Buying a home as a new or probationary teacher

A probationary period does not automatically stop you getting a mortgage. Some lenders accept a new permanent teacher with a board employment letter and one full pay cycle, and a teacher moving between boards often has probation treated as already served. Where a lender does insist, the usual fix is to line the closing date up with the end of probation.

You have signed your first permanent contract and someone has told you to wait a year before buying. That advice is usually wrong, and it costs new teachers a spring market.

Why teachers are treated better than most probationary hires

Lenders assess probation as a risk that the job disappears. A teaching position sits behind an education degree, College of Teachers registration and a collective agreement, so the risk of a sudden termination is low compared to most private-sector hires on probation. Lenders that understand the sector price that in.

Transferring between boards is the strongest case

If you are moving from one board to another rather than entering teaching for the first time, the probation question often falls away entirely. Your teaching history did not restart, only your employer changed. Make sure the employment letter says so explicitly, naming your prior board and continuous service, because a letter that only shows a recent start date invites the wrong conclusion.

If a lender will not budge

• Coordinate the closing date with the end of probation. This is the most common workaround and needs nothing from the lender beyond timing.
• Provide the signed permanent contract rather than just a letter, so the term is visible.
• Include prior teaching income, occasional or LTO, to show continuous employment in the profession rather than a standing start.

What your employment letter must say

• Your position and whether it is permanent, probationary, LTO or contract
• Your QECO category and grid step
• Your annual base salary, stated as an annual figure
• Your start date, and prior continuous service if you transferred
• Whether probation applies and, if so, the date it ends

A letter that omits category and step is the single most common cause of a delayed teacher file. Ask for it to be reissued rather than hoping the lender infers it.

Common questions