Canadian Private Lenders’ Podcast

Епизоди

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  Ep.151 | The Weirdest Assets lenders will actually take 16.09.2026 34мин

  Neal and Ryan are back for a fun one, this time cracking open the strange, sometimes sketchy world of unique lending. Most people think lending means mortgages, car loans, and business lines of credit, but the reality is that almost any asset with real ownership, verifiable value, and a viable exit can be borrowed against. In this episode, the guys walk through the assets that actually get pledged as collateral every day, including stocks, cryptocurrency, fine art, watches, jewelry, wine, cla...
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  Ep.150 | RBC and BMO Just Sold Moneris to US Private Equity. Should Canadians Be Worried? 09.09.2026 27мин

  Neal and Ryan hit a big milestone with Episode 150, and they're marking it with one of their most globally minded conversations yet. They kick things off with two massive Canadian deals that just crossed the wire: RBC and BMO offloading Moneris, one of the country's most important payment processors, to US private equity for $2 billion, and Air Canada selling a 25% stake in Aeroplan to Blackstone at a $10 billion valuation. The guys dig into what these deals actually mean for competition, con...
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  Ep.149 | Rising Broker Share, and Why Nvidia is Now Lending on Chips 02.09.2026 33мин

  Neal and Ryan are back with a solo news roundup episode covering the biggest stories moving Canadian real estate, lending, and beyond. They kick things off with a wild data point out of Halifax: a brand new 291-unit downtown tower is sitting at just 20% leased, and what that could signal about vacancy risk creeping into REIT-owned portfolios across the country. Then they dig into new Mortgage Professionals Canada data showing broker share is climbing fast, hitting 38% overall and 48% among fi...
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  Ep.148 | From 7 Employees to 400. Now He's Coming for the GTA Private Lending Market 26.08.2026 47мин

  In this episode, Neal and Ryan sit down with Arees Jiwani, President of TM Investments. Arees walks us through his journey from the Ivey Business School to helping build one of Canada's most rapidly growing financial services groups, going from seven employees to over 400 in a decade. We dig into RFA's acquisition of Street Capital, the launch of TM Investments in 2024, and the group's unique capital structure backed by long-term institutional investors and a wealth management arm based in th...
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  Ep.147 | The Truth About How Car Dealers Actually Make Money 19.08.2026 30мин

  Neal and Ryan step away from mortgages to tackle a topic Neal has been waiting three years to talk about: cars. In this episode, they pull back the curtain on how Canadian car dealerships actually make their money and spoiler, it's not from the sticker price. From lender commissions and rate markups to negative equity, money factors, and 8-year amortizations, the guys break down every trick, tactic, and hidden margin baked into the modern auto financing process. They also compare Canada's aut...
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  Ep.146 | From Working at a Brewery to Running a $470 Million MIC - Greg Sinclair 12.08.2026 45мин

  Greg Sinclair did not take a straight line into private lending. He went from teaching school in Ontario and the UK, to selling beer on the night shift at a local brewery, to building out the sales and marketing function for the Peterborough Petes in the OHL, to joining Magenta Capital when Covid shut down the sports world. He is now COO of one of the longest-standing MICs in Canada, a company founded out of a basement in 1994 that now manages $470 million in residential mortgages across Onta...
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  Ep.145 | The Hands-off Investment That Pays 9% a Year 05.08.2026 34мин

  Part two of the MIC series shifts from structure to strategy. Ryan and Neal make the case for why mortgage investment corporations have become one of the most compelling income investments for Canadians who have already won the real estate game and are looking for somewhere to put the proceeds. They break down where MICs sit in the investment spectrum (between government bonds and equities), who is actually investing in them (it skews heavily toward boomers and recently exited real estate inv...
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  Ep.144 | Canada's Big Banks Are Getting Rich Off Your Savings 29.07.2026 34мин

  Most Canadians think mortgages only come from the big six banks. They're wrong, and it's costing them. In part one of a two-part series, Ryan and Neal break down what a Mortgage Investment Corporation actually is, how it works, and why it exists in the first place. They cover the borrowers banks turn away, how non-bank lenders get their capital, and why Canadian MICs are nothing like the Big Short. They dig into the numbers from Wawa's research: the top 43 mortgage investment entities manage ...
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  Ep.143 | Building a Real Estate Portfolio Buying Buildings No One Wanted 22.07.2026 33мин

  Episode 143 marks a milestone: CPL has officially passed the total episode count from Neal's old Master Keys podcast. To celebrate, Ryan turns the mic on Neal and runs him through a real estate investing Q&A. Neal started buying property at 19, picking up fully vacant, boarded-up, and fire-damaged buildings in Halifax that nobody else wanted. He breaks down the value-add strategy that made him the most money, the cash crunches that nearly broke him, and why losing relationships worried hi...
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  Ep.142 | Private Lending Is Older Than Canada's Big Banks 15.07.2026 40мин

  Most people think of private lending as something new. It isn't. In this episode, Ryan and Neal trace the complete history of private lending in Canada, from the handshake loans of the pre-WWI era to the creation of Mortgage Investment Corporations in the 1970s, through the mortgage broker boom of the 80s and 90s, the stress test of 2016 to 2018, and the pandemic explosion that followed. They break down how MICs were designed to democratize mortgage investing for everyday Canadians, why the s...
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  Ep.141 | Every Broker Needs to Know Alt Lending or Go Work at a Bank 08.07.2026 56мин

