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Posted by: Ted Vailas
Here’s a question I get almost every week from first-time buyers in Winnipeg: “I’ve got an FHSA and I’ve got some RRSP savings — do I have to pick one?” No. You can use both, for the same house, in the same transaction. And when you do the math, the numbers get big fast. A […]
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Nearly one in three first-time homebuyers in Canada now gets help with their down payment from family — and the average gift has climbed to about $115,000 nationally. What used to be an occasional boost has become a normal part of buying a first home. The good news: lenders are perfectly comfortable with gifted down […]
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This morning, the Bank of Canada announced it’s holding its overnight rate at 2.25% — the sixth consecutive hold since October 2025. If you have a variable-rate mortgage, are staring down a renewal, or are trying to decide whether now is the time to buy in Winnipeg, you’re probably asking the same question I hear […]
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If you’re buying a home in Winnipeg this year, there’s a step in your mortgage that used to be an afterthought — and it isn’t anymore. Every lender in Canada requires proof of home insurance before your mortgage can close. No policy, no keys. For decades, that was a ten-minute phone call. But after this […]
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2026 is the biggest mortgage renewal year Canada has ever seen. Nearly half of all Canadian mortgages — more than one million households — come up for renewal this year, and roughly 70% of all mortgages in the country will have renewed by the end of 2026. Many of those homeowners locked in rates of […]
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If you’re a first-time buyer looking at a newly built home, Ottawa just handed you one of the biggest incentives in years. The First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST rebate — which received Royal Assent in March 2026 — can refund up to $50,000 of the GST paid on a new home. And it doesn’t stand alone: […]
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If your mortgage comes up for renewal this year, you’re in good company — and, unfortunately, in for some sticker shock. Canada’s long-anticipated renewal wave has officially peaked, with roughly 1.8 million mortgages renewing in the 12 months surrounding mid-2026. Most of those borrowers locked in five-year fixed rates of 2.5% or less back in […]
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On July 15, 2026, the Bank of Canada will make its next rate announcement — and if your mortgage is up for renewal this summer, or you’re holding a variable rate, you’re probably wondering whether to act before the decision or wait it out. Here’s the short version: markets widely expect the Bank to hold […]
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For nearly a year, Canadian mortgage borrowers have been asking the same question: “When will rates come down again?” Heading into the Bank of Canada rate announcement on July 15, 2026, it may be time to ask a different one: what if the next move is up? The Bank of Canada has held its policy […]
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If you’re watching your mortgage rate — and in 2026, who isn’t? — the most important economic news this week didn’t come from Ottawa. It came from Washington. On July 2, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that American employers added just 57,000 jobs in June — roughly half of what economists expected. That […]
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