RFA Mortgage Lender Profile
Generally for Borrowers who meet standard qualification tests, including first-time buyers, frontline workers and people buying a second home or rental property.
Who they are
RFA Mortgage Corporation is the prime residential lending arm of RFA, a Toronto-based financial group whose roots go back to a real estate investment business founded in 1996. RFA entered residential lending in 2018 and acquired Street Capital Bank of Canada in 2019, renaming it RFA Bank of Canada. In February 2026 the group combined with Artis Real Estate Investment Trust to form RFA Financial, a publicly traded diversified financial services company. RFA Mortgage Corporation works from a head office at 145 King Street West in Toronto's financial district and lends through mortgage brokers, who submit applications for their clients.
What they lend on, and who for
The prime side handles insured and insurable residential mortgages for borrowers who meet standard qualification tests. The groups it names include first-time buyers, people buying small condominium units, frontline workers, and clients buying second homes or rental properties. Purchases sit alongside purchase-plus-improvements, transfers and switches from another lender, renewals and refinances. Because RFA is bank-affiliated, this lending is backed by the group's own balance sheet. If your file does not fit prime guidelines, it is generally directed instead to the alternative programmes run by RFA Bank of Canada.
How to approach RFA
You can contact RFA yourself; nothing stops you. What you cannot easily find out is what they will actually accept. How they read self-employed income, which add-backs they allow, how they treat rental income, and what they will accept in place of the documents you cannot produce — 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 | Monoline |
| Operated by | RFA Bank of Canada |
| Head office | 145 King Street West, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M5H 1J8 |
| Parent or group | RFA Financial (formerly RFA Capital) |
| Website | rfa.ca |
| Phone | 1-877-416-7873 |
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 RFA
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 RFA?
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 RFA
Is RFA a real mortgage lender?
Yes. RFA is a monoline based in Ontario, part of RFA Financial (formerly RFA Capital). Its own site is rfa.ca.
What kind of lender is RFA?
Monoline. Mortgages and nothing else, sold through brokers. Best pricing in the market and usually the fairest penalty formulas. Most Canadians have never heard of them, which is exactly what this directory is for.
Who owns RFA?
RFA is part of RFA Financial (formerly RFA Capital). 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 RFA 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 RFA 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 RFA 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 RFA 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 RFA 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