The broker in the worst position under BC's new regime is usually not the one without a company. It is the one who already has one.
For years, many BC submortgage brokers ran their commissions through a numbered company — sometimes registered with BCFSA as a mortgage brokerage of its own, so the money could flow there legally. Over time that company often picked up other things: a rental condo, a stock portfolio, a spouse as a voting shareholder, a holding company above it. Under the Mortgage Services Act, which replaced the Mortgage Brokers Act of 1972 on October 13, 2026, a corporation carrying any of those features cannot be licensed as a personal mortgage corporation as it stands. It has to be restructured, or a new company has to be built beside it.
What a personal mortgage corporation is
A PMC is the mortgage-industry version of the personal real estate corporation BC realtors have used for years, and of the professional corporations dentists, accountants and lawyers use. Commissions flow from your brokerage to the PMC instead of to you, and the PMC pays you. BCFSA's own guidance on personal mortgage corporations says the PMC exists to give licensees access to income and tax planning.
Since October 13, a broker or principal broker who wants to be paid through a corporation needs a PMC licence in addition to an individual licence. The PMC licence base fee is $2,100, plus $500 for each additional category, pro-rated so that it expires with your individual licence. A mortgage brokerage itself cannot be licensed as a PMC.
The ownership and control rules
BCFSA's summary of the Mortgage Services Regulation is short, and every line of it is a structuring constraint. You, as the “controlling individual,” must be:
- licensed at the same level and for the same categories of mortgage services as the PMC;
- licensed to the same brokerage as the PMC;
- the legal and beneficial owner of all the voting shares (section 24(b)); and
- the only director and officer.
Non-voting shares are permitted, but each one can be owned only by you or an “affiliated person”: your spouse, your child (BCFSA has confirmed a step-child counts), a corporation whose shares are all beneficially owned by some combination of you, your spouse and your children, or a trust whose beneficiaries are limited to the same people.
Two consequences surprise people. Your holding company cannot own the voting shares — they must sit with you personally. And if you and your spouse are both licensed brokers, you cannot share one PMC; each of you needs your own.
What a PMC is allowed to do
Section 27(1)(e) of the Regulation prohibits a PMC from conducting any business other than mortgage services and services directly ancillary to them. BCFSA reads that narrowly — actually more narrowly than many brokers expected. Its guidance says a PMC may not hold real estate, may not engage in real estate development, and may not trade stocks or bonds beyond modest investing that is clearly secondary to receiving commissions. It also may not own shares of the company that owns your brokerage.
The PMC can employ staff, but only unlicensed staff: every mortgage service it provides has to be performed by you. And it can pay its earnings out to an affiliated person — who, unlike the PMC, is free to invest in real estate or anything else. That last point is where most of the planning happens: the PMC earns, and a separate family holding company does the investing.
Can your existing broker corporation become a PMC?
Sometimes. Each feature in the left column is common in older broker companies, and each one blocks a PMC licence until it is fixed.
| Feature of your current company | Allowed in a PMC? | Typical fix |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse or partner holds voting shares | No | Reorganize so you hold all voting shares; spouse may hold non-voting shares |
| A holding company owns the voting shares | No | Voting shares must move to you personally |
| Spouse or accountant is a director or officer | No | Resignations; you become sole director and officer |
| Owns a rental property or other real estate | No | Move the property out, or leave the old company as a holding company and incorporate a new PMC |
| Active investment portfolio | Only if modest and secondary | Move investments to a holding company owned by an affiliated person |
| Another licensed broker works through it | No | That broker needs their own PMC |
| Name is a number or a brand name | Not by the end of your first MSA licence term | Change of name to one BCFSA approves |
Moving a rental property or a portfolio out of a company is a tax event unless it is planned as a tax-deferred reorganization. In many cases the cleaner answer is to leave the old company alone as a holding company and incorporate a fresh PMC beside it. Which route is cheaper depends on what the old company owns and what it is worth, and that is a question for your accountant before it is a question for your lawyer.
The naming rule, and why the order of steps matters
A PMC's legal name must be approved by BCFSA and must include the full term “personal mortgage corporation” — never the abbreviation. BCFSA's regulatory statement on naming a personal mortgage corporation recommends, but does not require, your own name: Jane Doe Personal Mortgage Corporation. Your advertising must then use only the PMC's registered name, with the term spelled out; you cannot advertise under your personal name in place of or alongside it.
Two approval systems are involved, and they do not talk to each other. A name reservation from BC Registries does not guarantee BCFSA will approve the name. BCFSA's step-by-step guide to incorporating a PMC sets the order for a broker starting fresh:
- Reserve the name with BC Registries (the reservation holds for 56 days).
- Apply to BCFSA through its IRIS portal for approval of the PMC name.
- File BCFSA's approval with BC Registries.
- Complete the incorporation, with the share structure and sole director the Regulation requires.
- Apply to BCFSA for the PMC licence, after confirming you are licensed to the right brokerage.
