In the years since the pandemic, we’ve seen mortgage rates go up from historical lows, a development prompting fears of wholesale defaults or delinquencies. Yet, we’ve managed to withstand that transition from two-percent rates to four, five or six percent as Canada has the second-lowest delinquency mortgage rate in the G7.
A new report from the MacDonald Laurier Institute, though, says the country is not out of the woods. High-cost markets such as British Columbia or Ontario are challenged, particularly for young people.
One of the reasons we’ve done so well is the Stress Test. Home buyers had to demonstrate they could actually withstand rising interest rates before qualifying. There were plenty of critics of the concept, especially in Saskatchewan where the market was challenging at that time: they argued that it was shutting people out of the market.
A decade later, the strategy is borne out in our low delinquency numbers.
Even so, Saskatchewan is not immune from delinquencies: our rate today is still higher than the national average although it is moving in the right direction.
— For more than 50 years, Paul Martin has specialized in coverage of the business and political scenes. His career has spanned radio, television and print and electronic media.
