A mortgage pre-approval is a letter from a lender stating the amount they’re willing to lend you to purchase a home, based on a verified review of your income, debts, credit, and assets. You get one by applying to a lender with your financial documents. It usually holds for 60 to 120 days — and it is not a guarantee.
What a pre-approval is
Think of it as the lender’s opening position, in writing. They’ve checked your credit score, your personal debts, your income, and any assets you own, and they’ve put a number on what they’d lend you and at what rate. That rate is usually held for the life of the letter, which matters when rates are moving.
What it is not: a promise. The lender has verified you. They haven’t seen the house yet. More on that below, because this is where I watch buyers get caught.
How to get pre-approved, step by step
Start by choosing a lender — your bank, a credit union, or a mortgage broker who shops several lenders at once. Then you make an application. The lender pulls your credit and works through your income, your debts, and your assets to land on a number.
From there the process is mostly paperwork, and the speed depends on how ready your paperwork is. I’ve watched organized buyers turn this around in an afternoon. I’ve also watched it drag for a week because a Notice of Assessment was buried in a CRA account nobody had the password for. Get your documents together before you apply, not during.
One thing I’d add from the accounting side: if you’re self-employed, start earlier. Lenders will want two years of business income history, and how your accountant has structured your draws and deductions directly affects the income a lender will recognize. The version of your income that minimizes tax is not the version that maximizes your mortgage (a conversation I have with self-employed buyers a lot).
The documents you’ll need
Have these ready:
- Pay stubs — recent ones
- T4s and any other income slips
- CRA Notices of Assessment — likely two years, possibly three depending on your situation
- A letter of employment
- Bank and investment account statements
- Credit card and loan statements
- Government-issued photo ID
If your down payment includes gifted money, the lender will also want a gift letter confirming the funds aren’t a loan. If it’s coming from an RRSP or FHSA withdrawal, bring those account statements too.
How long it takes — and how long it lasts
Getting the pre-approval: anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on your lender and how complete your file is.
Once issued, the pre-approval — and the rate that comes with it — locks in for somewhere between 60 and 120 days, depending on the lender and lending conditions at the time. If you haven’t bought by the end of the window, you reapply. Usually that’s painless. If rates have climbed in the meantime, your new pre-approval reflects the new rates, which can shrink your number. If rates have dropped, most lenders will give you the lower rate at approval anyway.
In the West Kootenay, that window deserves some thought. Inventory here is thin enough that the right house might take four months to show up. I’d rather you get pre-approved when you’re genuinely ready to act than burn the window watching listings that aren’t quite it.
Will getting pre-approved hurt my credit score?
One pre-approval shouldn’t have a big impact on your credit score. The lender does a hard credit check, which can trim a few points, and your score recovers.
Multiple applications scattered over months are a different story — repeated hard pulls start to read as risk. If you want to shop several lenders, do it inside a short window. Credit bureaus treat mortgage inquiries made close together as one event, because they know you’re rate-shopping, not stacking loans. Or use a broker, who pulls your credit once and shops it for you.
Pre-qualification vs. pre-approval — not the same thing
A pre-qualification is a quick check. You tell a lender (or a website calculator) your income and debts, and it spits out an estimate. Nothing is verified. It’s informal, and no lender is bound by it.
A pre-approval is a verified, detailed analysis of your actual financial situation — one the lender is reasonably willing to stand behind, with a rate hold attached.
Sellers know the difference. In a competitive situation, an offer backed by a real pre-approval reads as a buyer who can close. An offer backed by a pre-qualification reads as a buyer who thinks they can. When there are two offers on a house in Rossland, that distinction is doing real work.
Does a pre-approval guarantee I’ll get the mortgage?
No — it’s the starting point. The pre-approval says the lender is satisfied with you. The final approval requires them to be satisfied with the property, and they still need to conduct due diligence on it before advancing funds.
