Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is a Canadian government agency of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. The agency is responsible for the housing industry in Canada. The agency was created in 1946 in response to housing demands after the return of World War II veterans and societal changes after the war included a policy that every family in Canada have their own home. The Minister of Labour and Housing is responsible for the maintenance of the agency.

Creation and Revision

Near the end of World War II the Canadian government began to worry about the the demobilization of thousands of soldiers in Europe and their re-entrance to Canadian society. With so many people coming back to Canada, a number of problems would arise, one being that there may not be enough housing existing to accomodate the soldiers and their desire to have families. In 1946 the Federal government created the CMHC to aid in the management and finance of housing projects in Canadian cities.

In 1954 the CMHC really changed the game in the housing industry of Canada. The Federal government changed the National Housing Act . In the ammendment, the Federal government got themselves out of direct finance of housing projects and instead forced the banks to get into the mortgage market. The banks were previously unwilling to take part in such financial ventures, but from 1954 on the Federal government would be insuring the mortgages. So, with no risk involved for the banks they readily began to issue mortgage loans. If the individual receiving the loan went bankrupt then the bank who gave the loan would not lose money, but instead would be re-imbursed by the government. Now individual families in a multitude of salary ranges could afford to buy homes.

Importance in Canadian Public Sector

The CMHC is the single most important institution created by the Federal Government of Canada in Canadian history. It overshadows the Canadian Pacific Railroad in both influence and power. As is discussed lower on this page, the CMHC influenced the development of Canadian housing projects. Furthermore, the Federal government of Canada often uses the CMHC as a financial agent.

Influence over Housing Projects

The CMHC provides assistance and guidance to the private sector in the building, design and planning of houses. Thus Provincial governments have aligned their housing standards and planning practices along those of the CMHC. The CMHC also makes financial loans to cities at low- and middle-interest rates for the development of housing projects. Thus, both the cities and provinces in Canada rely on the CMHC for the continuation of housing development in the areas under their jurisdiction. This alignment has had a number of influences on Canadian housing in general:

• Development of the policy of every Canadian family having a home.
• Development of a national building code
• With the insurance of mortgages and 90%/10% downpayment standard the suburbanization of Canadian cities was possible
• Building experimental houses for new and improved building techniques and technology
• Often acts as a developer (for this purpose there is no American counterpart to the CMHC)
• Influences the socio-economic defferenciation in cities by (1) approving low-cost housing projects only when placed where they desire. For example, the Calgary municipal government wanted to develop the NE portion of the city as a high-cost housing market due to the view of the Rocky Mountains. However, the CMHC, in loaning money to Calgary, decided that the development should instead be focussed around low-cost housing projects.

External link:

• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Official website