Three lenders offer reverse mortgages in Canada. Call CHIP and you'll hear about CHIP. Call Equitable and you'll hear about Equitable. I'm a Certified Reverse Mortgage Specialist and an independent broker, so I run your numbers with all three, including Home Trust's broker-only EquityAccess, and show you which one actually fits. No pressure, no sales script, and honest advice if the answer is "don't do this."
CHIP, Equitable Bank & Home Trust EquityAccess files across Ontario
A reverse mortgage lets Ontario homeowners 55 and older turn home equity into tax-free cash with no monthly payments required. You keep the house. You keep the title. The loan is repaid when you sell, move out permanently, or pass away. That's the mechanics. What matters more is what it's for. These are the three situations where I see it earn its keep.
CPP and OAS cover the basics but leave nothing for the roof, the car, or a life. Unlocking equity fills the gap without selling the home or draining what's left of the RRIF.
Tax-free, no monthly payment →Retired, income down, and the bank wants you to requalify under the stress test to renew your own mortgage. A reverse mortgage can pay out the balance and end the monthly payment entirely.
Renewal declined? There's a route →A down payment gift for the kids while you're alive to see it. Equalizing the family cottage. Buying out an ex after a grey divorce. Equity solves family problems cash flow can't.
Gifts, cottages & buyouts →Here's what the commercials don't say. There are now three reverse mortgage lenders in Canada: HomeEquity Bank (CHIP), Equitable Bank, and Home Trust, whose EquityAccess product launched in late 2025 and is only available through mortgage brokers. Three lenders, different age tiers, different maximums, different property rules. On the same house, at the same age, the amount you can unlock genuinely differs between them.
Call any lender directly and you'll get a perfectly nice representative who can offer you exactly one product: theirs. Your bank can't help either. The big banks don't offer reverse mortgages at all. So the only way to actually compare all three is through an independent broker. That's the whole reason this page exists.
I'm certified as a reverse mortgage specialist through HomeEquity Bank's training program, and I'm independent. Both things are true, and the second one matters more. The certification means I know the product mechanics cold. The independence means when Equitable or Home Trust is the better fit for your file, that's what I'll tell you. And when none of them fit, I'll tell you that too. It happens more often than you'd think.
"A lender's rep can offer you one product. I can show you all three."Kat Brazier, Mortgage Agent Level 2 · FSRA #M23007671
The honest version of the comparison, without the marketing. Product details, rates and setup costs change and differ by file, so I confirm current numbers with each lender when we run yours. This is the shape of it.
| What matters | CHIP (HomeEquity Bank) | Equitable Bank | Home Trust EquityAccess |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track record | The original, since 1986. Largest by far | Established challenger since 2018 | Newest entrant, launched late 2025 |
| Minimum age | 55 (everyone on title) | 55 (everyone on title) | 55 (everyone on title) |
| Max share of home value | Up to 55%, age-dependent | Up to 59% on its highest tier, age-dependent | Up to 59% on its highest tier, age-dependent |
| Where it lends | Most of Canada, including smaller markets | Select urban and suburban markets | Ontario first, expanding |
| How you get it | Direct or through a broker | Direct or through a broker | Broker-only |
| No negative equity guarantee | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Every figure above is age-dependent and product-dependent, and lenders adjust their products over time. I verify current tiers, rates and costs against each lender's rate sheet when we run your file. For the deeper comparison, read my full breakdown of which reverse mortgage is best in Ontario.
A reverse mortgage is not inherently good or bad. It depends entirely on what the alternative looks like. If the alternative is selling a home you love, or pulling taxable money out of a RRIF at an accelerated rate, the compounding interest on a reverse mortgage can honestly be the lesser cost. If the alternative is a cheaper product you'd qualify for anyway, it's the wrong tool.
It tends to fit when:
And I'll steer you elsewhere when:
If you want the full mechanics, my complete guide to reverse mortgages in Ontario walks through the math, the qualification rules, and three real client scenarios. And if your question is how fast this can happen, here's the realistic timeline from application to funding.
"If you're researching this for Mom or Dad, good. This decision should involve the family."Kat Brazier, Mortgage Agent Level 2 · FSRA #M23007671
Going direct to a lender doesn't get you a better deal. It gets you a narrower one. My service costs you nothing on a reverse mortgage file, the lender pays the brokerage, and you get all three options on the table instead of one. The only product you can't get direct at all is Home Trust's EquityAccess, because it's broker-channel only.
3Lenders compared with one conversation, at no cost to you
Run my numbers with all three| For your reverse mortgage | Lender direct | Kat Brazier |
|---|---|---|
| Lenders compared | 1 | 3 |
| Home Trust EquityAccess | Not available | Yes, broker-only |
| Certified specialist advice | Sales team | CRMS certified |
| Will say "don't do this" | Rarely | Regularly |
| Works for your interests | Works for the lender | Works for you |
| Cost to you | Free | Free |
Most files fund in three to four weeks once the application goes in. The first step is a conversation, not paperwork, and there's no obligation at any point before you sign with a lawyer.
