A Message from our President to our Clients (COVID-19)

To our clients,

I am writing with an update from my note of Friday, March 13. It was an intense weekend and I promised to keep you informed as circumstances developed. It’s time to tell you more.

Health: Our primary concern is the health of our employees and their families and that we all do our part to “flatten the curve”. Social separation is our best tool to protect seniors and the immuno-compromised. In time, this will pass — it’s up to us to help limit the impact.

Redundancy: As such, we have isolated redundant teams for critical functions. We are following local public health advice, including restricting our Ottawa office to truly essential personnel and asking everyone else to stay home.

Helping Canadians: These events remind us all how crucial it is to have a sanctuary. We believe that we all need a safe and affordable place to live. We have already extended mortgage forbearance for insured mortgages together with Genworth Canada and Canada Guaranty. We are also exploring, with others, potential relief measures for those who cannot make payments on uninsured mortgages and renters.

Market Liquidity: Yesterday, the Government announced that CMHC will initiate a revised Insured Mortgage Purchase Program, a market liquidity tool we used in the Global Financial Crisis. The IMPP is part of a package that includes complementary market support activity from the Bank of Canada. We have scaled the solution to the problem and will have $50 billion available. We are also working with the government on expanding CMHC’s authorities if we need to do more.

Our Ask of You: Just as we do, you have a very important role to play to help preserve our economy. We want to avoid adding undue pressure so you can focus your efforts on managing this crisis. Accordingly, we will suspend quality assurance reviews and other interventions until we return to a more normal state. Importantly, we also expect any housing provider who has received financing or support from CMHC, directly or via provinces and territories, to act compassionately and refrain from evictions.

CMHC exists in part to buffer the effects of these events. This is what we do. Our Crisis Management Committee is meeting daily and we are working around the clock. We are part of a federal team that works well, trusts each other and is earnestly and impressively working together for Canada.

You can count on us to do all that we can for you and for Canadians.

Evan