Finance committee  I would say that is an absolute driver of the problem and it's a very complicated one because supply is often caught up in local government or local municipal issues and availability of land, availability of developers. It's a very complicated issue but one that should not be ign

Finance committee  We're not a lender obviously; we're the mortgage insurer. Our premiums are driven by the losses we would expect and the capital we have to hold. From my perspective, I would say that we have observed pricing changes in the industry related specifically to some of the changes, in

Finance committee  Yes. I would just say that from our perspective, condo construction has really served the needs of the rental market because there haven't been any purpose-built rentals for many years. The vast number of condos that get constructed in both Toronto and Vancouver, while they cause

Finance committee  I wanted to absolutely agree with that point that Alex made that debt ratios are only one measure. When we underwrite a borrower we always look at the full spectrum: the credit profile, the income stability and sustainability, the level of income from one or two borrowers, and of

Finance committee  We have a view that a true stack risk would obviously be someone with the smallest down payment. In addition, it would include low credit scores, very high debt ratios, and also buying with a single income in the sense that they are the most vulnerable to be at risk in their empl

Finance committee  That is correct. There is a form of risk sharing already with the private sector in the sense that while we are government-guaranteed, in the event that we are insolvent in a tail event, the lender will face a 10% haircut in terms of what the Government of Canada will pay on a cl

Finance committee  The most obvious change is the reduction in the size of the first-time homebuyers participation rate in the market, which, as we said earlier, could be as much as a third. After considering borrowing behaviour in terms of buying a cheaper home or further out, it might be 15% to 2

Finance committee  I would just add, to the point that risk sharing is being considered or studied, that this would further exasperate that situation, because you'd have even more risk sharing put onto the small lenders, which would raise costs for consumers and/or reduce choice, a big concern of o

Finance committee  Yes, we agree with the concept of a stress test. To that end, it would be a national stress test because indebtedness is indebtedness. However, we feel that the current stress test is too severe. The impact of it is quite devastating. The level of stress could be refined and then

Finance committee  Certainly. What we're saying is that, if you think about the Bank of Canada's neutral rate currently set at 3%, we recognize that mortgage rates are going to rise above the current level, but if we were to implement something around the level of 100 basis points stress test from

Finance committee  That is correct. We believe it went too far.

Finance committee  I would just add that we certainly consult regularly with the Department of Finance and, to Alex's point, provide a lot of data. Because we're specifically in the high-ratio space, we often get a sense from them on areas that they're exploring and can guide on potential impacts f

Finance committee  No, I would say that those original changes through the years of 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 were items that we absolutely supported and were in discussion once again with the government along the way. We were certainly not told, “We're going to do this”, but there was discu

Finance committee  That is absolutely correct. One of the issues we've been facing all this time is that affordability is eroding as prices get knocked up—starting in the cities, whether it's Toronto or Vancouver, and then effectively filtering out through neighbouring suburbs as people drive furth

Finance committee  I would agree that the issue we are facing is that the measures introduced are trying to target those two cities but are national by nature. The impact is felt oftentimes elsewhere and not in those cities, because they are targeting first-time insured buyers who are very modest p