Borrow your
down payment.
If you have great credit and stable income but no savings, the Flex Down program lets you borrow your down payment from another source — line of credit, gifted funds, or unsecured loan.
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- No fees, ever
- Licensed Alberta brokers
Get Your Free Estimate
A specialist will review your numbers and email your estimate within 5–10 minutes.
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Tell us a bit more
This helps us understand where you're at so we can match you with the right options.
What's your down payment situation?
Choose the option that best matches what you have saved or available.
We never pull your credit for this estimate. Your information is never shared or sold. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
When are you looking to buy?
This helps us tailor our follow-up to your timeline.
We never pull your credit for this estimate. Your information is never shared or sold. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
Your Income & Debts
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We never pull your credit for this estimate. Your information is never shared or sold. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
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We DO NOT pull your credit. Your information is used only to reach out to you. No portion is shared with any third party. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
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We've received your information and will be in touch shortly to discuss your flex down mortgage options.
The Skip the Down Payment program — and any mortgage with less than 20% down — requires solid credit history. Here's what good credit looks like and how to build it.
If you don't have any credit history yet, start with secured Visas from Scotia Bank and Home Trust — they're easier to approve for and a great first step. You can track your score for free at www.equifax.ca.
Down payment ranges and what credit you'll need
- 0–4% down: excellent credit, score above 680
- 5–9% down: score of 620+, no late payments or collections in the last 2 years
- 10–19% down: score of 580+, no recent late payments or collections
- 20%+ down: multiple lenders available depending on your interest rate tolerance
Tips to bump up your credit score
- If you've missed payments, try to open or maintain three credit accounts with perfect repayment going forward. (Student loans don't count.)
- Re-establishing payment history typically takes:
- ~12 months for one missed payment
- 2–3 years for 60- or 90-day late payments
- 3+ years for written-off debts (excluding minor collections like cell phone bills)
- Consumer proposals and orderly payment of debt are treated like a bankruptcy for mortgage purposes — wait times are significantly longer.
- Keep credit utilization low. Utilization is the ratio of balance to total credit limit. 30% or under is ideal.
- If you plan to purchase a home within 24 months, do not finance a vehicle purchase — the high utilization of that debt will reduce your score and your mortgage approval chances.
Why closing cards can hurt you
Say you have these accounts:
| Account | Limit | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Credit Card A | $15,000 | $0 |
| Credit Card B | $10,000 | $0 |
| Credit Card C | $5,000 | $4,000 |
| Loan (orig. $20,000) | $20,000 | $17,000 |
Total utilization: $21,000 balance ÷ $50,000 total limit = 42% — that's healthy.
Now close Cards A and B (because you don't use them). New utilization: $21,000 ÷ $25,000 = 84% — that's bad. Your credit score could drop 50 points overnight.
Down payment doesn't have to mean savings
Most lenders want to see your down payment sitting in your bank account, having come from your savings or a gift. The Flex Down program is different: it explicitly allows the down payment to come from borrowed sources — a line of credit, an unsecured loan, even a credit card cash advance.
It's targeted at credit-strong borrowers who have the income to carry both the mortgage and the down-payment loan, but who haven't built up savings. For renters who would otherwise spend years saving, it's often the difference between buying this year and buying in five years.
Right fit checklist
-
Credit score 650+. Lenders need to see that you can handle multiple credit obligations responsibly.
-
TDS room for both payments. You need to qualify for the mortgage AND the down-payment loan payment in the affordability calc.
-
Documentable income. Standard income documentation — T4s, pay stubs, NOAs. Self-employed pathways exist but are case-by-case.
-
Source-of-funds documentation. We need to see where the borrowed down payment is coming from. A LOC statement or loan approval is sufficient.
Three steps to a quote
Calculate affordability
Our calculator factors in the down-payment loan payment as a debt — so the result you see is the realistic Flex Down number.
Source the down payment
Set up the line of credit or arrange the gift/loan from family before mortgage application. We can advise on best structure.
Submit to a Flex-friendly lender
Not all lenders allow borrowed down payments. We submit to the ones that do, with the documentation packaged correctly.
Flex Down vs saving
Buy now, not in 5 years
Average household savings rate vs Canadian housing appreciation: housing usually wins. Buying now beats saving forever.
Two debts is OK if income supports it
If you can comfortably afford both payments, having two debts (mortgage + LOC) instead of one (mortgage) doesn't actually hurt you.
Pay down the LOC aggressively after closing
Most clients clear the down-payment LOC in 2-4 years post-purchase. By then the home has typically appreciated more than the LOC interest cost.
Standard rates apply
Flex Down doesn't carry a meaningful rate premium — sometimes 0.10% above standard 5%-down rates, depending on the lender.