Last reviewed: 16 September 2026
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How to file a complaint against a Canadian mortgage broker, explained
Our US-side explainer on filing a complaint against a loan officer covers the CFPB and state-regulator channels. Canada has no equivalent federal complaint body for an independent mortgage broker — the same "no federal NMLS equivalent" structure our regulatory-structure overview already describes for licensing applies here too. Here's what each province's own process actually looks like.
The general pattern: your province's own regulator, first
A complaint about a Canadian mortgage broker goes to whichever provincial regulator licensed that broker — the same regulator our license-checking explainer already points you to for verifying the license itself. There's no single, Canada-wide complaint portal, and a complaint filed with the wrong province's regulator generally isn't forwarded automatically — you have to know which province actually licensed the broker you're dealing with.
Ontario: the brokerage first, then FSRA
FSRA expects a consumer to complain to the mortgage brokerage itself first — specifically to its Principal Broker or Administrator — and to request a "final position letter" stating the brokerage's response, while keeping dated notes of every conversation along the way. If that response is unsatisfactory, or never arrives, the complaint can then go to FSRA directly, online or by phone; when FSRA receives a complaint with no accompanying brokerage response, it notifies the brokerage and sets its own deadline for one. One category gets a shorter, mandatory clock regardless: a complaint touching a non-qualified syndicated mortgage requires the brokerage to forward both the complaint and its response to FSRA within 10 business days of receiving it.
British Columbia: straight to BCFSA
BC doesn't impose Ontario's brokerage-first step as a precondition — a complaint can go directly to BCFSA's Compliance Department. BCFSA reviews every complaint for whether it falls within its authority and has enough supporting evidence to investigate, then assesses and prioritizes it; a detailed complaint that BCFSA can follow up on is more likely to lead to action than an anonymous tip, though an anonymous submission is still accepted. A complaint lacking sufficient evidence, or falling outside BCFSA's authority, is closed with a letter explaining why.
Alberta: a formal complaint or an anonymous tip — with different rights attached
RECA runs its complaints through an online portal (complaints.myreca.ca) via its own File a Complaint Form. Filing as a named, formal complainant gets you status updates, the ability to track progress, and a right to appeal the outcome; filing anonymously as an informant gets none of that — no tracking, no appeal right, no formal complainant status — in exchange for anonymity. RECA also runs a separate Alternative Complaint Resolution track, including a Voluntary Broker Resolution Process, aimed at resolving minor issues without a full formal investigation. Worth knowing either way: RECA's own process explicitly cannot obtain financial compensation for you — that route runs through the courts, separately from a regulatory complaint.
Quebec: a new, harmonized complaint-handling regulation, since July 1, 2025
Quebec's complaint process changed recently and provincewide, not just for mortgage brokers: the AMF's Regulation respecting the processing of complaints and dispute resolution in the financial sector, published February 15, 2024, came into force July 1, 2025, and applies across the financial sector Quebec's Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services covers — including mortgage brokerage firms. Under it, a firm must give a complainant a final written response within 60 days, or up to 90 days if exceptional circumstances genuinely justify the delay, and that response has to tell the complainant plainly about their right to escalate the matter to the AMF itself if they're not satisfied.
What a regulatory complaint doesn't cover
Prince Edward Island is the one province with no dedicated regulator to complain to in the first place — see our explainer on PEI's regulatory gap for what does and doesn't still apply there. And everywhere else, a regulatory complaint is a conduct and licensing process, not a compensation mechanism — as RECA's own guidance states directly for Alberta, recovering money generally means a separate civil claim, not a regulatory finding against the broker.