Vol. 150, No. 3 — February 10, 2016

Registration

SOR/2016-9 February 3, 2016

PROTECTION OF RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE OR HYPOTHECARY INSURANCE ACT

Regulations Amending the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations

The Minister of Finance, having consulted with the Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, pursuant to subsection 42(1) of the Protection of Residential Mortgage or Hypothecary Insurance Act (see footnote a), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations.

Ottawa, February 2, 2016

William Francis Morneau
Minister of Finance

Regulations Amending the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations

Amendments

1 (1) Paragraph 5(1)(a) of the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

(2) Subsection 5(1) of the Regulations is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (i), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (j) and by adding the following after paragraph (j):

2 Section 6 of the Regulations is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (a) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

3 (1) The portion of subsection 7(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

High ratio loans — before October 15, 2008

7 (1) The criteria set out in paragraphs 5(1)(a) to (j) do not apply to a high ratio loan that meets the requirements of a mortgage or hypothecary loan insurance product that was offered by a mortgage insurer before October 15, 2008 if, before that date,

(2) Subsection 7(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

High ratio loans — October 15, 2008 to April 18, 2010

(2) The criteria set out in paragraphs 5(1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (h) and (i) do not apply to a high ratio loan if

(3) The portion of subsection 7(3) of the Regulations before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

High ratio loans — April 19, 2010 to March 17, 2011

(3) The criteria set out in paragraphs 5(1)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (h) do not apply to a high ratio loan if

(4) The portion of subsection 7(4) of the Regulations before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

High ratio loans — March 18, 2011 to June 21, 2012

(4) The criteria set out in paragraphs 5(1)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (h) do not apply to a high ratio loan if

(5) Subsection 7(5) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

High ratio loans — June 22, 2012 to July 8, 2012

(5) The criteria set out in paragraphs 5(1)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (h) do not apply to a high ratio loan if

High ratio loans — June 22, 2012 to February 14, 2016

(6) The criterion set out in paragraph 5(1)(a) does not apply to a high ratio loan if, at the time the loan is approved, its principal amount, together with the outstanding balance of any loan having an equal or prior claim against the eligible residential property against which it is secured, is less than or equal to 95% of the value of the eligible residential property and

4 (1) Subsection 8(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Low ratio loans — before October 15, 2008

8 (1) The criteria set out in paragraphs 6(a) and (b) do not apply to a low ratio loan in respect of which the mortgage insurer received a mortgage or hypothecary insurance application before October 15, 2008 if it meets the requirements of a mortgage or hypothecary loan insurance product that was offered by the mortgage insurer before that date.

(2) Section 8 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

Low ratio loans — before July 1, 2016

(3) The criterion set out in paragraph 6(d) does not apply to a low ratio loan if the mortgage insurer received a mortgage or hypothecary insurance application in respect of the loan — or in respect of the portfolio of loans to which the loan will belong for insurance purposes — before July 1, 2016, unless the application has been denied or the loan has ceased to be insured under insurance resulting from the application.

Transitional Provision

5 The criteria set out in paragraphs 5(1)(k) and 6(c) do not apply to a loan that is part of a pool of loans on the direct basis of which marketable securities were issued before July 1, 2016 during the period beginning on that day and ending on December 31, 2021.

Coming into Force

6 (1) These Regulations, except subsection 1(1) and section 3, come into force on the later of July 1, 2016 and the day on which they are published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

(2) Subsection 1(1) and section 3 are deemed to have come into force on December 11, 2015.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the regulations.)

Issues

These Regulations (i) prohibit the use of taxpayer-backed insured mortgages as collateral in securitization vehicles that are not sponsored by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); (ii) restore taxpayer-backed portfolio insurance to its original purpose of supporting access to funding for mortgage assets; and, (iii) increase the minimum down payment requirement for government-backed mortgage insurance for properties over $500,000. These changes relate to the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations, made pursuant to the Protection of Residential Mortgage or Hypothecary Insurance Act, which apply to the private mortgage insurers, and the Insurable Housing Loan Regulations, made pursuant to the National Housing Act, which apply to CMHC.

These measures are intended to increase market discipline in residential lending, contain risks in the housing market, and reduce taxpayer exposure to the housing sector, contributing to maintaining a healthy, competitive, and stable housing market.

Mortgage insurance can be used to insure (1) high loan-to-value mortgage loans (i.e. loan-to-value greater than 80%); or (2) low loan-to-value mortgage loans (i.e. loan-to-value of 80% or less). Federally regulated lenders are required by legislation to insure high loan-to-value mortgage loans. For a variety of reasons, some lenders also choose to insure low loan-to-value mortgage loans.

Low loan-to-value insurance is a mortgage insurance product lenders use to insure individual mortgages at origination, or a pool of mortgages at some point after the mortgages have been extended to the borrowers. The original policy intent of government-backed portfolio insurance was to enable lenders to access funding for low ratio mortgages through CMHC securitization programs for which government-backed mortgage insurance is obligatory.

