10/07/2025
🚨Clarification onMortgage Changes Coming in 2026 🚨
OSFI (the banking regulator) is updating its Capital Adequacy Requirements (CAR 2026) starting Nov 2025 / Jan 2026.
👉 What is CAR?
Think of it as the safety cushion banks must keep. The higher the cushion OSFI requires, the stricter banks get with lending — because those loans are considered “riskier.”
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🔑 What’s Changing
1️⃣ New “IPRRE” category (Income-Producing Residential Real Estate): If a mortgage relies mostly on rental income, banks must treat it as higher risk. That could mean stricter rules or higher rates.
2️⃣ No double-counting of income (Oct 3 clarification): You can still use your salary or rental income, but once it’s used to qualify for one property, you can’t reuse the same income again for another. Each property must qualify on its own.
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✅ What This Means
• Investors: Scaling rental portfolios will get harder.
• Homeowners with 1 property: Very little impact.
• Banks: More paperwork, more checks, and possibly higher rates on rental-heavy mortgages.
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💡 Want to know how this impacts your 2026 borrowing power? DM me “2026” and I’ll run the numbers for you.
