QUESTION PERIOD — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Affordable Housing
May 21, 2024
Leader, my question concerns the Bank of Canada’s recent warning about an upcoming steep rise in mortgage payments for many Canadians. Over the next two years, more mortgage holders will be renewing at higher interest rates. These interest rates were fuelled by the Trudeau government’s inflationary spending.
In March, Equifax reported that mortgage delinquencies had grown by 52% in the last year. In my province of British Columbia, it was even worse, at 62%. In Ontario, they rose by a staggering 135%.
Given the Bank of Canada’s warning, how much does the Trudeau government project the mortgage delinquency rate will increase over the next two years?
Thank you for the question, which I attempted to respond to earlier today when your colleague asked it.
I’ll repeat what I said in response to the question from Senator Plett because you mentioned mortgage delinquencies. Mortgage delinquencies are down. They are lower now than they were the year before. Frankly, I think we should all acknowledge that we don’t really know how adjustments to the overall interest rate may affect fixed and variable mortgages. Some people have variable mortgages, which increased significantly because of the rise in interest rates, and they may be in a better position when they renew their mortgages. We will see.
On the contrary, mortgage delinquencies are up, but I won’t go into the numbers again.
Many Canadian families are already at the breaking point. This morning, Statistics Canada reported mortgage interest costs went up 24.5% between April 2023 and April of this year. Yet the Bank of Canada’s report makes it clear these costs are about to get worse. Why didn’t your government listen to the warnings about the consequences of its inflationary spending?
Well, the short amount of time I have to answer this question is not enough to remind the Senate of all the economic indicators that showed, despite the ongoing drumbeat of “inflationary spending,” that inflation is down, our credit rating is up and our economy is performing well.
