Questbank names Bekim Merdita Head of Sales & Marketing as broker channel expansion accelerates

The appointment comes at a time when mortgage brokers are handling 48% of first-time buyer originations across Canada, and Questbank is betting it can capture a meaningful share of that volume by placing a broker specialist at the top of its commercial structure.

Bekim Merdita joined Questbank this year as Head of Sales & Marketing, bringing a track record from senior roles at national brokerage firms and lenders where he built distribution networks from the ground up. The hire signals more than a staffing change. For a Schedule I bank pushing into every province, putting someone who speaks the broker language into the C-suite is a statement about who the institution plans to serve.

What the broker channel gets right now

Questbank operates under the same federal regulatory framework as the Big Five, which means it can offer the full range of residential lending products without the limitations smaller mono-line lenders face. What it hasn't had until recently is a dedicated team to compete nationally for broker-originated volume. That is what Merdita is being asked to fix.

The broker channel in Canada has grown significantly from a niche offering to account for 38% of all mortgage originations as of 2026, in part because borrowers dealing with complex qualifications or non-standard income found better outcomes working with an intermediary than walking into a branch. First-time buyers, who now represent 48% of broker-channelled deals, tend to need more guidance through stress-test calculations and downpayment structuring than repeat purchasers. Questbank's pitch is that it can combine the regulatory stability of a chartered bank with the service model borrowers expect from their broker's preferred lender.

The challenge is execution. Broker loyalty runs deep, and most high-volume brokers already have established relationships with a handful of lenders they trust to deliver on rate holds, underwriting timelines, and exception handling. Merdita's job is to convince them that Questbank belongs on that shortlist, which means more than competitive rates. It means proving the bank can process applications as fast as the incumbents and communicate clearly when a file hits a snag.

The national footprint problem

Questbank's expansion plan depends on building presence in provinces where it currently has limited brand recognition. Ontario and British Columbia account for the majority of Canadian mortgage originations by volume, but Alberta, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces all have active broker communities that prefer lenders who understand regional market conditions and respond quickly to local rate pressure.

A Schedule I charter gives Questbank access to the same funding sources as larger banks, but funding cost is not the only variable that determines whether a lender can compete on rate. Operational efficiency matters. If Questbank's underwriting process is slower or its exception approval chain is longer than a broker's usual contacts, rate alone will not be enough to shift loyalty. Merdita's experience scaling sales teams means he can hire and train staff who know how to move files through the process faster. Making sure the underwriting team, the compliance reviewers, and the loan processors can support the rate commitments and turnaround times the sales side is promising to brokers is the real work ahead.

The timing puts Questbank in the market during a period when interest rates remain elevated and borrowers are shopping harder for every tenth of a percentage point. That creates opportunity for a new entrant, but it also raises the stakes. A lender that cannot deliver on a rate hold or fumbles an exception request loses more than one deal. It loses the broker's confidence, and that confidence is harder to rebuild than a rate sheet.

Merdita's mandate is to turn Questbank into a name brokers recognize and trust across the country. The industry will know within 18 months whether the strategy worked.