How much can a physician
actually qualify for?
The number a doctor qualifies for has almost nothing to do with current salary and everything to do with which lender reads the file. Here are the real ranges, by stage and specialty.
The short answer.
Canadian physicians typically qualify for: residents $600K-$1.2M, fellows $1M-$1.8M, attending family physicians $1.2M-$1.8M, attending specialists $1.5M-$2.5M, and incorporated attending specialists $3M or more. The figure is driven by projected attending income, specialty, down payment source, and whether the file is read on personal T4 or corporate income, not by current salary.
The qualification ranges, by career stage.
These are real mortgage qualification ranges for Canadian physicians under specialty physician programs and physician-friendly monoline lenders. They assume a clean credit profile, a reasonable down payment, and the file submitted to a lender that reads physician income correctly. The same physician submitted to a standard branch program would often qualify for a fraction of these numbers.
| Career stage | Income basis | Typical qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Resident (PGY-1 to PGY-5) | Accepted projected income, without adding the stipend | $600K - $1.2M |
| Fellow | Projected or signed attending offer | $1M - $1.8M |
| Attending, family physician | Salaried or fee-for-service | $1.2M - $1.8M |
| Attending, specialist | Salaried or fee-for-service | $1.5M - $2.5M |
| Attending, incorporated | Corporate income + dividends | $1.5M - $3M+ |
A fellow with a signed attending contract is often the single strongest profile: full attending income can be used to qualify before the first attending paycheque has ever landed.
Why specialty changes everything.
Physician programs that use projected income base the projection on specialty career averages. A resident matched to family medicine is projected at a lower attending income than a resident matched to a procedural specialty, and the qualifying mortgage moves with it.
The practical effect: two residents in the same hospital, same PGY level, same stipend, can qualify for very different mortgages purely because of the specialty they matched into. The projection is the engine, and specialty sets the size of the engine.
The four levers that move your number.
Projected income vs current income
Incorporation
Down payment source
Existing debt structure
Getting your real number.
Ranges are a starting point, not a pre-approval. Your actual figure depends on gross income, debt obligations, down payment, credit, and which lender program fits your profile. The affordability calculator on this site runs the math with your inputs, and a 30 minute call turns a range into a real, lender-specific number.
Questions doctors ask.
All guidesHow much mortgage can a resident physician qualify for in Canada?
A Canadian medical resident typically qualifies for $600K to $1.2M under a physician program, using projected attending income and a signed residency contract rather than the current stipend. The exact figure depends on specialty, down payment, and existing debt.
How much can an attending specialist qualify for?
Attending specialists typically qualify for $1.5M to $2.5M on salaried or fee-for-service income, and $3M or more once incorporated and qualified on corporate income plus dividend history.
Does my current salary determine how much I can borrow?
No. Under physician programs, qualification is driven by projected attending income, not your current resident or fellowship salary. A PGY-2 on a $70K stipend can qualify on a projected $300K+ attending income.
Does my medical specialty affect how much I can qualify for?
Yes. Projected-income programs base the projection on specialty career averages, so a procedural specialist qualifies for more than a family physician at the same training stage, all else equal.
How does incorporation change my qualification?
Specialty lenders qualify incorporated physicians on corporate revenue and dividend history rather than personal T4 alone. This typically increases the qualifying mortgage by 50-80% versus the T4-only figure.
