Advanced Self-Employed Strategy Engine

Self-Employed Mortgage Optimizer

Explore the trade-off between declared income, tax drag, lender tier, borrowing power, and mortgage interest cost. This advanced build adds salary-versus-dividend modelling, province support, and optional Alt-to-Prime transition planning.
Winning strategy
Balanced
Waiting for live calculation.
Optimal declared income
$0
Compared across four live scenarios.
Estimated combined savings
$0
Measured against Scenario A.
Borrowing power lift
$0
Difference between the winner and Scenario A.
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Client & Strategy Setup
Set the underwriting profile, province, and optimization bias.
Cash-Flow First
Balanced
Mortgage-Optimized
Conservative scoring leans toward lower monthly cost. Mortgage-Optimized scoring leans toward stronger qualification and lower long-run financing drag.
Mortgage Scenario
Build the mortgage the client is trying to achieve.
Purchase
Refinance
—
⚠ 30-yr insured amortization requires first-time buyer or new build eligibility.
Rate, Tax & Transition Assumptions
Set pricing assumptions, effective-rate overrides, and optional Alt-to-Prime transition planning.
Off
On
Transition modelling assumes the client carries their initial tier pricing until the chosen year, then refinances into Prime if their declared income and ratios support it.
Yes — include in cost model
No — tax only
CPP2 and EI contributions are calculated from declared salary and added to the combined cost alongside income tax. At $120k salary, this adds roughly $7,500–$8,500/year. Does not affect mortgage qualification ratios.
Income Structure & Scenario Builder
Salary-versus-dividend mix affects both the tax estimate and qualifying treatment. For corporations, salary is weighted more heavily for qualification by default, while dividends receive a haircut and optional gross-up.
Salary/dividend mix affects both the tax estimate and qualifying treatment. Non-eligible dividends (most CCPC owner-managers) use a 15% gross-up and 9.03% federal credit. Eligible dividends use a 38% gross-up and 15.02% federal credit. These are still advisory approximations — not filing-ready T1/T2 numbers.

Scenario A · Tax-Minimized

Baseline
Salary
$0
From your current split.
Dividends
$0
Approximation only.
Income Tax
$0
Est. annual.
CPP + EI
$0
Self-employed.

Scenario B · Balanced

Middle path
Salary
$0
From your current split.
Dividends
$0
Approximation only.
Income Tax
$0
Est. annual.
CPP + EI
$0
Self-employed.

Scenario C · Mortgage-Optimized

Higher income
Salary
$0
From your current split.
Dividends
$0
Approximation only.
Income Tax
$0
Est. annual.
CPP + EI
$0
Self-employed.

Scenario D · Stretch / Custom

Fourth path
Salary
$0
From your current split.
Dividends
$0
Approximation only.
Income Tax
$0
Est. annual.
CPP + EI
$0
Self-employed.
Winner Tile & Recommendation
This is the advisory read you can walk clients through in plain language.
Recommended declared income
$0
Run a scenario to see the recommended balance between tax drag and financing drag.
Recommended lender path
—
Rate and tier details will appear here.
Estimated net advantage
$0
Compared to Scenario A over your chosen horizon.
Efficiency score
0
Higher is better.
Combined Cost Ranking
Lower combined cost is better. The bar size is relative to the most expensive scenario.
Scenario A combined cost$0
Scenario B combined cost$0
Scenario C combined cost$0
Scenario D combined cost$0
Breakeven & Transition Read
This read compares the winner to Scenario A and also tells you whether a planned transition is doing the heavy lifting.
Waiting for live calculation Once the scenarios are calculated, this panel will explain whether the higher-income path pays for itself quickly, slowly, or not at all over the selected horizon.
Tax Drag vs Interest Drag
Which side of the equation is actually driving the decision?
Winner tax share0%
Winner interest share0%
Borrowing Power Lift
This compares the winner’s capacity to Scenario A.
Scenario A max mortgage$0
Winning max mortgage$0
Waiting for live calculation.
Next-Best Actions
The engine suggests what the borrower should think about next.

