First-time buyer workbook

Mortgages explained simply, with a worksheet after every chapter for your own numbers. Work through it before you talk to a lender, and bring your plan to the meeting.

$19 Canadian dollars, plus sales tax where it applies. One-time purchase.

Buy the workbook, $19

A 31-page fillable PDF, Fall 2026 edition. The download link is emailed to you as soon as you pay.

What's inside

  • 10 chapters in plain language: what a mortgage is, term vs amortization, where your payment goes, equity, down payments and mortgage insurance, first-time buyer programs, GDS and TDS, getting a mortgage step by step, renewing, and how to check a lender's math.
  • Help for first-time buyers: the FHSA, the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, the home buyers' tax credit, the GST rebate on new homes and land transfer tax refunds, with a worksheet to add up what you could get.
  • A worksheet after every chapter, 140 boxes in all: your budget, down payment and insurance, GDS and TDS at the stress-test rate, a papers checklist and a grid to compare lender offers.
  • Your plan on one page to take to your lender or broker, plus answers to the questions people ask most.

A look inside

A chapter page: Help for first-time buyers, with an In brief box and plain-language sections on the FHSA.
Each chapter explains one step in plain language
A worksheet: tick boxes for which first-time buyer programs you qualify for, and fillable boxes for your FHSA and Home Buyers' Plan amounts.
Then a worksheet for your own numbers
The Getting ready to apply worksheet: a checklist of papers, a box for any others your lender asks for, and a grid comparing three lenders' offers.
A papers checklist and a grid to compare lender offers

How it works

Fill it in on screen or on paper. Type in the blue boxes in Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview on a Mac, or Microsoft Edge or Chrome, then save. Or print it and write in it.

Where it comes from. The chapters are the Rates Explained: Mortgages course on this site, laid out for print with the worksheets added. They're based on official sources such as the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, CMHC, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Finance, listed after each chapter.

Questions

Isn't the course free on this site? Yes, and it stays free. The workbook adds the worksheets, a plan you can keep, and a version that works offline and in print.

How do I get it? Right after you pay, you get an email with a download link. Your copy carries your email address.

Is it advice? No. It explains how mortgages and the programs work. Confirm anything important with your lender, broker or lawyer.

Buy the workbook, $19