Options narrow the further behind a file falls. Early on, a lender may agree to add missed payments to the balance or adjust the amortization on your CMHC-insured or conventional mortgage; later, a formal arrangement becomes harder to negotiate and enforcement becomes the lender's fallback if no agreement is reached.
A mortgage broker or a not-for-profit credit counsellor can review your specific numbers against a lender's own guidelines, including a 44 percent total debt service ratio, and lay out real options, from refinancing to selling before a forced process begins, decisions best made with weeks of runway rather than days.
The earlier you have the conversation, the more choices you keep. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.