Annual Public Meeting

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - 2026 Annual Public Meeting

00:00:01:00 [Light upbeat music plays.]

[Visual: Slide titled "Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - 2026 Annual Public Meeting." Clips of detached houses in a rural community and condo buildings under construction play. On the footer, text reads "CMHC.ca" next to the Government of Canada Wordmark and the bilingual CMHC logo.]

00:00:10:00 [Speaker: Don Iveson - Chair, Board of Directors, CMHC]

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for taking part in CMHC’s 2026 Annual Public Meeting. My name is Don Iveson. I’m the Chair of CMHC’s board of directors. 

00:00:20:00 [Visual: Don Iveson sits in an office. A text box reading "Don Iveson - Chair, Board of Directors, CMHC" appears temporarily.]

I would like to start by acknowledging and thanking the Algonquin Anishinaabe people, on whose traditional, unceded territory this is being recorded. I have gratitude for this land, and respect and appreciation for its many generations of caretakers.

[Audio: Music fades out.]

Wherever you’re joining us from, I hope you’ll take a moment to reflect on the land you’re on and the good things it has brought you. It’s important to recognize that we are connected through the traditions, values and history of our ancestors.

This event is all about spotlighting the strides we made and the impact CMHC delivered in 2025.

It was a year when things like trade tensions and economic uncertainty formed headwinds that pushed against the housing market. 

Developers, both private and not-for-profit, struggled to keep pace with demand. 

Meanwhile, too many Canadians continued to struggle to find suitable homes they could afford. 

Through all this, I’m pleased today to say that CMHC was there for Canadians. 

We were there with commercial products, with housing programs, and with leading-edge research and data. With these tools in hand, we worked to help ease these pressures and strengthen Canada’s housing ecosystem. 

Our role in that ecosystem evolved in 2025, and I will gladly say that is par for the course. Since its creation in 1946, CMHC has always been nimble and ready to meet the changing moment.  

CMHC supported the Government of Canada as it launched a new federal housing agency, Build Canada Homes.

We’re now working side-by-side with this new partner; as well as with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada and a whole host of other federal agencies. 

Together, we’re providing a whole-of-government response to one of the biggest challenges of our time.

In 2025, CMHC also continued to build and deepen partnerships with private companies, not-for-profit agencies, Indigenous communities and other orders of government. 

They all have a role to play in building a better housing future in this country. And I’m pleased to say they have all stepped forward with energy, ideas and real hard work.  

As Chair of the Board of Directors, I championed CMHC’s direction and oversaw its progress in 2025. And I want to thank my fellow Board members for their leadership through the year. 

As always, the Board was, in turn, impressed by the professionalism and skill of the whole CMHC team. We’re grateful for their support, particularly from the Executive Committee, who worked side-by-side with us throughout the year.

CMHC entered its 80th year in 2026. With that proud legacy comes a deep responsibility: To continue delivering for Canadians. To continue evolving for Canadians. To continue fulfilling our crucial mandate. 

I can say with certainty that we – the Board and the organization as a whole – are ready for that responsibility. 

CMHC continues to be ready to deliver for Canadians.  

I will now pass things over to CMHC’s President and CEO, Coleen Volk.

00:03:30:00 [Visual: Slide titled "2026 Annual Public Meeting - Message from the President and CEO" next to a photo of Coleen Volk, a woman smiling while standing in a bright building. She wears a flowing gray and black print open cardigan over a black dress.]

00:03:35:00 [Visual: Coleen Volk sits in an office. A text box reading "Coleen Volk - President and CEO, CMHC" appears temporarily.]

[Speaker: Coleen Volk - President and CEO, CMHC]

Coleen Volk: Thank you, Don.

And thank you all for joining us.

Before we report on 2025, I want to step back and reflect on CMHC’s accomplishments since its beginnings.  

As Don just mentioned, this year CMHC celebrates 80 years of service to Canadians. 

That’s eight decades of stepping up, in good times and bad. 

We were founded in 1946 to house veterans returning from World War II…

In the 1950s, we introduced Mortgage Loan Insurance, making home ownership accessible to more Canadians.

