业内人士抱怨这种不平衡，要求在更换银行时再次应用压力测试，但在续签时仍留在同一家金融机构时则不适用。此外，在 2023 年，财政部澄清说，如果借款人在续贷时切换到不同的贷方，则有保险的抵押贷款不需要再次通过压力测试。今年 3 月，联邦竞争局 （Federal Competition Bureau） 介入，表示FX168 Financial Press (North America) News After rejecting the appeal from the Canadian Competition Bureau (Competition Bureau), Canada's top banking regulator changed its mind regardless of whether the borrower stayed in the same financial institution or switched to a new financial institution.
Quinn Watson (Quinn Watson), communications and parliamentary affairs manager at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions), said on Wednesday that regulators plan to officially notify the banking industry in November to “directly convert” uninsured mortgages to new financial institutions, and that no new lenders will be required to use a minimum qualifying interest rate stress test to evaluate borrowers. The conversions must be in line with current amortization schedules and loan amounts, he said.
The qualifying interest rate for an uninsured mortgage is the contract rate plus two percentage points, or 5.25%, whichever is higher, to help ensure that borrowers can handle rising interest rates or higher household expenses during the mortgage period.
Industry insiders have complained about this imbalance and require that the stress test be applied again when changing banks, but this is not applicable when staying at the same financial institution when renewing. Additionally, in 2023, the Treasury Department clarified that an insured mortgage doesn't need to pass another stress test if the borrower switches to a different lender when renewing the loan. In March of this year, the Federal Competition Bureau (Federal Competition Bureau) stepped in and stated that those uninsured mortgages should be able to switch between federally regulated financial institutions without being stress-tested again.
“When consumers renew their loans, their ability to turn to competitive mortgage offers is critical to ensure they get the best interest rates and terms to meet their needs,” the Competition Authority said in a filing submitted to the Ministry of Finance, noting that the share of uninsured mortgages has been growing, climbing to 73% by mid-2023.
“This rule makes it difficult for some homeowners to find new lenders and take advantage of cheaper interest rates. When borrowers can't switch to another lender, current lenders have little competition and can offer these exclusive borrowers higher interest rates without fear of losing their business.”
At the time, in a statement to several media outlets, OSFI responded that they were not planning to make any changes, and regulators suggested that new lenders should assess the risks of new customers rather than rely on insurance from former lenders.