Type "best reverse mortgage in Ontario" into Google and look at who's answering. Lenders. Affiliate sites earning a commission. A Reddit thread. Every one of them either sells one of the products or gets paid to point you at one. Not a great place to get a straight answer.
Here's mine. I'm an independent mortgage agent and a Certified Reverse Mortgage Specialist, a designation I earned through HomeEquity Bank's training program, and I can place files with all three lenders that offer reverse mortgages in Canada. The certification taught me the product mechanics. The independence means I don't care which lender wins your file. So this is the comparison I actually give clients, minus the sales pitch.
First, the field: there are only three
Canada's reverse mortgage market is small. Three lenders. That's it. Your bank doesn't offer one, no matter how long you've banked there.
- HomeEquity Bank (CHIP). The original. CHIP has been around since 1986, holds the overwhelming majority of the market, and lends in most of Canada, including smaller towns the other two won't touch.
- Equitable Bank. The challenger since 2018. Its Flex products lend in select urban and suburban markets, with a higher-limit option for older borrowers.
- Home Trust (EquityAccess). The new one. EquityAccess launched in late 2025, started in Ontario, and lends up to 59 percent of appraised value at its top tier. One thing makes it different from the other two: it's broker-only. You cannot get it by calling Home Trust. A mortgage broker is the only door in.
The comparison, in one table
| Factor | CHIP | Equitable Bank | EquityAccess |
|---|---|---|---|
| In market since | 1986 | 2018 | Late 2025 |
| Max share of home value | Up to 55%, by age | Up to 59% top tier, by age | Up to 59% top tier, by age |
| Lending areas | Most of Canada, incl. smaller markets | Select urban / suburban markets | Ontario first, expanding |
| How you access it | Direct or broker | Direct or broker | Broker-only |
| No negative equity guarantee | Yes | Yes | Yes |
You'll notice there's no rate row and no fee row. Deliberate. Rates and setup fees on these products change often enough that anything I publish today would mislead you in three months. All three are priced above standard mortgage rates, the gap between them shifts, and I quote all three per file with current sheets. Anyone showing you a fixed fee comparison online is showing you a snapshot that's probably already stale.
On the same home, at the same age, the amount each lender will advance can differ by tens of thousands of dollars. Age tiers, property rules and postal codes all move the number. This is the comparison worth running, and it takes me about a day to get all three answers.
Who each lender tends to fit
CHIP fits you when...
Your property is outside a major centre. This is CHIP's quiet advantage: it lends where the other two often won't. Rural Ontario, small towns, cottage-country homes that qualify as primary residences. If you're in Mount Forest rather than Mississauga, there's a decent chance CHIP is your only offer, which settles the "best" question fast. The track record matters to some clients too. Forty years and tens of thousands of borrowers is a real comfort factor when you're signing against your home.
Equitable fits you when...
You're in one of its lending areas and you're an older borrower chasing a higher limit, or you want a specific advance structure. Equitable built its products to compete on flexibility, smaller initial advances, planned instalments, and its top tier can reach beyond CHIP's ceiling for qualifying borrowers. When Equitable and CHIP both want a file in the GTA, the competition genuinely works in your favour. I've seen it move the offer.
EquityAccess fits you when...
You're in Ontario and the amount is the priority. The 59 percent top tier is the headline. There's also a structural point worth understanding: because EquityAccess only exists in the broker channel, anyone comparing "all your options" without a broker isn't actually comparing all of them. That's no knock on the other lenders' teams. A lender representative's job is their own product line, and EquityAccess simply isn't in it.
The best reverse mortgage isn't a brand. It's whichever lender's age tier, property rules and current pricing land best on your specific file.
The honest answer: sometimes it's none of them
I turn away reverse mortgage files regularly. Not because the products are bad, but because something cheaper fits. If you still qualify under the stress test and can carry a payment, a HELOC or a refinance usually costs less over time. If you're planning to sell within a few years, the setup costs don't earn themselves back. I've written up the alternatives in my guide on tapping equity without breaking your low rate, and the full mechanics, qualification rules and real client scenarios are in my complete reverse mortgage guide.
The pattern I see most: the person who's been told "CHIP or nothing" by a commercial, and the person who's been told "never do this" by their kids. Both are working from half the picture. The product is a tool. Tools fit or they don't.
Want all three lenders' numbers on your actual file?
One conversation, three quotes, zero cost, and an honest "none of them" if that's the right answer. That's the whole service.
Compare All 3 Lenders With MeHow to actually run this decision
- Confirm the product fits before comparing brands. Age 55+, primary residence, long time horizon, and a real need the cheaper tools can't meet.
- Get all three quotes on the same day. Amounts and pricing move. Comparing a CHIP quote from March against an Equitable quote from June tells you nothing.
- Compare the advance amount, the rate, the reset terms and the prepayment rules. Not just the headline number. The contract details differ more than the marketing does.
- Involve the family and get independent legal advice. Required anyway, and it's where second thoughts get surfaced while they're still free. If timing matters to you, here's how long the whole process takes.
Common questions
Which reverse mortgage lender has the best rates in Ontario?
It changes, genuinely, month to month. All three price above standard mortgage rates, and each adjusts its sheets on its own schedule. The only reliable way to answer this is to quote all three on the same day for your specific file, which is what I do. Be skeptical of any site publishing a fixed rate ranking. By the time you read it, it's history.
Is CHIP the best because it's the biggest?
Biggest and best aren't the same question. CHIP's size buys it the widest lending map and the longest track record, and on plenty of files it's the strongest offer, full stop. But the three lenders' age tiers, property rules and pricing land differently on different files. That's exactly why I quote all three rather than assuming any one of them wins by default.
Why can't I get Home Trust EquityAccess from my bank or by calling Home Trust?
Home Trust chose to distribute EquityAccess exclusively through the mortgage broker channel, so there's no direct-to-consumer application. Your bank can't offer it either, because the big banks don't offer reverse mortgages at all. In practice this means the only way to see all three of Canada's reverse mortgages side by side is through a licensed mortgage broker or agent.
Can I switch reverse mortgage lenders after I've signed?
Sometimes, but it's expensive enough that you should treat the first choice as the lasting one. Moving the balance to another lender means prepayment charges on the existing contract plus new setup costs, and the math rarely works unless the rate gap is large and your balance is still small. Pick carefully once instead.