In the 1980s, we developed a securitization framework to ensure Canadians have access to mortgage funding across all economic cycles. Throughout our history we’ve successfully delivered many major social housing programs, including those under the National Housing Strategy.

And we’ve been there to help Canadians weather the 2008 global financial crisis and the Covid pandemic.

Now, we’re firmly focused on tackling today’s housing shortage head-on. 

Through it all, CMHC has been there with solutions. We’ve evolved alongside the housing needs of Canadians. And we’ve proved time and time again that we have the expertise and experience to meet Canada’s housing challenges. 

2025 certainly brought its share of challenges as Canadians continued to feel the effects of a lack of housing affordability and supply. 

At CMHC, we responded by putting every tool in our toolbox to work. 

Programs like the Apartment Construction Loan Program and our multi-unit mortgage loan insurance supported much of the rental construction in Canada last year. 

In fact, if you’ve seen a crane on a residential building site in your community, there’s a good chance it’s a project backed by CMHC. 

We met a surge in demand for homeowner mortgage loan insurance as new policies on amortization and mortgage caps opened the door for more Canadians to enter the market.

We also continued to play a vital role in informing government and industry decisions through our trusted research and insights. 

A key example is our 2025 Housing Supply Gaps Report, which took a hard look at shortages in Canada’s largest cities and offered practical solutions to fill those gaps.

Of course, none of these achievements would be possible without strong management – of people, risk, finances, knowledge, and technology. 

I’m proud to say that CMHC continues to be a high-performing organization, driven by an engaged Board, and passionate, expert employees – all dedicated to improving housing outcomes for Canadians.

Partnerships are also at the heart of our success. 

In 2025, we continued to work closely with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, the federal department responsible for housing programs and policy. We also welcomed a new federal partner, Build Canada Homes, which has opened exciting opportunities to collaborate and scale up affordable housing supply.

I began by talking about CMHC’s past and how we have continually evolved to meet Canadian’s changing needs. I’ll close by looking ahead at how our evolution will continue. 

Build Canada Homes is taking the lead on creating more affordable housing, as CMHC's programs in that area are winding down. CMHC will focus on market housing, continuing to provide housing programs and commercial products in this space. Market housing represents most of the housing in Canada, and we are well positioned to continue making a significant impact.

I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved in 2025, but I’m even more excited about what lies ahead. We’ll continue to use every tool in our toolbox, working with our 10,000 partners and clients across the housing ecosystem to deliver results Canadians can count on.

To everyone joining us today, thank you for your continued support and partnership. Together, we’re working to ensure Canada has a well-functioning and resilient housing system.

And now, Michel Tremblay, our Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice-President of Corporate Services, will share details on our 2025 accomplishments.

00:07:47:00 [Visual: Slide titled "2026 Annual Public Meeting - Key Accomplishments" with a photo of Michel Tremblay, a man smiling while sitting in an armchair. He wears a white collared shirt with a gray tie, gray slacks and brown leather shoes.]

00:07:50:00 [Visual: Michel Tremblay sits in an office. A text box reading "Michel Tremblay - CFO and SVP, Corporate Services" appears temporarily.]

[Speaker: Michel Tremblay - CFO and SVP, Corporate Services]

Thanks Coleen. And thanks to everyone joining us.

As Coleen mentioned, CMHC is using every tool in its toolbox to make a difference for Canadians. It’s my pleasure to highlight some of the details of these tools and how well they performed.

But first, I’ll take a couple minutes to talk about the economic environment that shaped our work.

The main factors impacting housing were slowing population growth, the effects of subdued global economic growth and significant trade disruptions.

00:08:19:00 [Visual: A slide with a side bar reading, "2025 Annual Report." On the slide, three symbols appear next to three blocks of text. First, an arrow tracing the downward trajectory of a bar graph next to text that reads, "Canada’s economic growth moderated." Second, a hand holding a circle containing a percentage symbol next to text that reads, "Stable inflation throughout the year". Third, a house with a tag bearing a dollar sign next to text that reads, "Although the Bank of Canada lowered rates, high home prices and higher unemployment meant that many Canadians still faced significant challenges in affording a home."]

