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High -Interest Debt haunting you? We can help! By accessing the equity in your home, we can secure financing for you to consolidate your debt into a future-focused strategy that works.

The Department of Finance has announced that insured mortgages will have the same stress test as uninsured mortgages effective June 1.

The stress test for uninsured mortgages is now aligned with OSFI, which had already introduced a new qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages. The stress test for both will be the greater of the borrower’s mortgage contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%.

The minimum qualifying rate will be set a minimum once a year in December.

Get in touch if you are looking to buy, renew, or refinance.

The Bank of Canada announced today that it is keeping the overnight rate steady at 0.25%. It is expected the Bank will keep this target unchanged until well into 2023 to aid our economic recovery. The Canadian economy is in recession with negative GDP growth, inflation is at zero, the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. is stable at around $.76, oil prices are hovering around $40 - $43 U.S./barrel and unemployment is currently at 9%, another marked improvement from last month.

According to StatsCan and CMHC, 75% of the almost $200 Billion of mortgages that were deferred were from Canadians that are still working and took the deferral as a precautionary measure. This would support the argument that the massive wave of defaults on mortgages previously expected is likely to be avoided this winter. In addition, unemployment has been forecasted to rebound to 7.5% by the end of 2021.

Cam Strong, CEO of Invis Mortgage Intelligence stated “Most economists agree personal debt levels will likely worsen in 2021 and the hospitality sector will face record bankruptcies or closures. However, record low mortgage rates should continue to support our housing industry along with an improving employment outcome in 2021.”

Canadians have record high mortgage and consumer credit debt of $2.5 trillion according to Statistics Canada as of September, 2020 however, thanks to the Bank of Canada, the servicing costs on this debt is very low.

The next rate-setting day is Wednesday, December 9th.

With this stable, low interest environment it’s never been a better time for qualifying homeowners to refinance to consolidate debt to improve cash flow, save interest costs and protect their credit scores. Always get advice and a personal assessment of your situation if you need a new mortgage or want to change your current mortgage strategy.