Canadian mortgage delinquency rate falls for first time in three years: CMHC

Condo towers dot the Toronto skyline as a pedestrian makes his way through the COVID-19 restricted winter landscape on Thursday January 28, 2021. CMHC says that rental vacancies are up in Canada’s largest cities with rents rising too. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

OTTAWA — Canada’s housing agency says the number of homeowners behind on mortgage payments has fallen for the first time in three years, though delinquencies are still trending up in Ontario and British Columbia.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the national mortgage delinquency rate was 0.22 per cent in the second quarter, down from 0.23 per cent in the first.

The percentage of households more than 90 days behind on payments has been slowly creeping up in recent years, rising from 0.14 per cent in 2022, as many homeowners renew mortgages at higher rates.

CMHC says the national decline came as repayment trends improved in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and the Prairie provinces, while Ontario saw an increase with delinquencies in Toronto up 60 per cent compared with a year earlier at 0.24 per cent in the second quarter.

Borrowers have had some relief as interest rates have trended down, but CMHC notes there is still a wave of renewals going through at higher rates, including over 750,000 in the second half of this year and another 1.15 million in 2026.

It notes that the average rate on a five-year fixed rate uninsured mortgage was 2.36 per cent in July 2020, compared with 3.95 per cent this past July.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2025.

The Canadian Press