Rate Promotion Guidelines

It benefits the entire RATESDOTCA community if our site is viewed as an honest, transparent and user-friendly rate marketplace. Maintaining high integrity maximizes word of mouth, page views and mortgage leads.

To support this objective, we ask that all advertisers observe certain rate disclosure guidelines.

If any of the following apply to a rate advertised on Rates.ca, it must be disclosed in the rate notes:

The advertised rate is an effective rate based on a higher contract rate plus cash back
The rate requires a minimum mortgage amount of $300,000 or more.
The mortgage must close in less than 30 days (rates with specific closing deadlines must be disclosed)
The rate is for high ratio mortgages only
The rate is for conventional mortgages only
The mortgage has a penalty or fees that are unusual (e.g., 2.75% of the principal penalty, 6 months interest penalty, lender origination fees, etc.)
The mortgage prohibits early discharge or early refinances
The mortgage requires the borrower to refinance only with that lender before maturity
The rate applies to only ONE of the following: purchases, refinances, switches
The mortgage must close by a specific date, which is less than the advertised rate hold
The rate requires bundling of another product (like a line of credit, real estate services, bank account, insurance, GIC, etc.) Note: Due to the limited audience for such products, you may advertise a maximum of two bundled rates on Rates.ca and only one with a 5-year term.

To ensure that rates are adequately available to a reasonable segment of the population, RATESDOTCA will not post rates that have more than four of the above conditions. Nor will we display rates that apply to very narrow audiences (e.g., members of a specific group) or that specify a minimum mortgage amount that’s greater than $400,000. We audit providers’ rates continually to ensure readers see correct data.

As always, rates are subject to the site’s terms and conditions. Among other things, those term prohibit rate advertising in provinces where the provider is not licensed. We also ask that advertisers abide by all applicable laws and regulations, which include but are not limited to disclosing APR where required, avoiding bait and switch tactics and making disclosures in ways that are clear and not confusing to consumers. RATESDOTCA makes no warranties with respect to performance, timeliness or accuracy of data updates or any particular provider’s data.

The goal of all rate advertisers should be to communicate at least as much detail as you would want to see if you were shopping for a mortgage. Rates not meeting any of the above guidelines will be deactivated without notice. Repeated non-disclosure is grounds for exclusion from the community.

All broker rates are independently verified by RATESDOTCA to ensure brokers are updating their rates in a timely fashion. Rates.ca uses an automated model to validate rates. Broker rates that don’t correspond to available broker-lender offers and reflect a minimal level of compensation after buydown or cash rebates (based on standard published top-tier broker finders fees and volume bonuses), will be flagged as potentially inaccurate and may be deactivated.

* For the purposes of obtaining a free listing, we require that brokers in AB, BC or ON price as follows:

at least one term at the most competitive rate in the province for a given loan-to-value, or
at least two terms at the second most competitive rate in the province for a given loan-to-value, or
at least three terms at the third most competitive rate in the province for a given loan-to-value.

We greatly appreciate your support of the site and your help in maintaining its high standards.

Mortgage Rate Promotion Guidelines

Standards for publishing mortgage rates on RATESDOTCA