Latest In Mortgage News: Economic Slowdown Hitting Alternative Lenders Hard

The COVID pandemic has had a major impact on Canada's mortgage industry, with private lenders seeing a 26% decline in Ontario mortgage registrations. Other sectors, such as banks, credit unions, trusts and insurance companies, saw less severe declines. Alternative lenders include mortgage investment corporations (MICs), which pool investor funds to fund mortgages. The Teranet-National Bank Home Price Index reported its smallest decline in 17 years. Quebec's mortgage brokers are now officially regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), which took over the role in May.

Mortgage Professionals Canada was supportive of the transition to the AMF, which provides a clear delineation between mortgage brokers and realtors. Two Ontario mortgage brokers are now facing fraud charges, with one accused of collecting more than $8 million in investments and another accused of defrauding clients of $35,000 in investments. MPC expects regulation to be stronger than with the OACIQ