The unprecedented global health crisis had a huge impact
Despite a hectic and uncertain year chiefly defined by the COVID-19 global health emergency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported robust financial results for 2020, with revenue totalling around $8 billion.
This sum included $5 billion in government funding for housing programs, particularly new funding for the federal government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan and ongoing funding for the National Housing Strategy (NHS).
Revenue from CMHC’s commercial activities, mortgage insurance, and mortgage funding was approximately $3 billion, generating net income of $1.7 billion.
“Throughout the year, CMHC continued to deliver programs and initiatives, including new measures under the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, and we did so while supporting the stability of Canada’s financial system during a challenging time,” said Lisa Williams, chief financial officer of CMHC.
Read more: New CMHC initiative to focus on rapid creation of new housing supply
Aside from 65,900 cumulative repaired housing units under NHS initiatives, CMHC reported that its homeowner insurance products helped buyers purchase more than 94,000 homes across Canada, with the insured rate in rural areas exceeding 16%.
Despite the less than welcome surprise of the pandemic and the new reality that came along with it, the Crown corporation said that it “did not skip a beat” in helping Canadians continuously “without an interruption or lag in service.”
“The agility to do our work efficiently also helped to put forward direct measures to assist Canadians and to quickly implement measures to mitigate risks in the financial system and housing markets,” CMHC said.
These crucial steps included the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance for small businesses, the revised Insured Mortgage Purchase Program, and the large-scale payment deferral program – all of which proved instrumental to keeping a majority of Canadians financially afloat last year.
Read more: CMHC: Mortgages represented vast majority of all consumer debt deferred
Significant investments in cloud-based technology in 2019 proved fruitful for CMHC, allowing the corporation to “focus on employee well-being.”
“It also helps us to better serve our clients and support government programs,” CMHC said. “Our changes to modernize the way we work have given us the ability to adapt and continue to move forward despite the challenges the pandemic has presented us. It allowed us to be ready to answer the call when Canadians needed it most.”
