CMHC President and CEO Romy Bowers poses for a photograph, in Toronto, Friday, June 16, 2023. Bowers says extending mortgage amortizations and changing the threshold to qualify for an insured mortgage are not the answer to the country's housing affordability challenges. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
TORONTO – The head of Canada’s housing agency says measures such as extending mortgage amortizations and changing the threshold to qualify for an insured mortgage are not the answer to the country’s housing affordability challenges.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. president and chief executive Romy Bowers says people have seen a rapid increase in what they are paying to cover mortgages as interest rates have risen.
She’s not in favour of expanding the amortization period because she thinks the move would just make credit more available.
She says a longer amortization would lower a borrower’s monthly payments but increase their costs over time.
Bowers adds that changing the $1 million cap on insured mortgages is also not a magic solution to housing affordability.
Rather than stoke demand with such measures, she’d like to see the country focus on boosting supply, which Canada has been short of for years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2023.
