OTTAWA, ON, May 28, 2021 /CNW/ - The number of affordable housing units has increased since the pandemic began as Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) responded quickly to help Canadians in severe housing need find a safe place to call home. Details are available in (CMHC)'s quarterly financial report released today.
CMHC had an important role in helping Canadians get through economic hardships by supporting Government actions and delivering programs such as the $1 billion Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI). Launched in October 2020, the program has exceeded its initial target of 3,000 and is now supporting the construction of more than 4,700 permanent affordable housing units. As of March 31, 2021, CMHC has committed all RHI funds announced by the Government of Canada.
"We are encouraged to see that Budget 2021 continues to prioritize housing by funding initiatives, like RHI, that will enable us to help more Canadians in need," said Lisa Williams, CMHC's Chief Financial Officer. "While the impacts of COVID-19 have become clearer, they have not completely subsided. Our financial position at the end of Q1 remained strong. With improved stability in the Canadian economy, we expect less volatility in our results moving forward."
CMHC also helped Canadians by offering temporary deferral of mortgage payments for homeowners and for our multi-unit clients. Although not complete, we now have a more accurate picture of our arrears data since the end of mortgage deferral arrangements. Based on our assessment of economic variables, claims and arrears data, we reduced our provision for claims by $214 million as insurance claims initially expected at the outset of the pandemic, have not materialized to date.
Additional quarterly report highlights for three-month period ending March 31, 2021:
- We declared dividends of $3.895 million to the Government of Canada on 25 March 2021, and paid them in April. Accordingly, our Mortgage Insurer Capital Adequacy Test (MICAT) ratio decreased in the first quarter and our investments and investment income will decrease starting in the second quarter.
- We have experienced lower insurance claims with $34 million paid this quarter compared to $63 million in the same period last year as loans in deferral have not translated into arrears as initially anticipated.
- The Government of Canada's Budget 2021 proposes an additional $2.5 billion over seven years in new funding under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) beginning in April 2021 and a reallocation of $1.3 billion in previously announced funding to speed up the construction, repair, and support for over 35,000 additional housing units.
- CMHC has also published business supplements on its Mortgage Insurance, Mortgage Funding and Covered Bonds activities, providing additional depth and insights on each. Progress on the National Housing Strategy is reported quarterly online.
Q1 Highlights |
Three months |
Net income ($M) |
566 |
Government funding for housing programs ($M) |
1.392 |
New securities guaranteed ($B) |
38 |
Insured volumes (units): Transactional homeowner |
11,734 |
Insured volumes (units): Portfolio |
730 |
Insured volumes (units): Multi-unit residential |
35,662 |
Capital management |
As at 31 |
Total Mortgage Insurance capital ($B) |
11.1 |
Mortgage Insurance capital available to minimum capital required (%) |
191% |
Total Mortgage Funding capital available ($B) |
1.6 |
Mortgage Funding capital available to capital required (%) |
192% |
CMHC supports the housing market and financial system stability by providing support for Canadians in housing need, and by offering housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. For more information, follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
CMHC Media Relations, [email protected]
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