Dentists qualify differently.
Use that.

The leading Canadian projected-income program covers dentists in their final year of a recognized program of study in Canada, and newly practising dentists within 24 months of completing a Doctor of Dental Surgery program. Inside that window, you are assessed on a projected income of $175,000, general or specialty, instead of the thin filing history a new grad actually has.

Your real income still gets verified and must come from dentistry: the program does not run on zero income. The paperwork matches the mechanism: enrollment confirmation with your current year if you are still studying, or confirmation of program completion showing the date if you are newly practising.

• Insured purchases: up to 90% loan-to-value, minimum 10% down with at least 5% of the value from your own resources. Family gifts can form all or part of the rest.
• Uninsured purchases: minimum 20% down (15% from own resources), and the 80% loan-to-value ceiling only applies when your actual income is at least a quarter of the projected figure. Below that, 65%. The program publishes no exceptions.
• Student debt counts even before repayment starts: student loans and student lines of credit are assessed at a published payment calculation, and other student revolving credit at a percentage of the balance. Bring the full debt picture to the first conversation.
• Owner-occupied principal residence only, up to two units. Rentals and second homes are excluded, and no secondary financing is permitted on the property.
• Amortization runs up to 30 years for eligible applicants; purchases, refinances, and switches all qualify.

Past the 24-month window, you qualify like the professional you have become. Associates paid on billings are read as self-employed: filed income, often a two-year average, where clean books and consistent billings carry the file.

Once you own a practice and incorporate, your money has two addresses, and lenders read that split three ways: personal income only, personal plus add-backs, or a full corporate read using practice financials. The spread between those reads is enormous, and if a purchase is one to two years out, the salary-versus-dividends conversation with your accountant should include the mortgage.

Once you own a practice and incorporate, your money has two addresses: what you pay yourself, and what stays in the corporation. Lenders read that split three different ways.

• The narrow read: personal tax income only, two-year average. Simple, universal, and often unfairly small for a well-run practice.
• The add-back read: some lenders gross the picture up with non-cash deductions or treat consistent dividends generously.
• The corporate read: a smaller set of lenders looks through to the practice itself, using corporate financials and retained earnings. For a profitable practice this read can transform the approval.

If a purchase is one to two years out, the salary-versus-dividends conversation with your accountant should include the mortgage. A deliberate compensation plan for two filing years can widen the narrow read considerably, and clean, professionally prepared corporate statements are quiet credibility for the corporate read.

Whatever program applies, Canadian basics hold: less than 20% down means mortgage default insurance and a premium added to the loan; 20% or more means a conventional file. Gifted down payments from immediate family are acceptable with a signed gift letter. Practice debt and student debt belong in the ratios, so bring the full picture to the first conversation rather than the flattering version.

One myth to retire: the American "dentist loan" with no mortgage insurance does not exist in Canada. What exists here is real flexibility on how professional income is read, which for most dentist files is worth more than any premium discount would be.

• Enrollment or program-completion confirmation with dates (the anchor document inside the projected-income window).
• Personal returns and notices of assessment for whatever history exists, plus your associate agreement.
• Corporate financial statements if incorporated, professionally prepared.
• Provincial licensing (RCDSO in Ontario, or your provincial college).
• Your down payment sources, including any family gift, and CRA balances paid or on a documented plan.

The fastest way to see where you stand is the free Match intake at physicianfinancing.ca/match. It was built for physicians, and dentists are welcome in the same flow: your stage, income structure, and debts go in, and the programs that fit come out. No credit pull, no lender contact. We confirm the live program terms per file, because published figures change.