Mortgages · Lender review
Pine mortgage review
The newest digital lender — no lender fees, sharp advertised pricing, 120-day holds, and the engine behind Wealthsimple’s mortgage — but with the thinnest disclosure of any lender we reviewed: no published penalty method, no prepayment percentages, and licences in only six provinces.
Best for: Rate shoppers in its six provinces who will demand the missing terms in writing before signing
Pros
- No lender, origination or application fees — stated outright
- Rate locks up to 120 days
- Fixed and adjustable products plus a HELOC alongside the mortgage
- Powers Wealthsimple’s mortgage offering — institutional validation for a 2021 startup
Cons
- NO published prepayment-penalty method — the only lender in our 15 with nothing at all
- Prepayment privileges unpublished
- Licensed in ON, AB, SK, NS, NB, NL only — no BC, Manitoba or Quebec
- Who funds the mortgages isn’t disclosed
What Pine is
Pine is a 2021-founded digital lender and real-estate brokerage — direct model, no broker commissions, $2 billion+ funded — and the white-label engine behind Wealthsimple’s mortgage. Pricing is the pitch: advertised insured rates near the top of the market, zero lender fees, and its own prime rate for adjustables.
The disclosure problem
Here’s what you cannot find on pine.ca: the prepayment-penalty formula, the annual prepayment allowance, the payment-increase allowance, the registration charge type, or who funds the loans. Every other lender in our 15-lender review publishes at least some of this; Pine publishes none. That doesn’t mean the terms are bad — it means you’re signing what the commitment letter says, so make the penalty formula and prepayment privileges explicit asks, in writing, before you commit.
Geography is the other hard limit: licences cover Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland — BC, Manitoba and Quebec are absent.
Frequently asked questions
How does Pine calculate mortgage penalties?
NOT PUBLISHED — Pine discloses no prepayment-charge method on its site. Get the formula in writing before signing; assume nothing. For a closed fixed mortgage the charge is the greater of three months' interest or the IRD; variables are typically three months' interest. Run your numbers in our penalty calculator, and remember only the lender's own payout statement is binding.
How much can I prepay at Pine without a penalty?
Lump sums up to Not published of the original principal per year, plus a payment increase of up to Not published. Privileges reset annually and generally don't carry forward — and using them just before breaking a mortgage shrinks the balance the penalty is computed on.
Does Pine offer a HELOC or readvanceable mortgage?
Yes — HELOC offered, requires a Pine mortgage. HELOCs at federally regulated lenders are stress-tested like mortgages and capped at 65% of home value within an 80% total — the mechanics (and the retiree angle) are in our HELOC guide.
Is a mortgage from Pine safe?
Borrowing carries no deposit-style risk — if a lender fails, your mortgage continues on its terms with a new owner; you never owe it back early. What matters is the contract: penalty method, prepayment room, and portability. That's exactly what this review scores.
The bottom line
Pine’s pricing posture is real and its fee position is verified — but a mortgage is a contract, and Pine asks you to take more of it on faith than anyone else we cover. Bring our penalty calculator to the conversation and get every missing number in writing.
See how Pine prices today
Benchmarks and verified lender offers, refreshed from the source.
Educational review, not financial advice or a mortgage offer. Product facts verified at Pine's own pages and disclosures on June 12, 2026; rates shown come from our daily pipeline (scraped or hand-verified at the lender, stamped per row) and change without notice. Penalty wording summarizes the lender's published method — the payout statement is the only binding figure.