  Ryan sits down with the two founders of MCC Premiere Mortgage Centre, Sarah Albert and Sara Wright. They built one of Atlantic Canada's most recognized mortgage broker teams out of Moncton, NB, and are now expanding into Nova Scotia. This episode covers how they met, how they grew a fully salaried team with 12+ year tenure, and why they believe every broker needs to get comfortable in the alt and private space, or they may as well work at a bank. Sarah Albert breaks down why construction loan...
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  Ep.140 | AI-Generated Defences & Why Lenders Keep Losing in Court w/ Grechi Carter 01.07.2026 45мин

  The Grechi Carter team is back with a new addition, Amanda Deveaux, a 12-year litigation veteran and Ontario deputy judge who's taking over the firm's entire enforcement practice. Dave, Danielle, and Amanda break down what's really happening in Ontario mortgage enforcement right now: borrowers filing AI-generated defences to stall court proceedings into 2027, why lenders keep losing on fees and penalties, and how forbearance agreements and motions to strike can cut timelines down. They also c...
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  Ep.139 | $1 Billion, 40 People & Zero Gated Funds: Inside Canada's Biggest Public MIC 24.06.2026 44мин

  What does it actually look like to run a $1 billion mortgage portfolio with a team of 40? Phil Fiuza, Managing Director of Single Family at Atrium MIC, pulls back the curtain on one of Canada's largest and only publicly traded mortgage investment corporations. Phil started his career in 1988, right as real estate peaked and crashed, and has spent 30+ years learning how to survive every cycle. In this episode, he breaks down why Atrium went public in 2012 (hint: it's all about permanent capita...
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  Ep.138 | $20K Down Loans, 50 Years of Lending & Rebranding the Industry w/ Dean Koeller 17.06.2026 18мин

  Dean Koeller, President & CEO of Calvert Home Mortgage and Board Chair of CAMLA, joins Neal and Ryan live at the CAMLA Ontario Expo. In this episode, Dean breaks down Calvert's unique $20K-down flip and BRRRR program, how their in-house appraisal team gives real estate investors a genuine edge on after-repair value, and how they've been closing deals in 24 hours since before it was a selling point. We also get into the story behind CAMLA, why Dean went to 20 competitors to solve a complia...
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  Ep.137 | $400M AUM, Zero Principal Lost w/ Yitz Levinson 10.06.2026 35мин

  Neal and Ryan sit down with Yitz Levinson, President of Hillmount Capital, a Toronto-based private lender with over $400M under administration and 22 years in the business. Yitz shares how his background as a licensed insolvency trustee shaped the way Hillmount underwrites every deal: exit first, entry second. The conversation covers their unique MFT structure, how they flex across residential, commercial, and construction depending on market conditions, their approach to special situat...
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  Ep.136 | How Leadout Capital Fills the Gap Between Banks and Private Funds 03.06.2026 32мин

  Ryan and Neal sit down with Brian Suta, Partner at Leadout Capital, live at the CAMLA Ontario Expo. Brian breaks down how Leadout operates as a corporate debt fund, lending to mortgage funds, MICs, and businesses that fall through the cracks of Canada's big banks. From borrowing base structures to a Winnipeg protein powder brand, it's a look at a corner of private lending most people don't know exists. Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro live from CAMLA Ontario Expo 2:11 - Brian's backgroun...
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  Ep.135 | The Riskiest Loan in Private Lending 27.05.2026 41мин

  Construction loans can be incredibly rewarding, but when they go sideways, they can turn your lending business into a project management nightmare. In this episode, Neal and Ryan break down why incomplete construction loans are the riskiest deals in private lending, sharing a real story from their own portfolio where two simultaneous builds went off the rails. They cover the critical decision every lender faces in default: sell as-is or complete the build, the red flags to watch for, an...
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  Ep.134 | How Private Lenders Should Handle Excess Capital 20.05.2026 34мин

  What happens when investor capital is flowing in, but strong deals aren't? In this episode, Neal and Ryan tackle one of the most underrated problems in private lending: having too much dry powder. They break down the dangers of forcing bad deals, the smartest ways to deploy (or hold) idle capital, and the levers you can pull on both the capital and deal-flow side of the business. Whether you're running a fund or operating as an individual lender, this one is packed with practical, hard-won in...
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  Ep. 133 | Scotty Wittrup on Alt Lending, Growth & Reputation 13.05.2026 56мин

  In Episode 133, Ryan and Neal sit down with Scotty Wittrup, newly appointed VP of Network Development at DLCG, for a conversation that goes far beyond mortgages. From his early days in sales and brokering, to building a reputation across Canada’s mortgage industry, Scotty shares the lessons he’s learned about leadership, recruiting, credibility, and what truly makes a successful broker in today’s market. The episode dives into the evolution of alternative lending, the changing GTA real estate...
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  Ep. 132 | Mid-Build, Out of Money: Construction-In-Progress Loans Explained 06.05.2026 22мин

  Construction loans are one of the fastest-growing products in private lending but what happens when a borrower runs out of capital halfway through a build? Ryan and Neal break down construction-in-progress loans: what they are, why borrowers end up needing them, and why banks won't touch a project once the shovel's in the ground. They walk through a real deal they funded in Charlottetown, P.E.I. a property 48% complete with a $675K as-complete value, covering the structure, the borrower profi...