Michel: Canada’s economy showed modest growth in 2025. Real GDP increased by 1.7 percent, which was below the 2.0 percent growth in 2024. The labour market stalled, with declines in industrial sectors and regions most impacted by US trade tariffs. This led to a rise in the unemployment rate to 6.8 percent in 2025 – up from 6.4 percent in 2024. Inflation was 2.1 percent in 2025, which was within the Bank of Canada’s target range, and it continued the downward trend from high inflation levels seen in 2023. To support economic activity in the context of easing inflation, the Bank of Canada lowered its policy rate by 100 basis points in 2025, ending the year at 2.25 percent. Overall, weak economic growth translated into muted housing activity in 2025, though conditions varied by region. Ontario and British Columbia posted declines in sales, prices and starts, but other markets like Alberta and Quebec performed better. As a result, at the national level sales activity remained slow: Total unit sales in 2025 were 470,000, down 2 percent from 2024 and below the 10-year average of around 510,000 units.

00:09:43:00 [Visual: Michel Tremblay sits in an office.]

Michel: Rental markets continued the easing that started in 2024. More rental units became available, and vacancy rates rose to 3.1 percent in 2025, from 2.2 percent in 2024.

Canada’s overall housing stock grew by 259,000 units. That’s more than the 245,000 units in 2024, but lower than the 2021 peak of 270,000 units.

This economic context certainly influenced our work in 2025, but as you’ll see from our performance metrics, we continued to deliver strong results.

00:10:19:00 [Visual: A slide titled "Our 2025 Performance" with a side bar that reads, "2025 Annual Report." Text on the slide reads: "361,000+ units, total commercial products units facilitated; 315% of targets met, adherence to Housing Program targets; 9.7% return on equity, MLI return on required equity, generating a reasonable return for the GoC with due regard for loss; 8.0% operating budget, we use our budget effectively and manage our resources efficiently."]

Michel: Our commercial products helped create over 361,000 housing units in 2025. This was below our target of 395,000, but we still view it as a strong result in a challenging economic climate.

We delivered well on our housing programs on behalf of the Government of Canada, with 315-percent adherence to established targets, well above our target of 100 percent.

Our Mortgage Insurance Activity provided a strong return on required equity of 9.7 percent – above our target of 7.8 percent – generating a reasonable rate of return to the Government of Canada with due regard for loss.

We managed our budget and resources effectively, with an operating budget expense ratio of 8.0 percent, slightly below our target of 8.2.

00:11:06:00 [Visual: Michel Tremblay sits in an office.]

Now I’ll dive a bit deeper into results, looking at our consolidated financial highlights.

00:08:39:00 [Visual: A slide titled "Our Consolidated Financial Highlights" with a side bar that reads, "2025 Annual Report," featuring a comparative bar graph with five pairs of bars. First, "Consolidated income before income taxes: 2025 - $2,444 million; 2024 - $1,996 million." Second, "Mortgage Insurance Activity: 2025 - $1,394 million; 2024 - $1,056 million." Third, "Securitization Activity: 2025 - $1,054 million; 2024 - $953 million." Fourth, "Housing Programs Activity: 2025 – negative $11 million; 2024 – negative $18 million." Fifth, "Eliminations: 2025 - $7 million; 2023 - $5 million."]

Michel: Our consolidated income before income taxes increased by $448 million -- up 22 percent compared to 2024. 

This growth was fueled by a few factors.

First, insurance revenue climbed by $318 million (or 33 percent), driven by: continued, strong demand for multi-unit mortgage loan insurance, and recent changes to homeowner regulations that expanded the market and boosted our homeowner MLI volumes.

Another factor that played a role, was an update to key assumptions that affect the expected profitability of our insurance contracts and the timing of revenue recognition.

Second, investment income rose by $106 million (or 14 percent). This was driven by a higher average investment balance, as we continue to retain capital for multi-unit growth and for the revised multi-unit capital framework introduced on January 1, 2026.

Third, guarantee fees from securitization activities increased by $69-million, or eight percent. This was due to higher guarantee-fee rates in recent years, and higher annual issuance limits announced in September 2023.

