Effective October 2008:

• Maximum amortization period of 35 years
• Minimum down payment of 5%
• Consistent minimum credit score requirement
• New loan documentation standards

Effective April 2010:

• Debt servicing standards calculated based on the higher of the mortgage contract rate or Bank of Canada conventional five-year fixed posted mortgage rate, for mortgages with variable interest rates or fixed interest rates with terms less than 5 years
• Maximum refinancing limited to 90%of the property value
• Minimum down payment of 20% on non-owner-occupied investment properties

Effective March 2011:

• Maximum amortization period of 30 years
• Maximum refinancing limited to 85% of the property value
• Withdrawal of government guarantees on low-loan-to-value non-amortizing secured lines of credit (effective April 2011)

Effective July 2012:

• Maximum amortization period of 25 years
• Maximum refinancing limited to 80% of the property value
• Maximum gross debt service ratio at 39% and the maximum total debt service ratio at 44%
• Maximum purchase price of less than $1 million

Effective February 2016:

• Minimum down payment of 10% for the portion of a house price above $500,000

Effective October 2016:

• Requiring all insured mortgages to qualify under maximum debt-servicing standards based on the higher of the mortgage contract rate or Bank of Canada conventional five-year fixed posted mortgage rate
• Standardizing eligibility criteria for high- and low-ratio insured mortgages (effective November 2016)

Source:     Department of Finance, Balancing the Distribution of Risk in Canada's Housing Finance System, 28 February 2017.