Mind your mortgage: New guidelines to include tougher ‘stress test'

Homebuyers looking to qualify for an uninsured mortgage through a federally regulated financial institution will soon face a new hurdle. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) will roll out revised guidelines for residential mortgage writing practices and procedures starting Jan. 1, 2018.
One change is a new “stress test” for uninsured mortgages, requiring the borrower to qualify at the higher figure between the five-year benchmark rate published by th