Canadians may face higher mortgage rates with changes, mortgage brokers say
OTTAWA — Mortgage lending changes by the federal government are going to make it harder for non-bank lenders to operate and could see Canadians pay higher rates on their loans, mortgage brokers warn.
James Laird, president of mortgage company CanWise Financial and co-founder of rate-watching website RateHub, says the non-bank mortgage lenders offer important competition for the big banks.
“The non-bank lenders keep the banks honest,” Laird said.
“It is really important that we keep some sort of third-party pressure on them so they can’t set prices at whatever they choose.”