Former Scotiabank Mortgage head John Webster weighed in, noting that the big banks’ competitive pricing is unsustainable and unlikely to continue for long. A mortgage rate war is expected to intensify, with more than half of all mortgages held by Canadian banks set to renew over the next two years, says an RBC analyst. With […]

Average asking rents declined nationally on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than three years in October, said a report out Thursday. By Sammy Hudes The report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation found average asking rents across Canada sat at $2,152 in October, down 1.2% from the same month in 2023 — the first […]

Everyone starts building their credit score somewhere — and for many, it’s getting that first credit card during college or university. By Nina Dragicevic Financial institutions know whatever card you get is likely to be kept for a long time. These products are “sticky,” said Robin Taub, a chartered professional accountant in Toronto, and author of […]

Both of the main candidates in British Columbia’s election campaign pushed their own plans to solve parts of the housing crisis. By Nono Shen and Brieanna Charlebois B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad told a news conference in Surrey that his government would end the multi-year permit delays and would get homes built at the speed and […]

OSFI has confirmed that it will remove the requirement for lenders to apply the Minimum Qualifying Rate (MQR) to straight switches of uninsured mortgages. Superintendent Peter Routledge confirmed that OSFI will formally announce this change on November 21, 2024, as part of the regulator’s quarterly release pilot.   This change will allow borrowers to switch […]

Economists anticipate that Canada’s annual inflation rate in August fell to its lowest level since March 2021. By Sammy Hudes Ahead of Statistics Canada’s consumer price index set to be released on Tuesday, economists polled by Reuters are expecting the report to show prices rose 2.1% from a year ago, down from a 2.5% annual gain […]

By Craig Wong The decision by the Bank of Canada to cut its key interest rate target this week was good news for borrowers with variable-rate mortgages, bringing back some of the shine for the once popular loans. The rate cut prompted big commercial banks to lower their prime rates, which are used to set the […]