The BoC also lowered the five year conventional mortgage rate, which is used for the stress test. The rate was 5.19% on March 11, 2020, and received three cuts along the way until it hit 4.79% on August 12, 2020. This added an additional ~4.5% in qualified buying power. The stress test only applies to OSFI-regulated lenders, but they’re the majority of activity.
Canada didn’t require a reason for a payment deferral. It was just a break from paying your bills, and an interest free loan. CBA statistics show 16.7% of mortgages at member banks granted payment deferrals. That’s one in six mortgages held by member banks. The rate of deferrals was even higher than the peak unemployment rate.