On October 16, 2018, Mortgage Professionals Canada held another successful Parliament Hill Advocacy Day. The delegation of member volunteers and Executive Committee held a full day of meetings with over 50 Members of Parliament (MPs) to discuss Canadian housing markets, housing affordability, and the impact of recent changes to the economic well being of the younger Canadian middle class.
Our collective messaging was clear - housing affordability, availability, and accessibility are of utmost importance to Canadians, and first-time homebuyers are facing extraordinary challenges to enter the housing market.
We were glad to have heard broad agreement that housing affordability is a priority which remains a transpartisan issue, and that many MPs are supportive of our request for a review of the “stress test” that more Canadians will soon face as they renew their fixed-term mortgages. We reinforced the fact that the new rules don’t just hurt first-time buyers; they also hurt current homeowners.
We also conveyed that while our members understand why the stress test was first implemented; collectively, as an industry, we believe the stress test should be lowered, especially as rising interest rates are already making homeownership less attainable for middle-class Canadians in many markets and that current homeowners who do not take on new mortgage debt at renewal should not have to face this stress test.
