Suspended Markham brokerage kept dealing, Ontario regulator alleges
What does the deposit rule mean for brokers?
FSRA says that between April 29 and June 1, ZK Financial took on a borrower while Lin was unlicensed and the brokerage was suspended. The notice identifies the borrower only as ZY and says the brokerage worked to arrange a mortgage of between $100,000 and $280,000.
According to the notice, Lin took a $2,000 deposit for his services and later refused to return it. Ontario Regulation 188/08 bars brokerages from requiring advance payments on mortgages of $400,000 or less.
FSRA also alleges that, during the suspension, ZK Financial’s website and 51.ca listings presented it as arranging a high volume of mortgages, which contradicted its 2025 AIR.
The regulator has drawn this line before. “Licensees must not facilitate activities for unlicensed individuals,” said Elissa Sinha, FSRA’s director of litigation and enforcement, when the regulator revoked the brokerage licence of Expert Financial Corporation.
At MortgageFest Canada 2026, held in Toronto in September, Joe White, founder and chief executive of the Real Estate and Mortgage Institute of Canada (REMIC), argued that the licence itself is a broker’s core protection for clients.
