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Mortgage lenders commonly ask applicants for Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) income documents like Notices of Assessment (NOAs). They do so to confirm income (typical for self-employed borrowers), make sure no taxes are owed, and help mitigate fraud and human error.

But borrowers don't always keep their financial life in a filing cabinet, ready to show-and-tell. For brokers looking to get these documents quickly, with a guarantee they're legit, there's Fastkey.

Fastkey fetches NOAs, Statements of Account, Proof of Income, T-Slips, and Canada child benefit (CCB) information straight from CRA on the client's behalf. Over 140 mortgage brokers currently use the platform.

Housing bears are on their "I told you so" tour after the first rate cut in this easing cycle—claiming it barely gave a nudge to Canada's mortgage and real estate markets.

They point to today's CREA data, which showed the benchmark home value rising just 0.1% versus May and home sales creeping up just 3.7% m/m (all seasonally adjusted data).

What the naysayers gloss over is that, minus the BoC's June 5 rate snip, we'd be looking even glummer.

Anyone who cares about property values needs to care about population values. When household formation outpaces housing formation, real estate markets fly as high as a kite, and vice versa.

Since the Liberals announced their non-permanent resident (NPR) cutbacks in March, it's thrown population growth estimates into chaos. Now we're all playing 'Guess the Population' like it's the Price is Right.

Come fall, the government will drop its final NPR estimates. The Immigration Minister's stated goal is to limit temporary residents to 5% of the population by 2027. That's got every Tom, Dick, and Housing Analyst playing fortune-teller with Canada's headcount.

To cut through the noise, we spoke with economist Tony Stillo from Oxford Economics on Tuesday. He shared new insights from his recent paper, which concluded that:

"As soon as we give someone a mortgage they’re thinking about ways to get out of it." — Yousry Bissada, Home Trust CEO

In today's low-volume mortgage market, brokers are hunting leads like they're the last slice of pizza at a frat party. Home Trust CEO Yousry Bissada has ideas to help. In this exclusive one-on-one, he shares two niches that'll increasingly drive volume for astute mortgage marketers.

Bissada, one of the most straight-shooting CEOs (and all-around good guys) in this business, also drops insights on:

• What's holding back mortgage volumes
• How OSFI's new Loan-to-Income limit could play out (including potential rate premiums)
• Open banking as a game changer for deposits
• An autopsy on the death of prime lending at Home Trust.

Virtually every mortgage pro in Canada does some kind of suitability assessment before recommending a mortgage. But there are vast differences in how effectively they analyze client circumstances, compare financing options and make fitting recommendations.

Some regulators, like Ontario's FSRA, mandate comprehensive suitability assessments. Other regulators imply it. And some provinces make little mention of suitability at all.

But regardless of the law, suitability assessments aren't just about covering your backside. Done right, they can give brokers a sales and marketing edge that draws referrals and boosts revenue. Here's how.