The direct answer to the member's question is, yes, we have been testing for that. We've done it for many years. It long predates my arrival at OSFI.
The formal way we incorporate that resilience into the system is through something we call the “minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages”. Ms. Bowers at the CMHC has the same qualifying rate for insured borrowers. The rule is basically that the financial institutions we regulate are required to qualify borrowers at a qualifying rate the higher of their contract rate plus two percentages points or 5.25 percentage points.
When we think about interest rate increases, bear in mind that over the last several years, banks have been qualifying their borrowers at well above prevailing contract rates. That is a margin of safety that will help us through that period.