A bridge loan covers the gap between the day you buy and the day your old home's sale closes. If your sale is firm, your new lender's bridge is cheapest: prime + 2-4% (about 7-9% in November 2026), a $200-500 fee, up to 90-120 days, approved in 3-5 business days. If the sale is not firm, or the bank said no, a private bridge on one or both properties funds in 5-10 days at 8-12% plus a 1-2% lender fee and a 1% broker fee. A $400,000 bridge for 45 days costs about $4,500 the bank way and about $17,000 the private way. Most of that is fees.

The couple on the home page: what actually happened

Buying in Calgary, closing in 12 days. Selling in Toronto, closing six weeks later. Their buyer waived financing, so the Toronto sale was firm and the Calgary lender's bridge would have worked. Then the buyer's lender pulled the approval and the buyer walked. The Calgary purchase was still firm. The $60,000 deposit was at risk. No bank will bridge against a sale that no longer exists. That is the file a private bridge is built for: a 90-day open loan secured on both properties, paid out from whichever comes first, the re-sale of the Toronto house or a refinance.

Bank bridge vs private bridge

	Bank bridge (your new lender)	Private bridge
Needs a firm sale?	Yes, unconditional, deposit in trust	No
Needs you to pass the stress test?	Yes, on the new mortgage	No, equity-based
Rate	Prime + 2-4% (about 7-9%)	8-12% interest-only
Fees	$200-500 admin	Lender 1-2%, broker 1%, legal $1,500-2,500
Maximum term	90-120 days typical	3-12 months, open after 90 days
Time to approve / fund	3-5 business days / at closing	1-2 days commitment / 5-10 days to fund
Security	The home being sold	One or both homes
Best for	Firm sale, qualifying income, short gap	Conditional or collapsed sale, bank decline, buying before listing

What a bridge costs: $400,000 for 45 days

Cost	Bank bridge at 8.45%	Private bridge at 9.99%
Interest for 45 days	$4,167	$4,926
Admin or lender fee	$350	$6,000 (1.5%)
Broker fee	$0	$4,000 (1%)
Legal (registration and discharge)	in purchase legal	$1,800
Appraisal	$0	$600
Total for 45 days	$4,517	$17,326

Illustrative, November 2026. Because the private bridge's fees are fixed and the term is short, the APR on a 45-day term would exceed the 35% criminal rate cap. Private bridges are therefore written as 3-6 month open terms (APR on a 6-month term for this example: about 11.1%) and you pay out early. We structure it that way and show the APR on your disclosure before you sign.

How fast a private bridge actually funds

Day 0

Call with both contracts

Purchase agreement, sale agreement (even if collapsed), both mortgage statements, deposit receipt.

Day 1-2

Commitment

Lender commitment on one or both properties with the fee sheet. Exit named: sale, re-sale or refinance.

Day 2-6

Appraisal

Often only the property you keep. Rush appraisals in the cities take 48 hours.

Day 4-9

Lawyers

Your purchase lawyer and the lender's lawyer coordinate registration. Disclosure two business days before signing.

Day 7-10

Funds at the purchase closing

The bridge pays the balance due. The deposit is saved. The clock on the sale starts.

When a bridge loan is a bad idea

The old home is overpriced. A bridge buys time. It does not create a buyer. If the listing has sat 60 days with no offers, the plan must include a price cut.
You cannot carry two mortgages plus the bridge interest for a realistic selling period. We model six months, not six weeks.
The gap is under two weeks and the sale is firm. Ask the new lender for a bridge or a short extension first.
The purchase can be extended. Sellers often accept a two-week extension for a small consideration. Ask before borrowing.

Province notes

BC

Lower Mainland lenders bridge on either property to 75% LTV; Okanagan and Island to 65-70%. The property transfer tax on the purchase is not covered. Budget for it. BC page.

Alberta

No land transfer tax, which helps. Calgary MICs such as Calvert Home Mortgage write bridges as a core product and fund city property in 1-2 days. Acreages need 35% equity. Alberta page.

Ontario

Toronto land transfer tax (provincial plus municipal) is often why the cash is short. A private bridge can cover it. FSRA's borrower disclosure, at least two business days before you commit, applies to bridges too. Ontario page.

Bridge loan questions

Can I get a bridge loan without a firm sale in Canada?

Not from a bank. Banks and monoline lenders need a firm, unconditional agreement of purchase and sale with the deposit in trust. A private bridge lender does not. It lends on the equity in one or both properties and a realistic plan to sell or refinance within 3-6 months.

How does bridge financing work?

The lender advances the down payment or purchase balance on your new home before your old home's sale closes. Interest runs per day. When the sale closes, the lawyer pays the bridge off from the proceeds. Bank bridges register against the home being sold. Private bridges register against one or both.

How long can a bridge loan last?

Bank bridges: usually 90 days, sometimes 120, occasionally up to a year. Private bridges: written as 3-12 month terms, open after 90 days, so you pay interest only for the days you use after the minimum.

What if my old house does not sell before the bridge comes due?

With a bank bridge, the bank can demand payment. With a private bridge we write a 6-12 month term with a 90-day open clause so the loan does not come due the day the sale was supposed to close. The fallback, agreed on day one, is a price cut or a refinance into a longer term.

Does a bridge loan need an appraisal?

A bank bridge usually does not. A private bridge needs one on the property you keep, and sometimes on the one being sold if the sale collapsed. Rush appraisals in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto take 48 hours and cost $500-800.

Sources. Ratehub, bridge financing guide · WealthNorth, bridge loans in Canada · Mortgage Directory and WOWA, private bridge pricing, October 2026 · Criminal Code s.347 · provincial cost-of-borrowing regulations · Calvert Home Mortgage, funding times, checked 5 November 2026.

Real people, not a call centre

Talk it through with a licensed broker before you decide

Tell us what is going on in a few lines. We call you back the same day with what lenders will say, what it costs in dollars, and how you get back to a bank. If private is the wrong tool, we say so.