The Bank of Canada announced new changes to come to Canadian mortgage guidelines this morning. This is the fourth tightening of guidelines in the past 4 years. They have clearly stated that the intention of their continual clamping down of qualifying criteria is an attempt to cool down the housing market and reduce household debt in Canada. I was pleased to hear that the 5% down payment rule would remain; however it is yet to be determined how these new rules will affect home owners. They will take effect on July 9th and I believe that they have implemented such a short time frame in order to eliminate the surge of people rushing into home purchases that was experienced with the last announcement of changes. Here are the new changes: • Maximum amortizations will be reduced from 30 years to 25 years • Maximum refinances will be reduced from 85% to 80% • Maximum GDS and TDS are set at 39% and 44% • Properties purchased at over $1 million will no longer be eligible for mortgage ins...