Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  That is correct.

Finance committee  Yes, they do it for all of their closings, not just condominiums.

Finance committee  The prevailing market practice has accepted it. There's a lag between when monies are advanced in Alberta and when registration actually occurs, since they have a Torrens registry system. What originally was three to four weeks has morphed into about a four-month delay period, so all of the lenders, all of the mortgage insurers in Alberta, use what's called gap insurance or gap coverage, which is title insurance to bond over that period and protect everyone.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  We could be in market within 30 days. We've done all of our platform build. We have our partnerships with lenders and with mortgage insurers. The workflow is completed. The narrative steps, the legal documentation, the opinion work...everything is done.

Finance committee  On in-flight inventory, for purchasers who have bought units under construction that are occupying in the next four years, the saving is north of $6.5 billion. The savings to the developers for those same units would be another $5 billion or $6 billion. The accelerated liberation of private sector liquidity to be redeployed towards new housing is approximately $30 billion a year, which would add 30,000 to 40,000 units, give or take.

Finance committee  For the title insurance, we have First Canadian Title as our lead insurer. For the deposit protection insurance, we have Aviva International as our lead insurer. In the insurance business, they also reinsure, meaning they would sell down some of that risk to other insurers, so Aviva has lined up Zurich, Canada Guaranty and a bunch of others as well, all investment-grade insurers.

Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  Yes. PRMHIA is the act that governs mortgage insurance. The change required is an addition to the “eligible mortgage loan” definition. Currently, it states that the mortgage insurer requires a registered first or second charge. What we're asking for is the inclusion of title insurance as an alternative to a registered first or second.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  All of them, because they are all in Ontario, where the interim occupancy period currently exists.

Finance committee  No, there is no similar program that exists. The closest comparative would be when a purchaser buys a condo and puts down their deposit. If it is insured over, it can be used by the developer to fund construction costs.

Finance committee  Yes, it would need to be amended federally. I'm told that it's a ministerial regulation and could be dealt with in that fashion. It's a piece of legislation. The acronym is PRMHIA, and it governs mortgage insurance. There is an eligible mortgage loan definition that requires a registered first or second charge.