National housing agency posts growth in Q3
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported continued momentum in its commercial operations during the third quarter of 2025, with transactional homeowner mortgage insurance volumes rising 43% compared with the same period last year.
The Crown corporation insured 19,642 units during the three months ending September 30, up from 13,749 units in the third quarter of 2024. CMHC attributed the increase partly to new mortgage rules permitting 30-year amortizations on insured mortgages and declining interest rates.
“We are pleased to see the momentum for our commercial products continue to grow as CMHC delivers on market housing, helping an increasing number Canadians purchase homes,” said chief financial officer and senior vice president Michel Tremblay.
Multi-unit residential insurance remained strong, with 60,122 units insured in the quarter, as homebuilders continued using CMHC’s insurance products to build new and maintain existing rental supply. For the first nine months of 2025, CMHC insured 197,573 units through multi-unit insurance products.
The corporation reported net income of $493 million for the quarter, up from $366 million in the same period last year. For the nine months ending Sept. 30, net income reached $1.346 billion compared with $1.104 billion in 2024.
Arrears for CMHC-insured mortgages remained low at 0.32%, up slightly from 0.30% in the third quarter of 2024 but below historical trends. The corporation attributed low arrears rates to low levels of claims paid.
The resale market saw MLS home prices average $675,000 in the first nine months of 2025, down 1% from the same period in 2024. MLS sales averaged 464,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate units in the third quarter, nearly unchanged from 2024. New home construction remained strong, particularly for rental units.
Government funding for CMHC housing programs totalled $575 million for the quarter, while related expenses reached $498 million. The corporation announced a $1.5 billion top-up in loans for the Affordable Housing Fund’s New Construction Stream in September, supporting the creation of more than 5,000 new units.
The recent federal budget increased the Canada Mortgage Bonds annual limit from $60 billion to $80 billion, a change expected to unlock more low-cost financing for multi-unit rental construction.
Total insurance-in-force reached $462 billion as of September 30, while guarantees-in-force stood at $577 billion. Both figures remain compliant with the $800 billion limit set by the Government of Canada.
CMHC’s mortgage insurance capital available to minimum capital required ratio stood at 191% at quarter-end.
