Paul Bojakli

I’ve had many titles throughout my life; entrepreneur, restaurateur, investor, mortgage broker. But I rarely introduce myself with my title. I believe that it isn’t the title that follows your name that’s important, it’s the people you impact and the long-lasting relationships you create that defines who you are.

From an early age, I did whatever I needed to help others. My parents, who had emigrated from war-torn Beruit to Canada when I was one, found themselves in significant debt after the real estate crash in the late 1980s. I gave up a university football scholarship to work so we could keep our family home. I was able to pay the debt off and moved into managing a popular restaurant/bar in Calgary.

I learned an incredible amount about not only managing a business but about the value of creating positive customer experiences. Throughout my career, I’ve kept these lessons close to me as I went from opening and selling my own car detailing shop, setting up successful restaurants, and investing in real estate.

But, when a friend encouraged me to get my mortgage broker’s license, I knew I’d found what I was meant to do. For the last 16 years, I’ve been very fortunate to work in an industry where I can bring my passions for helping people and real estate together.

With everything that I’ve done in my life, I’ve not only wanted each endeavour to grow, but I wanted to grow myself. But, after working at a national brokerage that was stifling that growth, I knew I had to do something. 

My business partner, Todd Fralic, and I started Quantus Mortgage Solutions in 2009 with the goal that our brokerage wouldn’t focus on volume; it would focus on the integrity and quality of the relationships we formed with our brokers, our lending partners, and our clients.

We say we’re a broker-driven brokerage with ~60 brokers across Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon. We support our brokers in any way that we can so they can succeed, even if that means they outgrow us and start something new.

The Q team continues to inspire me, but there are a few events that stand out most. In 2016, the team was honoured to win the Canadian Mortgage Award for Best Brokerage of the Year, something incredibly special considering we were still a young company. Each year, we continue to be nominated for national awards, including our dedication to giving back to our community.

What’s amazing about our team is that giving back isn’t a box we check; it’s just what we do. In 2015, my daughter had a drowning accident, which left her in intensive care for five days. Those five days were the scariest of my life and I’m so thankful she recovered. But during those days in the hospital, I met other families whose children had never known what it was like to have a bedroom. Their hospital room was all they knew. Many of the parents had given up work and were struggling financially.

I approached the Quantus team with an idea to start a charity that would help these families when they needed it most.

Without a question, the team donated $30,000 to start our charity, Community Key. 

Our goal is simple. We want to help families with a critically-injured or terminally-ill child with their housing payment so they can focus on what’s most important—family.

The team donates on behalf of each client, a portion of each mortgage funded to the charity. Over the last five years, we’ve given over $100,000 and helped over 50 families with their housing payments.

I’m so proud of the team and the work they have done to create our welcoming, yet quirky, Quantus culture.