner from a risky one when a file needs to move quickly and without surprises.
The 2025–2026 renewal cycle is generating a distinct and challenging pattern for brokers across Canada. A borrower returns expecting a routine renewal and finds that accumulated consumer debt has made the numbers unworkable. Over 1.2 million mortgages came up for renewal in 2025 alone, and average monthly payments were projected to rise 10 percent for 2025 renewals. "A lot of brokers, unless they've been around a long time, may not have seen anything like this," Cote says. Markets outside Toronto and Vancouver lack the equity buffer that major centres provide. Debt restructuring is now as central to the alternative lending conversation as homeownership access, and brokers who lack fluency in both are leaving real solutions off the table for clients who need them most.
Technology in alternative lending functions as a support tool, not a replacement for experienced judgement. Stanley draws a firm line on what underwriters are actually compensated to do. "We don't pay underwriters for their ability to type in data; we pay them for their judgement," he says. Neighbourhood Holdings uses automation to streamline approvals and reduce friction, but human oversight remains central to every decision. Buck agrees, and points to MCAN's ICON program, which has provided over $400,000 in free mortgage payments to clients facing difficult life events as evidence that relationship quality cannot be automated away. "If I said to a broker, talk to my chatbot, it won't work," Buck says. "Alternative lending is dynamic. There's always nuance that takes experience and empathy to navigate."