Jobless Rate Remains At 40-Year Low As Wage Growth Accelerates Statistics Canada announced this morning that employment was virtually unchanged in April (down 1,100) following a surge in March and the unemployment rate remained at 5.8%–its lowest level in four decades. Wages growth accelerated signalling tight labour markets. April’s stall was only the second time […]

Are You Prepared for the Top Cybersecurity Threats of 2018? David Hold | May 01, 2018 As if your IT team, security experts and executives didn’t have enough to worry about, there are a host of new cybersecurity threats hitting the market or escalating globally. In response, companies are expected to spend more than $1 trillion […]

RATES HELD STEADY NOW, BUT GRADUAL HIKES SIGNALLED The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met this week for the second time under the chairmanship of Jerome Powell. In a unanimous decision, the Committee left the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 percent. Unlike the Bank of Canada, which has […]

CMBA – BRITISH COLUMBIA   ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF OUR MEMBERS MAY, 2018 BC GOVERNMENT URGED TO SCRAP THE SPECULATION TAX The Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association – British Columbia was an early and vocal opponent of the BC government’s proposal to levy unfair new taxes on homeowners in communities across BC. This campaign has been joined by […]

SUBJECT TO FINANCING- A MUST! With most people who are new to real estate and looking for their first home (or possibly second), one of the most significant times is when your offer to buy is accepted by a seller. Unfortunately, that moment is quickly followed by stress, as not many people know what comes […]

FIXED RATES ARE ON THE RISE. ARE YOU READY? With the Bank of Canada holding rates steady this April, the same is not the case for the bond market, which impacts fixed rates. In every interest-rate market there are many factors leading to and increase and we are hoping to provide a little bit of […]

Much Ado About Almost Nothing–Non-Resident Ownership of Housing Statistics Canada in conjunction with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released their first report this morning from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP), providing data regarding the non-resident ownership of Canadian housing. This program was mandated by the last federal budget, filling in a significant data […]

BoC not in a rush to slow down economy – DLC’s Cooper SHARE     by Ephraim Vecina 08 Dec 2017 The Bank of Canada’s latest decision to hold overnight interest rates at 1.0% should come as no surprise, amid an ongoing slack in employment numbers and short-live rises in ination. This is […]

NEW MORTGAGE RULES COMING JAN 1 BOOST NOVEMBER HOME SALES So here we are in the lead-up to the January 1 implementation of the new OSFI B-20 regulations requiring that uninsured borrowers be stress-tested at a mortgage rate 200 basis points above the contract rate at federally regulated financial institutions. It is no surprise that […]