Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Canada's bank regulator said it is preparing for strain in the housing market to potentially last throughout the year as it flags the sector as a growing concern.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSI) said Tuesday in its latest annual risk outlook that the housing market is its top source of worry, as high rates mean higher default probabilities.
"OFSI is preparing for the possibility, but not predicting, that the housing market will experience sustained weakness throughout 2023," said superintendent Peter Routledge on a media conference call.
Credit quality, however, so far looks quite strong and residential real estate remains sound, he said.
"What's interesting now is how benign conditions have remained. Underlying that is a very strong economy, unemployment is still very low. And because of that, Canadians are servicing the higher cost of debt, quite handily."
The risk outlook is meant to remind everyone that while finances look strong, the risks are still out there, he said.
To better prepare for future risks, the regulator is working through its review of B-20 mortgage underwriting rules that include the stress test. Public consultations closed April 14 on the first phase looking at debt servicing measures to control risks around high consumer debt levels, while further consultations are planned as part of the process that is expected to run much of the year.
The regulator is also taking a closer look at how banks are handling variable rate fixed-payment mortgages, which keeps monthly payments the same even as interest rates rise by putting less and less of the payments towards the principle. The payments for some borrowers aren't even covering interest costs through, so banks have been stretching out the amortization period.
The specific mortgage product isn't an immediate concern, said Routledge, but it could become bone in the next two or three years as the terms begin to reset and be repriced and borrowers feel a greater hit from higher rates.
The regulator is actively assessing the risk and looking into whether banks are putting enough capital aside for potential issues from borrowers with the product.
Outside of the housing market, OFSI also noted liquidity concerns as a top risk as banks pull back on lending and higher rates act as a form of tightening.
"Generally we're seeing across all lending sectors, including commercial lending, slowdown in credit growth," said Routledge. "Anecdotally, I would characterize it as so far as a manageable, not extraordinary slowdown."
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse have also raised concerns that banks will become more cautious on lending, but Routledge said that so far, he's seen a deceleration in credit growth, not a decline.
Commercial real estate is another source of risk as office values have plunged because of the shift to remote work. The regulator said it is conducting targeted monitoring and considering whether to develop specific guidelines for the sector.
Other key areas of concern include the growth of private credit from providers like hedge funds and pensions as lending in the space has boomed in the last decade with little to no prudential regulation; digital innovation in finance through areas like cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence; climate change issues related both to physical risks and transition risks; cybersecurity, especially amid higher geopolitical tension; and third-party risks from banks relying on systems like cloud computing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.