by Hugh P. Tawney
To an American investor, the Canadian mortgage market looks familiar enough to ignore and distinctive enough to reward a closer look. So why is it consistently overlooked? Canada and the United States share a common language (mostly), legal traditions, and appetite for homeownership, yet Canada has built a residential credit system that behaves in almost the opposite way to the one south of the border.
Start with the product. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the bedrock of American housing finance, essentially does not exist in Canada. Canadian borrowers amortize over 25 years but lock their rate for far shorter terms — five years is the norm, and many choose less. When the term ends, they renew at prevailing rates. A Canadian homeowner is therefore not a pas