Incorporating first and asking BCFSA second is how you end up paying for a second name change.
Deadlines for brokers who already had a company
Brokers whose personal corporation was registered as a brokerage under the old Act had until May 29, 2026 to wind up that registration and file BCFSA's acknowledgement form. Those who did get two concessions: pro-rated refunds of their old brokerage fees (paid between February and April 2027), and until their first MSA licence renewal to bring the company's legal name into line. They must apply for the PMC licence by December 31, 2026. Brokers who missed May 29 follow the full process above, with no refund and no naming grace period.
Winding up a brokerage registration with BCFSA is not the same as dissolving the company. The corporation stays on the BC registry; only its regulatory status ends. Dissolving a company that still holds property is a separate decision, with its own tax consequences.
The tax point the Regulation does not mention
The Regulation lets your spouse and children own non-voting shares. Federal tax law decides whether paying them dividends actually saves anything, and for a PMC it usually does not.
Dividends from a private company to a family member are generally caught by the tax on split income (TOSI), which taxes them at the top personal rate — 53.5% in BC for 2026. The common way out, the “excluded shares” exception, requires the family member to hold at least 10% of the votes, and is unavailable where 90% or more of the company's business income comes from services. A PMC fails both tests by design: non-voting shares carry no votes, and a PMC earns nothing but service income. What remains are narrower exceptions — a family member who works in the business an average of 20 hours a week, or a spouse once you reach 65. I explain how the same structure plays out for other professionals in who can own shares in a professional corporation.
The benefit that does survive is deferral. Commission income retained in a PMC is taxed at BC's small business rate of 11% on the first $500,000, against personal rates as high as 53.5%. You pay the difference when the money comes out, but in the meantime it can be invested through a family holding company — the same pattern I describe for professional corporations with a holding company. If you spend everything you earn each year, much of the case for a PMC disappears, and staying unincorporated may be the better answer.
Where a lawyer fits, and what I do
BCFSA recommends legal and accounting advice before you incorporate, change a share structure or dissolve a company, and BC Registries' helpdesk will not advise on structure. The legal work is concrete: review the existing company's minute book and share register against section 24; design the share classes; draft the reorganization or the new incorporation; handle director resignations and the name change; and leave you with records that will survive a BCFSA review. I do this on a fixed fee, quoted once I have seen the company's records, working with your accountant on the tax side — see personal mortgage corporation set-up for what the service covers.
I practise from Ontario, where I was called to the Bar in 2001, and my application for call to the Law Society of British Columbia is pending. Until it is granted, I take on BC matters only as the Law Society of BC's interjurisdictional practice rules permit.
BCFSA spent fifteen months telling brokers that a PMC has to be personal. For most brokers with an older company, that means it also has to be new.
Common questions
Do I need a personal mortgage corporation to keep working as a mortgage broker in BC?
No. A PMC is optional. You need one only if you want your commissions paid to a corporation rather than to you personally. Since October 13, 2026, receiving remuneration through a corporation requires a PMC licence in addition to your individual licence.
How much does a PMC licence cost?
BCFSA's base fee is $2,100, with $500 for each additional licence category. The fee is pro-rated so the PMC licence expires on the same date as your individual licence. Incorporation, legal and accounting fees are separate.
Can my spouse own shares in my personal mortgage corporation?
Your spouse can own non-voting shares, but not voting shares. All voting shares must be owned by you personally, and you must be the only director and officer. Children, and a corporation or trust owned or held only for you, your spouse and your children, can also hold non-voting shares.
Can my personal mortgage corporation own a rental property?
No. BCFSA's guidance says a PMC may not hold real estate or engage in real estate development, and may invest only modestly. A separate holding company owned by an affiliated person, such as your spouse or a family trust, can invest in real estate.
Can two married mortgage brokers share one PMC?
No. A PMC can have only one controlling individual who owns all its voting shares. If both spouses are licensed, each needs their own PMC.
What must the name of a personal mortgage corporation include?
The full words “personal mortgage corporation,” never abbreviated, in a name BCFSA approves. BCFSA recommends using your own name, for example Jane Doe Personal Mortgage Corporation. Reserve the name with BC Registries and get BCFSA approval before you incorporate or change the name.
Can I convert my existing numbered company into a PMC?
Often, but only if it meets every requirement: you own all voting shares, you are the sole director and officer, only affiliated persons hold non-voting shares, and the company does nothing but mortgage services. A company that owns real estate or has other voting shareholders needs to be reorganized first, or left as a holding company beside a new PMC.
Can a PMC pay dividends to my spouse or children to split income?
It can pay them, but the federal tax on split income will usually tax those dividends at the top personal rate. The excluded-shares exception does not fit a PMC, because family shares are non-voting and a PMC earns only service income. Exceptions remain for family members who work in the business about 20 hours a week, or a spouse once you are 65. Confirm with your accountant before relying on any of them.