TORONTO—Requiring a stress test for Canadians who provide at least a 20 per cent down payment to purchase a home is an unnecessary step that could negatively affect homebuyers across Canada, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
Canada’s financial regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSI), wants to force homebuyers who do not require mortgage insurance—those who provide 20 per cent or more of the property’s value as a down payment—to qualify for a mortgage two percentage points higher than the agreed upon rate.
