We would now like to draw your attention to the four recommendations we make in our brief. These four recommendations could help the government achieve its objectives of preserving the integrity of the financial market, protecting households from excessive debt, and containing the overheating of the real estate market, while also providing the missing piece that would enable people to purchase their first home.
We hope the committee will formally recommend them and that government MPs will present them convincingly to the Minister of Finance in view of the upcoming budget.
First, we suggest that an intergenerational home buyer's plan be created to allow parents to draw on their RRSPs so they can help their child with a down payment on their first home. This withdrawal would be repaid according to the applicable conditions of the home buyer's plan.
There are many parents who would like to help their child make a down payment on a home, but they do not necessarily have tens of thousands of dollars in their chequing accounts. By drawing on their RRSP, they could help their child purchase a home.
Moreover, these additional funds could decrease the amount borrowed and reduce the lender's risk. There would be a lot more down payments of 20% of the property's value, meaning that the borrower would not need mortgage insurance.
Such a measure, which would not cost the Government of Canada anything, would mean that the regional real estate markets that are not in the overheated areas of Vancouver and Toronto would not suffer from the recent tightening of mortgage rules, thereby preventing the very alarming figures cited by my colleague Mr. Lambert from becoming a reality.
Secondly, we would like to recommend ...