That can include an appraisal from an independent third party, an evaluation of any existing leases, and a review of the title search and the Property Disclosure Statement — just to name a few of the potential checks. If the appraisal comes in under your offer price, the lender lends against the appraised value, and the gap becomes your problem to fill.
This step matters more here than it does in a city. Rural and unique properties — acreage outside Fruitvale, a place on leased land, a house with a wood stove that needs WETT certification, anything with a septic system — give appraisers and lenders more to think about, and comparable sales out here can be scarce. The pre-approval was never the problem on the deals I’ve seen wobble at this stage. The property was. Build your subject-to-financing clause with that in mind, and don’t remove it early just to look strong.
The property isn’t the only thing that can move between pre-approval and completion, either. Your file can too. Take a new job, switch from salary to commission, land in a probationary period, or go out on your own, and the lender re-reads your income from scratch — sometimes days before closing. Even a promotion can complicate things if the new role resets your probation. If a job change is on the table while you’re under contract, talk to your broker before you say yes to anything.
What this means for your house hunt
Get pre-approved before you start booking showings. It tells you your actual price range, it locks a rate while you look, and it makes your offer credible the day you write it. Just remember what the letter is: verified confidence, not a done deal. The advantage isn’t that it guarantees anything — it’s that you walk into every conversation knowing exactly what you’re working with.
One number the letter leaves out entirely: closing costs. Legal fees, title insurance, BC’s property transfer tax if you don’t qualify for the first-time buyer exemption, the inspection, sometimes an appraisal — none of it can come from the mortgage. A couple of percent of the purchase price is a workable planning number for most deals here, in cash, on top of your down payment.
If you want to talk through what lenders will make of your particular situation — self-employment income, a borrowed down payment, a property with quirks — that’s a 15-minute conversation. I’ve got the beard and the math.
Pre-approval questions, answered
What is a mortgage pre-approval?
It’s a letter from a lender stating the amount they’re willing to lend you to purchase a home, along with a held interest rate. It’s based on a verified review of your credit score, income, debts, and assets. It’s a strong signal of what you can borrow — but not a guarantee of final financing.
How do I get pre-approved for a mortgage in BC?
Choose a lender — a bank, credit union, or mortgage broker — and make an application. The lender checks your credit score, personal debts, income, and any assets you own, then issues a letter stating what they’d lend you. Having your documents organized before you apply speeds this up considerably.
What documents do I need to get pre-approved?
Pay stubs, T4s and other income slips, CRA Notices of Assessment (usually two years, sometimes three), a letter of employment, bank and investment statements, and credit card and loan statements. You’ll also need government-issued photo ID. Self-employed buyers should expect to show two years of business income.
How long does mortgage pre-approval take in Canada?
Anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on your lender and how complete your paperwork is. An organized file with all income documents ready is the single biggest factor in a fast turnaround.
How long is a mortgage pre-approval valid?
Between 60 and 120 days, depending on the lender and current lending conditions — 90 to 120 is common. If it expires before you buy, you reapply, and your new pre-approval reflects whatever rates are doing at that point.
Does getting pre-approved hurt my credit score?
One pre-approval shouldn’t have a big impact — the hard credit check may trim a few points temporarily. Multiple applications spread over a long period can be detrimental. If you’re shopping lenders, do it within a short window so the inquiries count as one event, or use a broker.
What’s the difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?
Pre-qualification is a quick, informal estimate based on unverified numbers you provide. A pre-approval is a verified, detailed analysis of your financial situation that the lender is reasonably willing to stand behind, usually with a rate hold. Sellers take pre-approvals seriously; pre-qualifications, less so.
Does pre-approval guarantee I’ll get the mortgage?
No — it’s the starting point. The lender still needs to conduct due diligence on the property itself, which can include an independent appraisal, evaluation of existing leases, and review of the title search and Property Disclosure Statement. A low appraisal or a property issue can still sink the financing. So can a change in your own file: a new job or new debt between pre-approval and closing can send the lender back to your income from scratch.