Finally, operating expenses dropped by $49 million (or seven percent). This was mainly driven by lower Housing Program administration costs, especially in the Canada Greener Homes Loan program. These savings were partially offset by higher Mortgage Insurance costs to support the growth of multi‑unit projects in Canada.

The positive effects to consolidated income before tax that I just mentioned are offset by an increase of $82 million (or 31 percent) in insurance finance expenses. This was due to higher average insurance contract liabilities and higher locked-in discount rates.

00:13:03:00 [Visual: Michel Tremblay sits in an office.]

Michel: Let’s take a closer look at our commercial products. These helped more Canadians access housing financing in 2025, and contribute to stability of the housing finance system.

00:13:11:00 [Visual: A slide titled "Mortgage Insurance" with a side bar that reads, "2025 Annual Report" featuring two columns of statistics. The first column includes illustrative graphics. In the first column, the first element features a house with a checkmark next to text that reads, "Insurance-in-force (as at) 31 December, 2025: $471 B ($440 B in 2024)." The second element features a shield bearing a house next to text that reads, "Mortgage insurance capital available: 210% of minimum capital required. (188% in 2024)" The text in the second column reads, "Homeowner insurance volumes - 64,390 units (49,569 in 2024); Portfolio insurance volumes – 11,820 units (10,614 in 2024); Multi-unit insurance volumes – 261,640 units (283,711 in 2024); Arrears rate – 0.32% (0.30% in 2024)."]

Michel: I’ll start with our Homeowner Insurance results.

In 2025, we helped Canadians to buy more than 64,000 housing units across Canada -- a major increase from 2024 when we insured 49,000 housing units. Over 14 percent of these were in rural areas, where we’re often the only provider.

For Portfolio Insurance, we insured over 11,500 units in 2025, up from 10,500 units in 2024. This growth was driven by stronger outreach to lenders, and a trend towards larger pools during the year.

Moving to our multi-unit insurance products... demand remained strong, supporting more than 261,000 housing units. Thirty-six percent of these units were new construction, and helped make much needed multi-unit projects more viable for developers.

At the end of 2025, our total insurance-in-force stood at $471 billion, reflecting a $31 billion increase from 2024. This was driven by growth in our multi-unit insurance products, partially offset by decreases in Homeowner insurance and Portfolio insurance.

The arrears rate includes all loans more than 90 days past due for homeowner and portfolio insurance products, and 30 days past due for Multi-unit insurance products, as a percentage of outstanding insured loans. The arrears rate for 2025 remained low at 0.32 percent – up slightly from 0.30 percent in 2024. This rate is consistent with pre-pandemic levels. Reported delinquencies remained low in all regions.

Our mortgage-insurance capital ratio climbed to 210 percent in 2025, up from 188 percent in 2024. This is due to proactive measures taken to conserve capital for multi‑unit growth and to prepare for the 2026 MICAT transition, which requires CMHC to hold significantly more capital than before. Measures included the suspension of dividends and a transfer of excess Securitization capital in the fourth quarter of 2025.

00:15:15:00 [Visual: Michel Tremblay sits in an office.]

Michel: Now I’ll touch on the second part of our commercial activities – securitization. This allows us to offer reliable mortgage funding to approved financial institutions and ensures Canadians can access mortgage loans in all economic cycles.

Here are a few highlights from 2025:

00:15:31:00 [Visual: A slide titled "Securitization" with a side bar that reads, "2025 Annual Report" featuring a photo of two people talking in an office alongside a column of bullet points. The bullet points read: "$166 B National Housing Act Mortgage-Backed Securities guaranteed (164 B in 2024); $60 B Canada Mortgage Bonds securities guaranteed ($60 B in 2024); $1.04 B: Guarantee and application fees received ($1.06 B in 2024); Guarantees-in-force (as at) 31 December, 2025: $573 B ($553 B in 2024); Economic capital available to economic capital required: 113% (140% in 2024).”]

We provided guarantees for nearly $166 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $60 billion in Canada Mortgage Bonds, compared to $164 billion and $60 billion respectively in 2024.

