Chilliwack Mortgage Broker

Can a Chilliwack mortgage be handled remotely?

Yes. A mortgage broker licence in BC is provincial (mine is #MB609900), not city by city.

The process was never built around meeting in person — the application is online, documents go by email or a secure upload link, and most paperwork can be e-signed remotely. The few documents that need a witness get signed with a local lawyer or notary near you, no trip required.

Plenty of clients finish the whole process without meeting in person. Chilliwack works the same way.

Chilliwack, specifically

Chilliwack is in the Fraser Valley, about 100 km from Vancouver, and part of the Fraser Valley Regional District. The 2021 Census counted 93,203 residents, up 11.2% from 2016. The City keeps its own population figures, which include local First Nations communities within city boundaries and are adjusted for the census undercount, so they differ from the census: it estimates 112,500 people as of 2025, after adding about 11,700 residents, or 11.6%, between 2020 and 2025. Farming still shapes the city — 67% of its land, 17,322 hectares, lies within the Agricultural Land Reserve.

My mortgage and real estate licences both cover all of BC, so for a home in Chilliwack you can come to me for the mortgage and for buying or selling. Mortgage documents go digital, and we can work out a plan by phone and video.

Chilliwack specifics: no basements in the floodplain, suites, multiplex zoning and the Eastern Hillsides

Building in the floodplain falls under Floodplain Regulation Bylaw No. 4519: habitable floors must sit at the Flood Construction Level plus 0.6 metres of freeboard, no basement is allowed, and crawlspaces are limited to 1.5 metres deep. The freeboard can be reduced if the owner registers a Section 219 covenant against the title and provides a qualified professional's report, and that covenant then stays registered on title. The Fraser River dikes follow the provincial standard of the flood profile plus 0.6 metres, based on a freshet the size of 1894's, the flood of record.

A secondary suite is allowed in any single detached dwelling in the City regardless of zone, as long as it is built with a building permit and meets the BC Building and Fire Code and current flood protection requirements; new secondary suites are not permitted below the Flood Construction Level. Coach houses and garden suites depend on the zoning.

In June 2024, Council "reluctantly" approved the provincially required small-scale multi-unit housing amendments: up to four units on single-detached or duplex lots over 280 square metres inside the Urban Growth Boundary, provided the lot is connected to City water and sanitary sewer, is under 4,050 square metres, and is not limited by a heritage designation, a Transit-Oriented Area or a density covenant. Council kept two off-street parking spaces per unit instead of the Province's recommended 0.5 to 1.

The Eastern Hillsides Neighbourhood Plan, adopted in 2012 and amended in 2017, spells out approval requirements to protect development from rock fall, landslide and earthflow. Short-term rentals need a City business licence, proof that the rental is on the same lot as the principal residence, and registration with the provincial registry. Chilliwack sits inside the speculation and vacancy tax area, and because it belongs to the Fraser Valley Regional District, foreign buyers here also pay the additional property transfer tax.

Common questions