Victoria Mortgage Broker

Can a Victoria 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. Victoria works the same way.

Victoria, specifically

Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, and the City describes it as the homelands of the Songhees Nation and the Xwsepsum Nation. The 2021 Census counted 91,867 residents, up 7.1% from 2016. The housing stock is on the older side: the Capital Regional District's 2020 Housing Needs Report for Victoria, using 2016 Census data, found that 69% of the city's homes were built more than 40 years ago, half of all dwellings are apartment units in buildings under five storeys, and 39% of households owned their home. The City also notes it has many unique and well-preserved historic buildings, a point of pride in the region.

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

Victoria specifics: four-storey infill, two kinds of heritage protection and a strict short-term rental rule

On October 2, 2025, Council adopted a new Official Community Plan, Victoria 2050. As the City now describes it, the plan enables ground-oriented and low-rise buildings of generally four storeys in all of Victoria's residential areas, from house conversions and houseplexes to townhouses and small apartment buildings. The General Residential Zone in Zoning Bylaw 2018 already applies to most residential areas and permits housing of up to four storeys, provided the zone's regulations are met. A development permit is generally required for more than three primary units, and any redevelopment that displaces tenants needs a development permit and falls under the Tenant Protection During Redevelopment Bylaw.

The City treats garden suites and secondary suites as long-term rental housing, and both need a building permit. Short-term rentals are tightly limited: only in your principal dwelling unit; while you are home, no more than two bedrooms throughout the year; while you are away, the entire unit for no more than 160 nights in a calendar year. The licence costs $150, expires January 15 and must be re-applied for each year, each unit must also be registered with the Province, and in a strata you include strata consent with the annual application.

Heritage comes in two levels, and it pays to know which one a house is. A property that is only on the Heritage Register needs Council approval for alterations only if it is also protected by a designation bylaw or sits in a Heritage Conservation Area, though the City can withhold a demolition permit for 60 days to evaluate it. A heritage-designated property cannot be altered or demolished without Council approval, yet it can be bought or sold without special approval, and the City has grant programs for improving designated houses. The Official Community Plan identifies two Heritage Conservation Areas with 12 districts between them; the largest, Old Town, contains 195 individually significant heritage properties.

One detail that touches the mortgage directly: an application to designate your home as heritage asks for the name and address of the mortgage lender noted on title. Victoria is also on the Province's lists for both the speculation and vacancy tax and the additional property transfer tax on foreign buyers.

Common questions