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. CMHC also offers a similar program. For more on their program CLICK HERE.
Acceptable Loan Purpose & Applicable Loan-To-Value Limits:
- Purchase transactions: 95% LTV
Note: All mortgage insurance applications received between December 11, 2015 and February 14, 2016 where the closing date is after July 1, 2016; or received on or after February 15, 2016, the above minimum down payment guidelines will apply.
- Property value ≤ $500,000 - 5% down payment required
Property value > $500,000 and < $1,000,000 - 5% down payment required up
Maximum Property Value:
- Property value must be less than $1,000,000. Exceptions may be considered for LTV ≤ 80%.
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. Exceptions may be considered for LTV ≤ 80%.
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