EQ Bank Mortgage Lender Profile
Generally for Borrowers of many kinds, from prime to self-employed, newcomer, bruised credit or investment, applying through a mortgage broker.
Who they are
EQ Bank is the digital banking brand of Equitable Bank, a Schedule I federally regulated bank and the principal operating subsidiary of the publicly traded EQB Inc. Equitable Bank was founded in 1970 as The Equitable Trust Company, became a bank in 2013, and launched the EQ Bank platform in 2016. It reports roughly $53 billion in total assets and describes itself as Canada's seventh largest bank by assets, serving more than 800,000 customers. It operates nationally without a traditional branch network, and its residential mortgages are distributed through the mortgage broker channel rather than in branches.
What they lend on, and who for
Equitable Bank markets itself as Canada's Challenger Bank and lends across both the prime and alternative parts of the market. Its residential range covers insured and uninsured single-family mortgages, alternative products for business-for-self and self-employed borrowers, newcomers to Canada, applicants with limited or previously bruised credit, and rental and investment properties, alongside reverse mortgages and commercial and multi-unit residential lending. Named programs include its business-for-self mortgage, an extended ratio product and the TotalWorth mortgage. Because the bank spans prime, alternative and reverse lending, a file can often be repositioned between its own programs.
How to approach EQ Bank
You can contact EQ Bank yourself; nothing stops you. What you cannot easily find out is what they will actually accept. How they read employment income, what they will do with a bonus or commission, how much rental income they will count against a property, and what they want documented and how recent it has to be — none of that is published in full anywhere, and it moves.
A licensed broker who places files with lenders like this every week knows those criteria, and more usefully knows how to structure a file so it lands inside them rather than just outside. On anything that is not a straightforward salaried purchase, that structuring is most of the difference between an approval and a decline. It costs you nothing on a prime mortgage — the lender pays the broker when it funds.
| Lender type | Bank · Schedule A |
| Trade name of | Equitable Bank |
| Head office | EQ Bank Tower, 25 Ontario Street, Suite 2200, Toronto, ON M5A 0Y9 |
| Parent or group | EQB Inc. |
| Website | equitablebank.ca |
| Phone | 1-888-334-3313 |
Get notified 90 days before your renewal
Your lender contacts you at 30 days, when you have no time to shop. We reach you at 90 — early enough to lock a hold and personalize your offers.
Borrower ratings for EQ Bank
In today’s world, reviews dictate the service industry. Brokers have taken the hit for bad lenders. We bring the consumer experience to light to help borrowers decide.
How quickly did they issue a commitment and get to funding?
Was the rate you got competitive for the product you qualified for?
Could you reach someone, and did they resolve things?
Portal, e-signing, document upload, online account — did it work?
Were the terms, fees and penalties clear before you signed?
Worked with EQ Bank?
Score them on the five things above. We confirm every review by email before it publishes, and we publish the bad ones too.
Questions about EQ Bank
Is EQ Bank a real mortgage lender?
Yes. EQ Bank is a bank (schedule a) based in Ontario, part of EQB Inc.. Its own site is equitablebank.ca.
What kind of lender is EQ Bank?
Bank — categorised in our directory as Bank (Schedule I). Chartered banks. Convenient and familiar, rarely the cheapest, and the source of the most expensive break penalties in the market because their interest rate differential is calculated off posted rates rather than the rate you actually pay.
Who owns EQ Bank?
EQ Bank is part of EQB Inc.. Ownership matters mainly because it tends to determine the funding source and, on a fixed mortgage, how the break penalty is calculated.
Should I go to EQ Bank directly or through a broker?
You can approach them yourself. The reason most people do not is that a lender's real criteria — how income is read, what is accepted as documentation, what will be allowed as an exception — are not published, and they change. A broker who works with EQ Bank regularly knows them and knows how to present a file to fit them, which on anything other than a simple salaried purchase is usually what decides the answer. On a prime mortgage it costs you nothing either way, because the lender pays the broker when it funds.
Would EQ Bank approve me?
No profile page can answer that, and any site that tries is guessing. It turns on how your income is earned and how much of it a lender will count, your credit history, the property itself, and how much you need against what it is worth. Those are the questions a licensed broker asks before naming a lender — and they will tell you which ones realistically fit, this one included, and which would price it better.
Where does EQ Bank lend?
Its head office is in Ontario. Lending areas change and are not always the same as where the lender is based — confirm current coverage with the lender or a broker before planning around it.
Would EQ Bank take your file?
Send us the details and a licensed broker will tell you which lenders fit — this one included, and the ones that would price it better.
Send us the file