Colwood Mortgage Broker

Can a Colwood 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. Colwood works the same way.

Colwood, specifically

Colwood counted 18,961 residents in the 2021 Census, up 12.5% from 2016, the third-highest growth rate among the Capital Region's 13 municipalities, and the City's Housing Needs Report puts that at 4.6% of the region's population. Hatley Park, at 2005 Sooke Road, was built in 1908-09 for James Dunsmuir, a wealthy industrialist and provincial politician; the Dunsmuir family lived there until 1937, and in 1940 the Department of National Defence bought the estate for Royal Roads Military College, which occupied it for over fifty years. The 228.84-hectare estate on the edge of Esquimalt Lagoon was designated a National Historic Site in 1995, and Parks Canada lists Royal Roads University and Hatley Castle among its other names.

My mortgage and real estate licences both cover all of BC, so for a home in Colwood you can come to me for the mortgage and for buying or selling. Mortgage documents go digital, and most signing happens remotely.

Colwood specifics: two town centres, suites and carriage homes, and the Blink corridor

Colwood's 2018 Official Community Plan focuses development in the town centres at Colwood Corners and Royal Bay and along the Sooke Road transit corridor, and it looks ahead to 2035, when the City will celebrate 50 years since incorporation. The City's November 2024 Housing Needs Report estimates 1,562 new units needed over five years and 5,111 over twenty, and says Colwood is on track to meet the provincial target of 940 units by 2029.

Suites are a big part of the housing stock: the report counted 1,375 apartment duplex and accessory dwelling units, 965 owned and 410 rented, including coach houses, laneway housing and garden and basement suites. The City noted in 2024 that its residential zones already permit both a secondary suite and an accessory dwelling unit, such as a garden suite or carriage home. In the first provincial target year (August 2024 to July 2025) Colwood added 397 net new units, including 59 rental secondary suites and 3 accessory dwellings.

To meet the provincial small-scale multi-unit housing rules, Colwood amended its Land Use Bylaw: Bylaw No. 2091 received first, second and third readings on April 13, 2026, without a public hearing, which the Province prohibits for these changes, and the City scheduled adoption for April 27; the Province's new compliance deadline was June 30, 2026. Under the amendment, residential lots on municipal water and sewer allow at least three units at 279 m² or less and at least four at 280 m² or more, and lots of 281 m² or more within 400 metres of a prescribed bus stop allow at least six, with no off-street parking requirement; Blink Route 95 is the only route in Colwood that qualifies, covering about 40 lots for now. About 5,800 lots on septic systems are excluded. Before counting on extra units, confirm with the City that the bylaw is in force and applies to your lot.

Federal, provincial and BC Transit funding announced in September 2023 covers queue jump lanes at Wale Road. Colwood falls within the speculation and vacancy tax area, so owners file a declaration once a year, and foreign buyers pay the additional property transfer tax. Short-term rentals follow the provincial principal residence requirement.

Common questions