HomeEquity Bank Mortgage Lender Profile
Generally for Homeowners aged 55 or older who want to draw on home equity without regular payments while keeping title to the property.
Who they are
HomeEquity Bank is a Schedule I federally regulated Canadian bank. For more than 35 years it has specialised exclusively in reverse mortgages for homeowners aged 55 and older, which makes it the country's longest-established and largest provider in that segment. The business began in 1986 as the Canadian Home Income Plan, which is where the CHIP brand name comes from, and it received its bank charter in 2009. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan acquired the bank in a transaction completed in 2022. It is headquartered in Toronto and operates nationally without branches.
What they lend on, and who for
HomeEquity Bank lends only on reverse mortgages, marketed under the CHIP Reverse Mortgage name, with variants including CHIP Max, CHIP Open and Income Advantage. Income Advantage advances the money as a recurring income stream rather than a single lump sum. You must be 55 or older, and the property is normally your principal residence. No regular payments are required, you keep title to your home, and the loan is settled when the home is sold, or when the last borrower moves out or dies. You can reach the bank through a broker, a financial advisor, a referral partner, or directly.
How to approach HomeEquity Bank
You can contact HomeEquity 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 · Reverse mortgage |
| Registered as | HomeEquity Bank |
| Head office | Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, 200 Bay Street, Suite 3500, Toronto, ON M5J 2J1 |
| Parent or group | Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan |
| Website | hebadvisor.ca |
| Phone | 1-866-758-2447 |
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 HomeEquity 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 HomeEquity 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 HomeEquity Bank
Is HomeEquity Bank a real mortgage lender?
Yes. HomeEquity Bank is a bank (schedule a, reverse mortgage) based in Ontario, part of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Its own site is hebadvisor.ca.
What kind of lender is HomeEquity Bank?
Bank — categorised in our directory as Reverse Mortgage. 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 HomeEquity Bank?
HomeEquity Bank is part of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. 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 HomeEquity 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 HomeEquity 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 HomeEquity 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 HomeEquity 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 HomeEquity 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