Income Strategy

Run the optimizer.

Lender Path

Run the optimizer.

Advisory Note

Run the optimizer.
Advanced Scenario Comparison Table
This table is designed for client meetings, realtor conversations, and tax-planning discussions.
Scenario Declared income Qualifying income Income tax CPP + EI CMHC premium Insured mortgage Tier now Transition path Contract rate Max mortgage Qualifies target? Monthly payment Interest over horizon Combined cost Score
Year-by-Year Amortization Schedule
Full cost stack for the winning scenario: mortgage interest, principal paydown, income tax, and CPP+EI side by side for each year of the amortization.
Winner (auto)
Scenario A
Scenario B
Scenario C
Scenario D
Mortgage interest Principal repaid Income tax CPP + EI
Interest uses Canadian semi-annual compounding (Interest Act). Tax and CPP+EI are shown at the annual declared-income level and do not change year over year in this model. The horizon row (★) marks the end of the selected planning window.
Advisor Report Summary
Built for planning meetings, referral handoffs, and clean print-to-PDF client takeaways.
Client name
File date
Referral partner
Advisor
Client Strategy Snapshot
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Self-Employed Mortgage Optimizer Report

This summary translates the optimizer into a borrower-friendly recommendation that can be reviewed in a meeting, emailed as a PDF, or shared with referral partners.

Client
Not entered
File date
Not entered
Referral partner
Not entered
Advisor
Allen Ehlert, Mortgage Agent Level 2

Waiting for calculation.

Advisor view
Run the optimizer to generate a printable summary.

Recommendation

Run the optimizer to generate a recommendation.

Best fit lender tier
—
Recommended path
—
Decision horizon
—
Recommended declared income
$0
Estimated horizon advantage
$0
Lender path
—
Borrowing power lift
$0

What the model is saying

  • Run the optimizer.
  • Run the optimizer.
  • Run the optimizer.
  • Run the optimizer.

Advisor next steps

  • Run the optimizer.
  • Run the optimizer.
  • Run the optimizer.
  • Use this as an education tool, not tax or legal advice.
Important: This optimizer is for educational, illustrative, and discussion purposes only. It is not a mortgage approval, commitment, income-tax filing calculation, legal opinion, or accounting advice. Actual qualification, pricing, and lender fit depend on full documentation, credit, property details, current lender policies, and final underwriting review.
Advisory Conversion Strip
Built to support referral conversations with self-employed clients, realtors, accountants, and financial planners.
Want to structure this properly before you apply?
A self-employed file is not just about qualifying. It is about choosing the smartest mix of declared income, lender path, and long-run cost. This optimizer helps start the conversation. Your mortgage strategy finishes it.
allen@allenehlert.com
905-441-0770
www.AllenEhlert.com
Important: This calculator is for educational, illustrative, and discussion purposes only. It is not tax advice, legal advice, or a mortgage approval. Tax results are intentionally approximate, especially where corporate remuneration, dividends, gross-ups, deductions, or accountant-driven planning are involved. Lending ratios, rate availability, and lender treatment of self-employed income vary by lender, program, and file quality. v4 corrections: Canadian semi-annual compounding, 2025 federal/provincial tax brackets and BPA credits, Ontario surtax thresholds. v5 additions: CMHC mortgage default insurance (Dec 2024 rules, $1.5M cap, 30-yr eligibility gating), proper dividend gross-up and tax credit mechanics (eligible/non-eligible), and 2025 CPP1/CPP2/EI contributions on salary in combined cost. v6 addition: Year-by-year amortization schedule with full cost stack (interest, principal, tax, CPP+EI), scenario switcher, monthly/annual toggle, horizon marker, and stacked cost-mix bars. Copyright (c) Allen Ehlert Inc., 2026.