In 2025, we continued to provide preferential guarantee fees for mortgage-backed securities that contain social housing loans or multi-family loans insured with an affordability commitment. These include loans under the MLI Multi-Unit Flex and MLI Select products. These affordability-linked pools helped increase the availability of affordable housing. The issuance of affordability-linked pools continued to increase, totaling nearly $43 billion in 2025, up from $39 billion in 2024.

The guarantee and application fees we received decreased by $20 million, or 2 percent. This decrease was driven by the increase in affordability-linked pools in the mortgage-backed securities product, which carry lower fees. It was also due to lower 10-year issuances in the Canada Mortgage Bonds product in 2025 versus 2024, driven by a greater proportion of Multi-unit loans securitized with shorter terms. Shorter terms carry lower fees than the 10-year issuances.

At the end of 2025, our guarantees-in-force were $573 billion, growing by 4 percent since 2024, as new guarantees exceeded maturities, principal run-off and prepayments. This increase was driven by the higher annual issuance limits announced in September 2023.

Finally, the economic capital available to economic capital required ratio decreased to 113 percent in 2025, from 140 percent in 2024. This was due to the capital transfer to the Mortgage Insurance Activity that occurred in Q4 2025.

00:17:30:00 [Visual: Michel Tremblay sits in an office.]

As Coleen and Don mentioned earlier, CMHC has been extremely successful in delivering on government programs and priorities, and 2025 was no exception.

We didn’t just meet our targets on major housing programs – we exceeded them. This success was recognized by the federal government, which topped up funding for several programs. And we were able to quickly get those funds out into the community to create more housing for Canadians. 

We did this all while continuing to strengthen our partnership with federal partners. Notably we helped to guide the development and launch of our newest partner, Build Canada Homes.

Here’s a snapshot of how well our housing programs have performed since their inception:

00:18:10:00 [Visual: A slide titled "Housing Programs Highlights as at Dec. 31, 2025" with a side bar that reads, "2025 Annual Report" featuring four bullet points. First, "Apartment Construction Loan Program - committed $29.45 billion in loans to support the construction of 74,636 new purpose-built rental units." Second, "Affordable Housing Fund - committed $14.44 billion to support the creation of 56,901 new affordable units and the repair of 174,777 units of community housing stock." Third, "Canada Greener Homes Loan - committed more than $3.1 billion for nearly 131,000 loans, with 92% of applicants having completed their retrofits and received final loan funding." Fourth, "Co-op Housing Development Program – committed $1.21 billion to support the creation of 2,787 new co-op units."]

Michel: As of December 31, 2025, we have committed more than $29 billion in loans through the Apartment Construction Loan Program to help build more than 74,500 new purpose-built rental units.

Through the Affordable Housing Fund, we have committed more than $14 billion to help create close to 57,000 new affordable units and repair more than 174,000 units of community housing stock.

The Canada Greener Homes Loan program, delivered in partnership with Natural Resources Canada, committed more than $3.1 billion for close to 131,000 loans. Approximately 92 percent of applicants have completed their retrofits and received final loan funding. Round one of the program was almost fully committed by March 31, 2025, and the $600-million top-up announced in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement was nearly fully committed by the end of 2025.

The Co-op Housing Development Program saw strong up-take in 2025. CMHC committed $1.21 billion to support the creation of more than 2,700 new co-op housing units.

00:19:23:00 [Visual: Michel Tremblay sits in an office.]

Michel: That covers CMHC’s performance highlights for 2025. I invite you to check out our Annual Report, posted on our website, for more details.

[Audio: Light upbeat music plays.]

Michel: In closing, I want to reiterate one of the main messages from our Chair and CEO: CMHC continues to respond and be there when Canadians need us most.

We will continue to manage the public resources entrusted to us prudently for the benefit of all Canadians.  And these resources in turn, allow us to use all the tools available to us to improve housing for individuals and families across the country.

This brings us to the end of our 2026 Annual Public Meeting.

Thank you for joining us today, and for your interest in CMHC and the work we do.

00:20:07:00 [Visual: Slide titled "Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - 2026 Annual Public Meeting." Text under the title reads, "Thank you for watching." Beside the text, clips of the sun shining on condo buildings under construction and a wooden house frame play. On the footer, text reads "CMHC.ca" next to the Government of Canada Wordmark and the CMHC logo.]