Credit unions that offer homebuyers way around stress tests set to grow

. Provincially regulated credit unions such as Meridian and DUCA are not bound by federal rules, and can choose whether or not to apply OSFI’s strictest qualifying standards for uninsured mortgages, subject to any rules adopted by their provincial regulators.

While the credit union sector has chosen not to widely promote so-called “contract-rate qualification” mortgages — where borrowers are assessed based on actual interest rate they will pay rather than OSFI’s stress test — figures released by Canadian Credit Union Association show the lenders have been steadily picking up business, growing their mortgage books by 4.1 per cent in the second quarter and two per cent in the third quarter of 2022.

Rob McLister, a mortgage analyst and strategist, estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of mortgages have been underwritten using contract-rate qualification.