Meet your broker
Joshua Tagg, Toronto mortgage broker
Joshua Tagg
Mortgage Broker (Level 1) · Indi Mortgage · Greater Toronto Area
Independent mortgage broker serving the Greater Toronto Area. Licensed in Ontario since 2023, in the mortgage business since 2006, and running an entirely remote process built around how GTA files actually work.
Files are underwritten by Tamar Leis and managed by Iris Gill and Cherie Tyers, so documents and deadlines are actively handled rather than left with you.
Indi Mortgage — FSRA #12403. Licensed to arrange mortgages across Ontario.
Founded the brokerage in Calgary in 2006; licensed in Ontario since 2023.
Not tied to one lender. Dozens of banks, monolines, credit unions and alternative lenders compete for the file.
3+ years of Toronto mortgages
I started Mortgages for Less in Calgary in 2006 and have spent close to twenty years arranging residential financing — through the 2008 credit crisis, the 2016 stress-test changes, the 2022 hiking cycle, and the rule change in December 2024 that lifted the insured-financing ceiling to $1.5 million. That last one matters more in the GTA than anywhere else in the country, and it is a good example of why a broker who follows the rules closely is worth having.
The brokerage now operates as Indi Mortgage and is licensed across Ontario, FSRA #12403. I am not going to pretend I am on Yonge Street — I am not. I do not live in Toronto and I do not take in-person meetings anywhere. What I do is run GTA files remotely: phone, video and secure document upload, usually faster than an in-person process because nobody has to find a mutually convenient afternoon.
What I bring to a Toronto file is knowing where they break. Almost every problem I see here traces back to one of a handful of things: a purchase price sitting on the wrong side of the $1.5 million insured cap, a pre-construction condo appraising below its 2021 purchase price, rental income from a suite that one lender will use generously and another will barely count, a self-employed borrower whose tax return understates what the business actually earns, or a newcomer with a real down payment and no Canadian credit file. Each of those has a solution, and in every case the solution is choosing the right lender before you apply rather than after a decline.
I work with a team — Tamar Leis underwrites, and Iris Gill and Cherie Tyers manage files — so documents get chased and deadlines get met while I am doing the structuring and the lender selection. You get one point of contact and a file that does not sit still.
What working with me is like
No credit check until you say so
We work out what you qualify for and what it costs before anything touches your credit file. A rate quote should never cost you points.
A straight answer, including no
If the deal does not work, I will tell you why and what would have to change. Wasting three weeks to arrive at a decline helps nobody.
The lender chosen before the application
On a GTA file the difference between lenders is often approval versus decline, not a tenth of a point. That decision gets made deliberately, up front.
Entirely remote, deliberately
Phone, video and secure upload. No office visits, no printing, no taking an afternoon off — which in this city is worth something on its own.
Straight answers
Are you based in Toronto?
No. I am licensed in Ontario and work GTA files, but I do not live here and I have no Toronto office. I would rather say that plainly than imply otherwise. The process is fully remote — phone, video and secure upload — and what I bring is knowing how these files behave and which lender to take yours to.
Are you licensed in Ontario?
Yes — a licensed mortgage broker in Ontario since 2023, working through Indi Mortgage, FSRA #12403. The brokerage itself I started in Calgary in 2006 and it has since expanded to serve Ontario.
Who else works on my file?
Tamar Leis underwrites, and Iris Gill and Cherie Tyers manage files. That means documents get chased and deadlines get met while I am doing the structuring and lender selection. You still have one point of contact.
What does it cost me?
On a standard residential mortgage that a mainstream lender approves, nothing — the lender pays the brokerage. Where a file requires an alternative or private lender, there can be a fee, and it is disclosed and agreed in writing before anything proceeds. You will never encounter a fee you were not told about first.
Why use a broker instead of my own bank?
A bank offers you its own products. I put dozens of lenders in competition — banks, monolines, credit unions and alternative lenders. On a straightforward file that mostly means a better rate. On a GTA file with a suite, self-employment, equity compensation or a pre-construction closing, it frequently means the difference between an approval and a decline, which is worth considerably more than a tenth of a point.
Let's talk about your mortgage
Two ways to start: book a call and we'll talk it through, or start the application online and I'll come back to you with what you qualify for. Neither pulls your credit until you say so.