MIC Investing

Mortgage Investment Corporations, explained for Canadian investors

You've heard of a GIC. Learn about a MIC: an alternative fixed-income style opportunity backed by private mortgages, with real risk, liquidity limits, and suitability requirements. Independent education first. Suitability conversation when you are ready.

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Informational only. A MIC is not a GIC, not a bank deposit, and not principal-protected. Exempt market investments involve risk, liquidity limits, and suitability requirements. Target yields and distributions are not guaranteed.

What is a Mortgage Investment Corporation (MIC)?

A Mortgage Investment Corporation is a Canadian investment and lending structure that pools investor capital to fund mortgage loans secured by real estate. Investors typically buy shares in the MIC. Management originates, underwrites, administers, and collects the mortgages.

If a GIC is the familiar fixed-income reference point many Canadians start with, a MIC is a different tool in a neighbouring conversation: private-market, real-estate-backed lending exposure that some investors explore as an alternative fixed-income style allocation. Close enough to compare for orientation. Not close enough to treat as equivalent safety, liquidity, or guarantee.

Read the plain-English foundation on What is a MIC, then continue through the Learn MIC Investing hub when you want depth.

Why investors explore MICs

Real-estate-backed income exposure. Capital is deployed across a managed pool of mortgage loans secured by Canadian real estate.
Outside daily public-market pricing. Private MIC shares are not traded on a public ticker.
Registered-account context. A share of a qualifying MIC may be a qualified investment for RRSP, TFSA, and RRIF accounts when CRA and plan rules are met. Confirm before assuming eligibility.

Independent due diligence through a registered dealer house

MIC Investing is operated by Diversifi Alternative Investments Ltd., a registered Exempt Market Dealer in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. Diversifi is the licensing house behind this site. It enables regulated conversations and suitability review. It is not itself a MIC product.

This site helps investors understand the MIC asset class, decide whether it may fit, and enter a suitability-first review before any recommendation. Diligence should focus on manager quality, defaults and arrears, underwriting standards, loan-to-value discipline, liquidity and redemption terms, fee alignment, concentration risk, and fit with your objectives, account structure, risk tolerance, and liquidity needs.

Process over slogans

Yield should never be evaluated in isolation. See the due diligence process, then the decision-stage matrix on How to Compare Canadian MICs Without Chasing Yield.

Dealer house and strategic alliances

Roles stay clear on purpose. Diversifi is the registered dealer. AP Capital MIC and Terrapin MIC are strategic alliances described with equal educational weight. Those MICs do not sell direct to the public through this funnel. Conversations stay on micinvesting.ca.

Diversifi

Registered Exempt Market Dealer. The licensing house behind MIC Investing: education, diligence, and suitability.

Understand the dealer role

AP Capital MIC

Strategic alliance. Educational overview of a Vancouver-based MIC focused on private residential bridge lending.

Read the overview

Terrapin MIC

Strategic alliance. Educational overview of a long-standing Vancouver MIC with specialized private lending.

Read the overview

The set is curated for trust and accountability, not marketplace hubris. Where AP Capital MIC and Terrapin MIC are discussed together, treat blending as an educational portfolio-construction concept only. See the relationship map under How we work.

Who MIC investing may fit

MIC investing is generally reviewed with qualified investors through the applicable prospectus exemption and a suitability process. It is not a universal product.

High-net-worth investors and corporate accounts seeking real-estate-backed cash-flow exposure outside daily public-market pricing.
Wealth preservers and retirees reviewing RRSP-to-RRIF income needs, TFSA use, and private-market income allocation.
Experienced real estate investors who want to evaluate lender-side exposure without managing tenants, maintenance, collections, or foreclosures.

It is usually a poor fit if you need immediate access to all capital, want a guaranteed bank-product experience, or have not reviewed offering documents. More honest filters live on Who This Is For.

Risk honesty before any allocation talk

MICs are private-market investments. They can offer real-estate-backed exposure and potential income, but they also involve credit risk, operational risk, liquidity limits, and suitability requirements. Private MIC shares do not trade on a public stock exchange and cannot be assumed to provide immediate liquidity.

Target distribution rates in marketing materials are targets, not promises. Markets change. Arrears happen. Liquidity can tighten. Management quality varies. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Capital preservation is not guaranteed.

Before investing, review offering documents, understand fees and redemption terms, consider tax and account implications, and seek qualified advice. For a clearer map of labels and liquidity, read Risk, Liquidity and Labels.

Compliance note

Informational purposes only. Diversifi Alternative Investments Ltd. is a registered Exempt Market Dealer in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Exempt market investments involve specific risks and suitability requirements. Target yields, distributions, liquidity and capital preservation are not guaranteed.

Questions investors ask first

What is a Mortgage Investment Corporation in Canada?

A Mortgage Investment Corporation, or MIC, is a Canadian investment and lending structure that pools investor capital to fund mortgage loans secured by real estate. Investors typically gain exposure through MIC shares rather than lending directly to individual borrowers.

Is a MIC the same as a GIC?

No. A GIC is a familiar bank-product reference point. A MIC is an exempt-market security with real-estate-backed loan exposure, liquidity policies, and credit risk. Some investors explore MICs as an alternative fixed-income style opportunity after understanding those differences. A MIC is not as safe as a GIC and outcomes are not guaranteed.

Are MIC investments guaranteed?

No. MIC investments are exempt-market securities and involve risks, liquidity limits and suitability requirements. Target yields, distributions and capital preservation are not guaranteed.

Who can invest in a MIC?

MIC investing is generally reviewed with qualified investors through the applicable prospectus exemption and a suitability process. The review should consider your objectives, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, time horizon and account structure.

How does Diversifi evaluate MICs?

A due-diligence review should consider manager quality, underwriting standards, historical defaults, loan-to-value discipline, liquidity terms, redemption policies, portfolio composition and the investor's suitability profile. Start with the due diligence process.

Ready to talk about fit and risk?

Call MIC Investing for a short educational conversation. Suitability comes before any recommendation. No product pitch on minute one.

Call 604-761-5405 Request a call

Informational purposes only. Diversifi Alternative Investments Ltd. is a registered Exempt Market Dealer in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Target yields, distributions, liquidity and capital preservation are not guaranteed.