The Government backs 100% of mortgage insurance obligations of CMHC, in the event that it is unable to make insurance payouts to lenders. In order for private mortgage insurers to compete with CMHC, the Government backs private mortgage insurers’ obligations to lenders (in the event that a private insurer is unable to make insurance payouts to lenders), subject to a deductible charged to the lender equal to 10% of the original principal loan amount.

The Government guarantee of mortgage insurance is intended to support access to homeownership for creditworthy buyers and promote stability in the housing market, financial system and economy. As part of its role to promote stability, and to protect taxpayers from potential mortgage loan losses, the Government sets the eligibility rules for government-backed insured mortgages.

In the wake of the global financial crisis, lenders increased their use of insured mortgages in private securitization vehicles (e.g. asset-backed commercial paper). At the same time, some federally regulated lenders began insuring large volumes of mortgages using portfolio insurance and retaining these insured mortgages on their balance sheets. Portfolio insurance allowed these lenders to benefit from lower regulatory capital requirements than if the mortgages were not insured.

Higher homeowner equity plays a key role in strengthening the resiliency of homeowners and maintaining a stable and secure housing market. Changes to the rules for government-backed mortgage insurance will increase the minimum down payment for new insured mortgages from 5% to 10% for the portion of a house’s price above $500,000, representing a graduated approach to increasing the down payment requirement proportionally to the cost of a home. This protects the stability of the housing market and the economy as a whole, as well as the interests of taxpayers who ultimately back government-guaranteed mortgage insurance.

Objectives

Description

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as there are no costs to small business.

Consultation

The Government solicited views from residential mortgage lenders and mortgage insurers in 2013, 2014, and 2015 on measures to (i) prohibit the use of taxpayer-backed insured mortgages as collateral in securitization vehicles that are not sponsored by CMHC; and, (ii) restore taxpayer-backed portfolio insurance to its original purpose of supporting access to funding for mortgage assets. The Regulations take into account stakeholders feedback, as appropriate, including with respect to more flexible transition provisions and some technical adjustments.

A stakeholder proposal to exempt high loan-to-value insured mortgages from the prohibition on the use of insured mortgages in non-CMHC securitization vehicles was not addressed. An assessment of the proposal concluded that an adjustment of this nature could undermine the policy intent of increasing market discipline in residential lending and reducing taxpayer exposure to the housing sector.

The Regulations related to portfolio insurance incorporate a number of technical adjustments, providing operational flexibility as requested by stakeholders. These include a number of provisions outlined above, i.e. with respect to low loan-to-value insured mortgages that fall into arrears, are insured on a transactional basis, or do not conform with National Housing Act Mortgage-Backed Securities Program requirements.

The Regulations require that portfolio insurance be cancelled if the underlying insured mortgage assets do not continue to be used in a National Housing Act Mortgage-Backed Security (e.g. after the maturity of the security). The Government had considered requiring a term limit of five years on portfolio insurance pools, but this was not addressed based on stakeholders feedback that no portfolio insurance term restrictions would provide greater operational flexibility.

Regulations to increase the minimum down payment requirement for government-backed mortgage insurance for properties over $500,000 were exempted from prepublication. The Minister of Finance has consulted with the Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions as required by subsection 42(1) of the Protection of Residential Mortgage or Hypothecary Insurance Act, and subsection 8.1(1) of the National Housing Act.

Rationale

The prohibition on the use of insured mortgages outside of CMHC securitization programs will limit the use of government-backed insured mortgages, increasing market discipline in residential lending by encouraging the development of fully private funding options for conventional mortgages and reducing taxpayer exposure.

The portfolio insurance purpose test will restore taxpayer-backed portfolio insurance to its original purpose — i.e. funding via CMHC securitization programs. This measure does not restrict the availability of portfolio insurance for those financial institutions that continue to access it for funding purposes through CMHC securitization.

Higher homeowner equity plays a key role in maintaining a stable and secure housing market. Amending the down payment eligibility criteria is part of a coordinated federal set of actions announced on December 11, 2015, intended to address emerging vulnerabilities in certain regional housing markets, while not overburdening other regions. These actions rebalance Government support for the housing sector to promote long-term stability and balanced economic growth.

Implementation, enforcement, and service standards

The proposed Regulations would not require any new mechanisms to ensure compliance and enforcement.

As the prudential regulator of federally regulated financial institutions, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) oversees private mortgage insurers’ compliance with the Eligible Mortgage Loan Regulations (made pursuant to the Protection of Residential Mortgage or Hypothecary Insurance Act). OSFI would use its existing compliance tools that may include compliance agreements and administrative monetary penalties with regard to private mortgage insurers.

CMHC reports to Parliament through the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and is subject to the accountability framework for Crown corporations. Under the National Housing Act, the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is required to undertake examinations or inquiries to determine if CMHC’s commercial activities are being conducted in a safe and sound manner, with due regard to its exposure to loss. The Superintendent must also report the results of any examinations or inquiries to the Government.

Contact

Wayne Foster
Director
Capital Markets Division
Department of Finance Canada
90 Elgin Street, 13th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
Telephone: 613-369-3968
Fax: 613-369-3894
Email: fin.financialsectorlegislation-legislationdusecteurfinancier.fin@canada.ca