What Documents Do You Need for Mortgage Pre-Approval?
The document collection stage is where many pre-approvals stall. Having everything ready upfront can cut your approval time from weeks to days. Here’s your complete checklist based on your employment type.
For Salaried Employees
- Recent pay stub
- Letter of employment: On company letterhead, confirming position, salary, and start date, and a company contact name and phone number
- T4 slips: Last two years – only required if bonus, overtime or commission income is being used
For Hourly Workers or Seasonal, Casual, or Part-Time
- Recent pay stub
- T4s: The most recent two years of T4s help to verify the total income if there is over-time, bonus income or commission income earned
- Letter of Employment: On company letterhead, confirming position, start date, hourly rate of pay, number of guaranteed hours per week, and a company contact name and phone number
For Self-Employed Borrowers
- T1 General tax returns: For the most recent two years, all pages including schedules
- Notice of Assessments: For the most recent two years
💡 Speed Tip
Use the CRA My Account portal. You can download your Notice of Assessment and T1 Generals directly as PDFs — much faster than waiting for mail.
For Down Payment
Where your down payment comes from matters. We don’t collect down payment at the time of pre-approval but it’s important to know the source of down payment
At time time of making on offer on a property, be ready to provide:
- Savings: 90-day bank statements showing accumulation
- Gift: Signed gift letter + donor’s bank statement showing source
- RRSP/FHSA: Account statements showing balance
- Sale of property: Purchase agreement and statement of adjustments
Elevation Mortgage
INDEPENDENT MORTGAGE BROKERS · LICENSED AB & BC
Julie & Andy Jeffery — independent mortgage brokers serving Calgary, Nelson BC,
and clients across Alberta and British Columbia.
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