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Where It Started

I was born and raised in Val Marie, Saskatchewan — a tiny community tucked against the Montana border at the edge of Grasslands National Park. Population: a few hundred, give or take. The kind of place where everybody knows your name, your truck, and whether you made it to church on Sunday.

We didn't have cell phones. We didn't have social media. We had hockey rinks, baseball diamonds, and summer evenings that didn't end until someone's mom hollered from the porch. I played every sport that was offered and a few that weren't. You learned to shake hands, look people in the eye, and do what you said you'd do. Those weren't "values" — they were just how things worked.

I didn't know it at the time, but Val Marie gave me everything I'd need for the career I hadn't imagined yet.

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Serving Canada

In 1985, straight out of high school, I joined the Canadian Armed Forces. I trained as an artilleryman — coast to coast and in Germany — and later as a surveyor within the artillery. Seven years of service. Seven years of discipline, precision, teamwork, and learning that the details matter, especially when the stakes are high.

I was honourably discharged in 1992 and moved to my favourite city: Calgary.

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From Surveyor to Mortgage Broker

I spent the next seven years working as a surveyor in Calgary — another career built on precision, measurement, and getting things right the first time. But in 1999, I made a leap. I became a mortgage broker.

Twenty-six years later, I'm still here.

I started solo — one broker, one phone, and a determination to do things differently than the banks. Over the years, I built a team of like-minded professionals, grew into a Dominion Lending Centres franchise that I ran for many years, and eventually co-founded our independent brokerage: Your Local Mortgage Professionals.

Independent means I answer to you — not a bank head office, not a shareholder, not a quarterly earnings target. I shop 30+ lenders to find you the best mortgage. Period.

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Family, Okotoks & High River

My wife Lori and I raised our four children in Okotoks over 21 years. We coached their teams, walked them to school, watched them grow up in a community we loved. Okotoks gave us everything a family could want.

When the kids were grown, we made the move to High River — another community with the same character, the same values, and the same feeling of belonging. It felt like coming home to something I recognised from Val Marie: a place where neighbours still wave, people still help each other out, and a handshake still means something.

Lori and me at the Saskatoon Berry Farm. 25 years of adventures together.

I didn't just move my office to High River. I moved my life here. I'm excited to meet new neighbours, new clients, and new friends — and to serve the communities across Southern Alberta that remind me of where I started.

The view from my office in High River. Not a bad place to do a mortgage.

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My morning meeting. She shows up more reliably than most clients.

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The Short Version

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Why People Work With Me

I tell you the truth. If a deal doesn't make sense, I'll tell you. If the bank's offer is actually better (rare, but it happens), I'll tell you that too. I'd rather lose a deal than lose your trust.

I shop 30+ lenders. Banks offer one product — theirs. I have access to over 30 lenders and find the mortgage that fits your life, not the one that fits their quota.

I pick up the phone. You'll never get a call centre or a chatbot. You get me. If I can't answer, I call back the same day.

I've seen it all. First-time buyers, self-employed, bruised credit, complex situations, reverse mortgages, acreage properties, investment deals — 26 years means there aren't many situations I haven't navigated.

It's free. On most transactions, the lender pays my fee. You get professional mortgage advice at no cost.

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Shawn Selanders — RECA-licensed mortgage broker | Brokerage: Your Local Mortgage Professionals | Serving Southern Alberta since 1999. O.A.C. E.&O.E.