Parental leave doesn’t erase your income. With an employer letter confirming your return date and salary, many lenders qualify you on that salary, not on the benefits.
A letter from your employer with your return date, position and salary, plus pay stubs from before the leave. No letter, and some lenders count your benefits only, which are a lot lower.
Income gets read differently by lender
Variable, self-employed and commission income: some lenders average two years, some take the weaker one. That gap moves the amount you qualify for far more than the rate.
Complete file, fewer surprises
A file with holes gets declined when a full one would have gone through. Sort the documents before you submit so the lender doesn’t fill the gaps with guesses.
Documents to gather
What the lender will ask for.
Goal of the file
Income and documents
Debts and credit
Property or security
Target timeline
Lender options
Frequently asked
Can I buy a home while on maternity or paternity leave?+
Yes. Many lenders will qualify you on your return-to-work salary if your employer confirms it in writing. That letter is the document that decides it. Without it the calculation falls back to benefits, and what you can borrow drops.
Which documents should I gather?+
Your last two notices of assessment, recent pay stubs, an employment letter, three months of bank statements and proof of your down payment. Add the current leases and records of rent actually collected. Have them ready before the offer, and a short financing window is realistic.
Current rates
Today’s rates, with the fine print.
These rates are indicative. Yours depends on your file, the type of mortgage (insured or not) and the lender. And look at the penalty too, it matters as much as the number.
Buying, renewing, refinancing, or something a bit out of the ordinary: tell us where you’re at, even if it’s still fuzzy. Mathieu gets back to you with next steps and the documents to pull together.
