The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institution’s new regulations governing underwriting practices — set to take effect at the beginning of next year — have been the source of much acrimony in the mortgage industry, and some are wondering if the federal government is deliberately sabotaging some lenders to benefit large banks. Two industry […]

Canada’s central bank is not worried that people will expect very low inflation to continue because it has repeatedly fallen short of the Bank of Canada’s 2% target, governor Stephen Poloz said on November 7. “As a central banker you always concern yourself with…the risk that expectations will gravitate towards the actual experience instead of […]

The expected slowdown in the Canadian labour market did not materialize in October as full-time jobs surged and wage gains accelerated. Total employment increased by 35,300 last month and the unemployment rate rose a tick to 6.3% as the labour force participation rate edged up a bit to 65.7%–well above the level in the U.S. […]

The policymakers at the U.S. central bank decided to leave the target range for the federal funds rate (equivalent to the Bank of Canada overnight rate) unchanged at 1 to 1-1/4 percent, acknowledging that the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative. This stance will allow the labour markets in the U.S., which are already very […]

While home prices continue to rise nationally the affordability gap won’t be solved by wage rises. The Conference Board of Canada says that average pay for non-unionized employees is projected to be 2.4% in 2018, slightly up from the 2.2% actual increases seen in 2017. Those working in pharmaceuticals and chemical products are expected to […]

BOC Will Raise Rates Only Cautiously The Bank of Canada held overnight interest rates at 1.0% following two consecutive rate hikes at the July and September meetings. It was widely expected that the Bank would take a breather this round. The central bank also released its quarterly Monetary Policy Report (MPR) today, in which it […]

The Canadian economy has grown at a stronger-than-expected annual rate of 3.7% in the past year, taking the jobless rate down to its lowest level in nearly a decade. With Canada’s economy the strongest in the Group of Seven countries, Ottawa now projects much smaller deficits than it did in March. The Liberal government cut […]

OSFI has published its update for the tightening of mortgage lending regulations known as Guideline B-20 and set the date that it will apply. The revised Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures will take effect from January 1, 2018 and include several key changes that the regulator says is part of its expectation that federally-regulated […]

Canada’s banking regulator has published the final changes to its guidelines for residential mortgage underwriting, including a financial stress test for buyers who don’t need mortgage insurance. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said Tuesday the changes will come into force by Jan. 1, 2018. Even homebuyers who don’t require mortgage insurance because they […]

Another organisation has added its voice to those opposing OSFI proposals to introduce tougher lending restrictions for uninsured mortgages and warns it could harm competition in the mortgage industry. The Fraser Institute says that requiring a stress test with a margin of 2 percentage points above the agreed rate for those homebuyers with at least […]