The Bank of Canada sounded the alarm on growing household debt on Wednesday, taking aim in particular at the growing tendency of Canadians to take out lines of credit using home equity. While the Bank has repeatedly warned on household debt levels in the past, on Wednesday it provided more detail about the type of […]

When our mortgage came up for renewal about a year ago, my husband and I did what many couples do and debated whether to go variable or fixed. What we never seriously considered was locking in to a fixed rate for a decade – that option wasn’t even on the table. What a difference a […]

OTTAWA – Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney often talks about the danger of too much household debt — but he’s unlikely to do anything about it when he has a chance this week. Economists are unanimous that Carney will hold back from raising borrowing costs on Tuesday when he and his policy council announce […]

Canada’s finance minister said on Wednesday he would rather not tighten mortgage rules again to curb high household debt and that banks themselves are taking on that job by becoming more strict with their lending criteria. Jim Flaherty said he has seen signs of moderation in the Toronto condominium market and expects to see a […]

For three years, the word on the street has been that interest rates have nowhere to go but up. But few Canadian commentators – other than David Rosenberg – got the call on rates right. Although the prime rate has risen since dropping to an all-time low of 2.25% in April 2009, the increase to […]

Despite soaring mortgage lending, Canadian banks are strong enough to absorb any hit that might result from a potential real estate correction, said Ed Clark, chief executive of Toronto-Dominion Bank. Unlike U.S. banks, lenders on this side of the border did not get involved in the kind of risky practices that helped drive the U.S. […]

Economists are pretty much in agreement that the Bank of Canada, while still maintaining its interest rates at a stimulus-level 1.00%, also adopted a more hawkish tone in its latest comments. Mark Carney, governor of the central bank, highlighted an improving global economic outlook while also noting that household debt burdens have become the biggest […]

  Fixed-rate mortgages are at historic lows but if you are locked in to a contract with your bank, those benefits may be yet elusive. First you have to do the math to see if breaking your contract is worth the penalties you may face. “There is no grey area,” says Cindy David, a certified […]

OTTAWA • The federal government and some of the country’s leading economists remain worried about Canada’s housing market and rising household debt, and are cautioning Canadians against borrowing too much. However, they are more optimistic about the overall state of the Canadian economy than they were just last fall, and now project stronger-than-expected economic growth […]

Three annoying things that banks do to customers are about to become history. Following up on commitments made in the past two budgets, the federal government has announced measures that will stop banks from mailing unsolicited credit card convenience cheques to customers, and that will reduce the holding period on newly deposited cheques. The banks […]