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Management Profiles

Art Appelberg

(B.Sc., MBA)
Founder
April 13, 1950 – November 19, 2021

Appelberg had over 40 years of experience in banking, accounting, credit risk and mortgage origination and lending. He has served as Senior Financial Analyst and Manager of Commercial Card Products with Scotia Bank. Art became an independent mortgage agent in 1989 and established Northwood as its Broker in 1990. Art has grown Northwood to one of the premiere full service mortgage brokerages in Canada.

Arthur Appelberg

Northwood Mortgage

President and Founder
April 13, 1950 – November 19, 2021

Leaving the banking world of structure in 1988, I was determined to strike out and incorporate structure into Northwood Mortgage. I had a dream! My dream was to provide a new much needed mortgage service to the Canadian public. They say that if your dreams don’t scare you, you are not dreaming big enough. Well, my dreams were big enough to keep me up at night! Building a large team, we were able to deliver the professional service that was both expected and required. With each client we take on a trust. If the funds must be there on Friday to close the purchase Tuesday or Wednesday won’t do. That vital trust continues to drive our corporate culture of excellence. My belief was that if everyone knew about our high-level service, they would want to use us. We operate out of one office, just north of Toronto rendering us invisible to the public. The key issue for us was and is visibility. I chose early on, to advertise our services directly to the public and create a brand. Visibility brings credibility. This brought public attention and acceptance of our mortgage brokerage. To get our message out we advertise 24/7 on radio stations where captive commuters hear our catchy jingle – “Working Harder for You”. We later expanded our reach to other media with success. Our corporate and internet consultants have helped us to enhance our internet presence. So, in closing, I leave you with this message.

With volatility comes opportunity.
Mortgages are not a commodity.
Relationship and Trust is everything.
Nobody ever got anywhere thinking small.
Dream Big!
Dream Bold!
Dream Better!
Set yourself apart!
Mark my words, 20 years from now Northwood Mortgage will be standing strong and proud!

Nick Da Silva

President & Principal Broker

Nick is a graduate of University of Toronto (BA in Economic and Political Science). He spent 17 years in the Retail Banking Industry starting with Canada Trust as a lender and then moving to National Trust and Bank of Nova Scotia on the retail side as a Branch Manager. Nick was recruited by HEPCOE Credit Union to manage their Richmond Hill branch and start their Mortgage Brokering business. He was then promoted to manage their Investment/Financial Planning operations. Nick joined Northwood Mortgage™ Ltd in 2004 as their Director of Mortgage Operations for Private Lending and he also manages the day to day operations of the Mortgage Investment Corporation. As of January 2021, Nick was appointed a President and Principal Broker for Northwood Mortgage Ltd.

Steve Kates

Co-Founder
and Director of I.C.& I. Division

With over 50 years of commercial and residential lending experience, Steve Kates leads the industry in knowledge and experience. He is highly respected and has served as a consultant and founding broker member for Maple Trust. Within Northwood, Steve has assembled a highly competent team of commercial mortgage professionals with the expertise of structuring and placing almost any commercial mortgage.

Allan Kates

(B.Econ.)
Vice President of Sales

With over 23 years in the financial sector Allan brings a wealth of knowledge in the financial planning, insurance and mortgage brokering/lending industries. With an advanced degree from Western and a Post graduate marketing/financial diploma from Humber, he brings a strong strategic view to all facets of operations at Northwood. In his previous roles, Allan was responsible for dramatic sales improvements in the financial services companies that he helped manage.