Home Trust Company has confirmed the relaunch of Accelerator, its prime mortgage solution, marking the lender’s return to the insured and insurable mortgage market after a two-year hiatus.
Residential Mortgage Lending, Home Trust
“It’s definitely exciting times for us,” Pierre Martin, Vice-President of Residential Mortgage Lending at Home Trust Company, said in an interview with Canadian Mortgage Trends. “I can’t remember the last time a broker-facing lender launched a brand-new product to the market and relaunched a product in less than a month,” he said, referring to the company’s recent launch of its new reverse mortgage product, EquityAccess.
The move restores Home Trust’s presence across the full lending spectrum, with Accelerator joining a lineup that now includes Classic for alternative borrowers, EquityAccess for reverse mortgages, and Equityline Visa for home equity financing.
Why Home Trust left the prime space—and what’s changed
Martin says the decision to exit the prime space in 2023 was driven by a funding restriction linked to Home Trust’s ownership structure at the time.
When Smith Financial Corporation acquired Home Trust, its founder, Stephen Smith, was also a major shareholder in First National Financial, creating what CMHC classified as a related-party relationship under its securitization rules.
“When you’re doing prime business—insured and insurable—one of the most profitable ways of doing that type of business is when you’re able to securitize those mortgages through programs that CMHC allows,” Martin explains. “Do it yourself, meaning to put it on your balance sheet, definitely puts a constraint on income—the spreads are very, very thin.”
Because of the related-party restriction with First National, “it changed our allocation and at that point it didn’t make any sense for us to continue doing insured and insurable,” he says.
That changed following First National’s privatization last month, when a $2.9-billion deal led by Birch Hill Equity Partners and Brookfield Asset Management removed the related-party restriction.
“Because of that transaction, we’re no longer considered a related party anymore,” Martin says. “So that opened up a new pool for securitization. That’s why we’re re-entering the market.”
Accelerator returns with familiar strength
Martin says the return of Accelerator marks both a renewal and a continuation of what brokers previously knew.
The program has been refreshed to align with recent federal policy changes—including the 30-year amortization for first-time buyers and the new $1.5-million insured mortgage cap—but otherwise retains its familiar structure.
“We have kept exactly the same specs and guidelines that brokers were used to,” Martin says.
Accelerator continues to offer six programs—Purchase, Switch/Transfer, New to Canada, Rental, Stated Income and Vacation/Secondary Home—available with both fixed and adjustable-rate options. All insured and insurable mortgages are eligible through CMHC, Sagen or Canada Guaranty.
Key features include:
- Loan-to-value (LTV) ratios up to 95% for owner-occupied homes
- 30-year amortizations available for some high-ratio borrowers
- Portable and assumable mortgages with no penalty
- Prepayment privileges of up to 20% annually and 20% payment increases once per year
- Flexible rate options, with 120-day rate holds
- Transparent prepayment charges (greater of IRD or three months’ interest)
- Eligibility for SPIRE Partnership Program compensation
Supporting the broker community
For Martin, the relaunch of Accelerator reinforces Home Trust’s long-standing commitment to the broker channel. He says the company plans to bring the same practical underwriting approach and strong service standards it’s known for in the alternative space to its renewed prime business.
“What we want to bring is the same common sense underwriting and service that we provide on the alternative side, to the prime,” he said. “I understand that prime has more ‘boxed-in’ guidelines, when you look at it, but there are still solutions within that box that we can find. And I think that’s what we want to bring to the table.”
Martin adds that while pricing and risk appetite will always play a role in the competitive prime space, Home Trust’s strength lies in its full-spectrum approach. “Throughout the journey of your applicant, we’re there and we offer solutions at every stage of life,” he says. “And I think that’s where it’s interesting compared to just a pure prime lender.”
That philosophy extends beyond underwriting to how Home Trust rewards brokers. Through its SPIRE Partnership Program, prime mortgage volumes now contribute to brokers’ overall partnership tiering. “Each product has its own compensation,” Martin explains, “but any volume you do with us counts toward your SPIRE level. It helps brokers graduate faster when they combine all of those products together.”
The road ahead
Looking forward, Martin says the Accelerator relaunch is part of a larger strategy to reassert Home Trust’s position as a full-spectrum lender and deepen its ties with brokers.
“For me, it’s being relevant for the broker community,” he says. “We want to be viewed as a historical partner who’s always put brokers first in our strategy. Continuing to offer more solutions and products really reinforces that partnership.”
When asked about what the future holds, Martin says the combination of Home Trust and Fairstone Bank has opened the door to entirely new opportunities.
“The future is bright with Home Trust and Fairstone together,” he says. “It really did open up a completely different strategy. So, I think there’s more to come—we’re just scratching the surface.”
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Last modified: November 6, 2025