About Westcor - Calgary Mortgage Broker

Background

Westcor Mortgages was established in 1977 as a mortgage brokerage operation, charging clients a fee for arranging the mortgage financing on residential and commercial mortgages.

A year later Westcor introduced a unique concept to the mortgage brokerage industry - residential mortgage financing to the typical consumer without a service/brokerage fee.

Excellent working relationships with Canada's major lending institutions quickly made it feasible for Westcor to replace revenue from customer fees with referral fees from the lending institutions, without an increase in the interest rates made available to Westcor's customers. Westcor became the first brokerage house in Calgary, Alberta to offer a "no-fee" service for arranging residential mortgages*.

* Westcor acts as an intermediary and a broker. As an intermediary, Westcor does not charge a fee to the qualified client. As a broker, Westcor has access to a number of lenders who deal in the "higher risk", "higher interest rate" and "first, second and third mortgages". Services related to their use do incur a fee to the mortgage applicant. If we are not successful in getting the mortgage approved by a lender, there is no charge.

Since those early years, Westcor has grown to become one of the largest volume mortgage brokerage firms in Western Canada reaching a volume in excess of $800 million worth of residential mortgages.

In 1995 Westcor Mortgages went online with 95% of the residential mortgage lenders in Western Canada.

Westcor has received numerous awards and recognition from leading banks and trust companies, including the award for "Top Volume Broker in Western Canada."

Other customer service innovations since the introduction of "fee-less" service include a Canada-wide 1-800 toll-free phone number and Internet web site.

Our People

Westcor employs a team of seasoned Sales Representatives who are all licensed independent mortgage brokers working under Westcor's agency brokerage license. All of the mortgage professionals working at Westcor have extensive experience in the mortgage and financial services industry.

Dennis Petersen, AMP
President and CEO
Mr. Dennis Petersen has more than 34 years of experience in the finance and mortgage business, beginning with 4 years in business financing as Senior Manager at Pacific Finance, a Trans America company.

With his experience in business financing, Dennis, with a partner, started a company called Instant Shade Nurseries. His duties included the company finances and business development. He was instrumental in securing major contracts with the City of Calgary and other large Calgary companies.

In 1976 Dennis founded Westcor Mortgages and is considered a pioneer of mortgage brokering in the province of Alberta.

Patricia Kirkham, AMP
Vice-President & Manager
Ms. Patricia Kirkham has more than 33 years of experience in the banking and mortgage business.

Beginning her career in 1974 with the Royal Bank of Canada, she was quickly promoted to Assistant Manager and then Business Account Manager in 1985. In 1988 Patricia became Manager - Personal Banking for the Royal Bank's Sunridge location.

After 21 years in the finance and mortgage industry she took a position as a Mortgage Consultant with Westcor Mortgages in 1992. Since 1994, Pat has served as Vice-President and Manager.

Pat has expertise in business development, investment, sales, marketing and personal banking. Her decisive personnel management skills are supplemented by solid communication, analytical and organizational abilities. Pat has always been loyal and a team player and is committed to providing quality customer service