Qualified homebuyers who have immigrated or relocated to Canada within the last 5 years are eligible under Genworth's New to Canada program to purchase a property with as little as a 5% downpayment.

Note: To ensure eligibility for this program, please refer to the corresponding lender updates below addressing recent changes to the mortgage insurance guidelines:

Loans > 80% LTV - Subject: High-Ratio Mortgage Insurance Changes

Loans ≤ 80% LTV - Subject: Low-Ratio Mortgage Insurance Changes

Learn more about the
New To Canada Program
with our helpful guide.

Download Now!

Acceptable Loan Purpose & Applicable Loan-to-Value Limits:

  • Purchase transactions: 95% LTV
    • Property value ≤ $500,000 - 5% down payment required
    • Property value > $500,000 and < $1,000,000 - 5% down payment required up to $500,000, with an additional 10% down payment on the portion of the home value above $500,000

Loan Security:

  • First mortgages

Eligible Properties:

  • Maximum 2 units where 1 unit must be owner occupied
  • New construction covered by a lender approved New Home Warranty Program
  • Existing resale properties
  • Readily marketable residential dwellings, located in markets with demonstrated ongoing re-sale demand
  • Estimated remaining economic life of the property should be a minimum of 25 years

Maximum Property Value:

  • Property value must be less than $1,000,000

Qualifying Terms and Interest Rates:

  • Fixed, standard variable, capped variable and adjustable rate mortgages are permitted
  • Maximum interest rate term of 25 years
  • The qualifying interest rate is the greater of the contract rate or 5-year benchmark rate

Amortization Options:

  • Up to 25 years

Premium Rate:

The premium payable will be the lesser of the premium as a % of the total new loan amount or the premium as a % of the top-up portion on the additional loan amount (if existing insured) based on the rates below:

LTV Ratio Premium Rate Top-Up Premium
Up to 65% 0.60% 0.60%
65.01% - 75% 1.70% 5.90%
75.01% - 80% 2.40% 6.05%
80.01% - 85% 2.80% 6.20%
85.01% - 90% 3.10% 6.25%
90.01% - 95% 4.00% 6.30%

Note: The insurance premium is non-refundable, paid at the time of closing and may be added onto the mortgage

Borrower Qualification:

Income & Employment

  • Standard income and employment verification requirements apply
  • 3 months minimum full time employment in Canada (borrowers being transferred under a corporate relocation program are exempt)

Credit

  • 90.01-95%:  International credit report (Equifax or Transunion) demonstrating a strong credit profile OR two (2) alternative sources of credit demonstrating timely payments (no arrears) for the past 12 months. The two alternative sources required are:
    • Rental payment history
    • One other alternative source (hydro/utilities, telephone, cable, cell phone and auto insurance)
  • Up to 90%: Letter of reference from a recognized financial institution OR six (6) months of bank statements from primary account

Down Payment

  • Qualified home buyers may use traditional down payment sources including personal savings, non-repayable gift from immediate family member(s), proceeds from sale of property.
  • 95% LTV, 5% of the down payment must be from own resources
  • < 95% LTV, the remainder may be gifted from an immediate family member or from a corporate subsidy

Additional Criteria

  • Must have immigrated or relocated to Canada within the last 60 months
  • Must have a valid work permit or obtained landed immigrant status
  • All debts held outside of the country must be included in the total debt servicing ratio(Rental income earned outside of Canada is to be excluded from the GDS/TDS calculation)
  • Guarantors are not permitted
  • Foreign Diplomats who do not pay tax in Canada are ineligible for this program

Debt Service Ratios:

  • GDS 39% / TDS 44%

Documentation / Information Requirements*:

LTV Documentation Requirements
All LTV's
  • Valid work permit or verification of landed immigrant status
  • Income Confirmation
  • Down payment confirmation
  • Purchase and Sale agreement
Up to 90%
  • Letter of reference from a recognized financial institution

OR

  • Six (6) months of bank statements from primary account
90.01 - 95%
  • International credit report demonstrating a strong credit profile

OR

  • Two (2) alternative sources of credit demonstrating timely payments (no arrears) for the past 12 months. The two alternative sources required are:
    • Rental payment history confirmed via letter from landlord and bank statements **
    • One other alternative source (hydro/utilities, telephone, cable, cell phone and auto insurance) to be confirmed via letter from the service provider or 12 months billing statements

NOTE: Alternative sources of credit must be obtained from a Canadian source

* Genworth Canada will no longer require the lender to submit the documentation upfront on every file, but may request that the lender provide a copy on a case-by-case basis

** Letter from landlord must indicate the following: name of tenant, monthly rent, length of tenancy, payment history. Bank statements must support the amount of rent and timeliness of payments outlined in the letter

Portability:

  • Our mortgage default insurance is portable, so home buyers can take advantage of a lender's portability plan. For further details, refer to Portability Feature Product Overview.

Assumptions / Assignments:

  • Mortgage is assumable subject to meeting lender guidelines

Eligible Products:

  • Homebuyer 95 Program
  • Progress Advance Program
  • Purchase Plus Improvements Program

* For specific underwriting guidelines related to the above eligible products, please refer to the applicable product overview

Ineligible Products:

  • Business For Self (Alt-A) Program
  • Borrowed Down Payment Program
  • Family Plan Program
  • Vacation/Secondary Homes Program
  • Investment Property Program
  • Second Mortgage Program

Homeopeners®
Newsletter

Features timely articles on topics of interest to mortgage lenders, brokers and real estate professionals.

Sign Up Now!

News
More News