A free call about your situation, your home, and what the money needs to do. If a reverse mortgage isn't the right tool, I'll say so on this call and point you at what is.
Your age, your property, your postal code, run against CHIP, Equitable and EquityAccess. You see the amounts, current rates and terms side by side, with the trade-offs in plain English.
Once you choose, the lender orders an appraisal and you get independent legal advice, which is required and worth it. Funds arrive as a lump sum, scheduled advances, or both.
Real Google reviews from real Ontario clients.
"Kat is one of those people you meet and instantly you know you want to work with them. She's extremely knowledgeable, but what really stands out is how honest, genuine, and authentic she is. I would happily recommend her to anyone in my network, but especially to anyone looking for an amazing Georgetown mortgage agent!!"
"Kat is an absolute dream to work with! She was very patient and insightful, knowing that this was our first experience with purchasing a home. Kat gave us the financial and moral support we needed to feel comfortable and assured in a very expensive and complicated process, and made the experience feel as simple and relaxed as possible."
From homeowners, and just as often from their adult children. Answered straight.
It depends on your age, your property, and the lender. The younger you are at 55, the smaller the percentage of your home's value you can unlock. At the oldest age tiers, the maximums currently run to roughly 55 to 59 percent of appraised value depending on the lender and product. That spread is exactly why comparing all three lenders matters. On the same home, at the same age, the amounts offered can differ meaningfully. I run your numbers with CHIP, Equitable Bank and Home Trust and show you the results side by side.
Fair question, and the answer is no. The Certified Reverse Mortgage Specialist designation means I've done formal training on how these products actually work: the age tiers, the estate mechanics, the compounding math. It does not tie me to HomeEquity Bank. I'm an independent mortgage agent, and I place files with whichever of the three lenders fits best. Sometimes that's CHIP. Sometimes it isn't. A lender's own representative can only ever offer you that lender's product. I can show you all three.
CHIP, from HomeEquity Bank, is the original and largest reverse mortgage in Canada, available almost everywhere. Equitable Bank's Flex products are a strong alternative in the urban and suburban markets they lend in, with a higher-limit option for older borrowers. Home Trust's EquityAccess launched in late 2025, lends up to 59 percent of appraised value at its top tier, and is only available through mortgage brokers, so a bank branch can't offer it and neither can the other lenders' call centres. Which one is best depends on your age, your property, your location, and what you need the money to do. That's a per-file answer, not a ranking.
No. The house stays in your name with every reverse mortgage offered in Canada. The lender registers a mortgage against the property, the same way any mortgage works. You keep living there, you keep ownership, and you stay responsible for property taxes, insurance and upkeep. The loan is repaid when you sell, permanently move out, or pass away.
The balance, principal plus accrued interest, becomes due. Your estate typically has a window of time to repay it, and in most cases that means selling the home. If your heirs want to keep the property, they can refinance the balance into a conventional mortgage. All three lenders offer a no negative equity guarantee, meaning you or your estate will never owe more than the home's fair market value when it's sold in an arm's length transaction. Whatever equity remains after repayment belongs to the estate.
Not while both of you are on title. Every person on title must be at least 55. Removing a younger spouse from title to qualify is technically possible, but it carries real legal and financial consequences, especially around survivorship, and I don't recommend anyone consider it without independent legal advice first. Often the honest answer is to wait, or to look at a different product like a HELOC or a refinance in the meantime.
Two kinds of cost. Upfront, expect an appraisal, independent legal advice, and lender setup costs, which vary by lender and change over time, so I quote them per file rather than publishing numbers that go stale. Ongoing, the interest rate is higher than a standard mortgage rate, and because no payments are required, interest compounds on a growing balance. Whether that trade-off makes sense depends entirely on the alternative. If it's selling the family home or draining retirement savings, the compounding may genuinely be the lesser cost. I'll show you the projected balance at 5, 10 and 15 years before you sign anything.
This decision deserves more than one page. Start with my complete guide to how reverse mortgages work in Ontario, then the honest comparison of which of the three lenders is best and how long the process takes from application to funding. If there's a family cottage in the picture, my guide on using a reverse mortgage to equalize the cottage kids covers a scenario I see every year. And if you're not sure this is the right tool at all, here are the other ways to tap equity without breaking a low rate.
No pressure, no obligation, and no sales script. Tell me about your situation and I'll tell you what's realistic, usually within 24 hours. If a reverse mortgage is the right tool, you'll see all three lenders side by side. If it isn't, I'll tell you what is.
Kat Brazier, Mortgage Agent Level 2
FSRA License #M23007671 · Certified Reverse Mortgage Specialist
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