Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's a pleasure to be here today in Ottawa, the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I appreciate being invited for my first appearance before this committee as CMHC's president and CEO. CMHC values the contributions of the HUMA committee and the working relationship we've built.
I come to the post with an extensive background in the public service at the federal level and at the provincial level in Alberta. This gives me a solid understanding of how CMHC can work best with government partners to get results.
And I come to the post at a time of continued housing challenges for Canada. Far too many struggle to find and keep a home they can afford and that meets their needs. Canada needs to substantially increase its supply of housing. And it needs to do so in a way that is equitable.
In response, we are renewing our focus on our role as one of Canada’s largest financial institutions. That, I think, is something people often forget about CMHC.
Our strategy for the coming years tightens our focus on our three business activities.
We provide housing finance solutions. This includes providing mortgage-loan insurance that helps buyers access homeownership, while also incentivizing more multi-unit building – the kind of homes we need more of. Meanwhile, our securitization products ensure lenders have reliable access to mortgage funding and ensure stability in the housing-finance system.
Our second business activity is providing trusted research and expertise on housing. Our clients here include industry, non-profits and all orders of government. Our unbiased market intelligence ensures that everyone is working with the most accurate information to make the best decisions.
Lastly, of course, CMHC delivers Government of Canada housing programs to increase housing supply, preserve stock and contribute to affordable housing.
Through these activities, we can have a strong, positive impact on the housing market. We're already seeing that impact in our most recent quarterly results. We insured just over 206,000 units through our multi-unit products in the first three quarters of 2024. That is up from 156,000 during the same period in 2023—a more than 30% increase. This was primarily driven by interest in MLI Select, an insurance product that incentivizes affordability, accessibility and climate compatibility.
We have also seen increased uptake of our securitization products, namely NHA mortgage-backed securities and Canada mortgage bonds. Through those commercial products, we are helping players in the private housing market do what we need them to do and what they want to do: build homes. I note that we're Canada's only provider of mortgage loan insurance for multi-unit residential properties.
On our research side, we recently released our fall 2024 “Residential Mortgage Industry Report”, one of our flagship reports. We also released a survey of rental housing developers that drills down into the challenges they face in building more rental homes and the opportunities that exist to increase that supply.
The third pillar of work, of course, is delivering government housing programs. This includes managing loan programs to support the construction of both market housing and affordable housing, again utilizing our position and expertise as a financial institution. It also includes contribution-only programs to support housing for the most vulnerable Canadians, and programs to encourage innovation in the housing system. For example, we recently launched the new co-op housing development program. Starting this year, the program will provide $1.5 billion in loans to support the development of thousands of affordable rental co-operative housing units in Canada.
In delivering these government initiatives, we are benefiting from our relationship with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. This is the federal department now responsible for housing policy and program development.
Indeed, you probably noticed that this is a key theme in all of our activities—partnership. CMHC does nothing alone. We can do nothing alone. Everything we do is done hand in hand with partners in the private sector, not-for-profit sector and government. This way, we ensure our efforts and funding go further and benefit the most people.
This is where we stand as we enter the new year. With a sharpened focus on our core business and strengths as a financial institution, CMHC can continue to make a positive impact on the housing system and in the lives of Canadians.
Thank you again for the invitation. I look forward to your questions.
