Finance committee  I don't have specific insights other than an opinion. It's going to require a significant amount of heavy lifting amongst all three governments to be able to create more high-density housing in Canada's urban centres. We feel that's where the issue is. It's your large urban centr

Finance committee  I would concur with the statements made by Mr. Levings. I would also note that due to climate change, we're seeing, as an example, more flood zones created in Canada where lenders won't lend. As a tactical example, maybe 20 years ago those flood zones did not exist, but they exi

Finance committee  Mr. Blaikie, just to add to that, I think the unknown at this point in time is the work from home and the hybrid model. Is it sustainable and what does the future workforce look like? That will have an impact on pricing in these secondary markets that we've referenced.

Finance committee  Mr. Baker, I would agree with that assessment. Borrowers don't default generally due to rising interest rates, although there's clearly a stress point. It really is unemployment that dictates and drives mortgage defaults.

Finance committee  We would take the view that more people would have access to a home, and I want to be clear on this, particularly in the larger markets in Canada: Vancouver, Hamilton, Toronto. We're not suggesting that this is a necessary metric or policy manoeuvre for Moncton or Fredericton. It

Finance committee  CMHC has played a very strong stabilizing role in Canada since the end of the Second World War. I would say that there is no need or requirement for CMHC to take on a predominant market share. One of the interesting aspects of the pandemic is that Canada's housing finance system

Finance committee  We certainly saw, in the early days and throughout the pandemic, a significant amount of first-time homebuyers purchase property outside the downtown cores or outside the urban centres, right across Canada. To use Toronto as an example, there was a fairly significant movement out

Finance committee  I will pass that off to my chief risk officer, who may have more precise analytical support for that.

Finance committee  As it relates to shared equity, there has been very modest uptake on a flow basis that represents 2%, 3% or maybe 4% of our total flow, something in the low single digits. I believe Canadians have a general reluctance to share any upside in their homes with the government. A var

Finance committee  The point that you're referencing, sir, relates to negative equity, where there's a Canadian in their home and their mortgage exceeds the market value. Today I would say that there is very little negative equity, if any, in the Canadian marketplace, just by virtue of where prices

Finance committee  What I would say, sir, is that elevated unemployment rates drive mortgage defaults more than anything else.

Finance committee  Correct.

Finance committee  What I would say, sir, just as a feature of the variable rate mortgages—and then we can come back to any analytical work—is that if you are a variable-rate borrower, whom we do insure, you have that ability to convert to a fixed-term product at any time in your tenure as a variab

Finance committee  I think whenever you see an elevated price appreciation like we've seen in the Canadian market, all our risk sensitivities are naturally increased. I'd say two things about this. One, please keep in mind that to pass the stress test, a borrower today is essentially required to

Finance committee  I think that increasing the housing supply was mentioned as our number one requirement here in Canada. It will require, in our view, all three levels of support. I have maybe two quick observations. Whenever perhaps the federal government or the provincial government is launchi