OSFI Says Few Lenders Are Near Their Loan-to-Income Limits. Here's What That Means for You
The regulator says only a few federally regulated lenders have come close to their caps on high-multiple mortgages. The caps apply to a lender's portfolio, not to you, but they still shape the file.
The short version
- OSFI told Canadian Mortgage Trends that only a few lenders have come close to their loan-to-income limits, and the overall impact has been minimal so far.
- The limits apply to a lender's portfolio of new uninsured mortgages, not to any one borrower or deal.
- The stress test is still in place alongside the limits, so a high multiple of income is not the only test a file faces.
- OSFI expects the limits to bind more if borrowing and home prices pick up, so a well-prepared file matters in every market.
What OSFI actually said
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) says only a handful of federally regulated lenders have come near the mortgage loan-to-income (LTI) limits it introduced two years ago.
According to Canadian Mortgage Trends, which put the question to the regulator, OSFI said "only a few institutions have come close to their limits" and that the aggregate impact has been minimal under current market conditions. Most lenders, it said, remain well below their thresholds.
The same report says the limits were introduced at the start of each institution's 2025 fiscal year and were retained alongside the mortgage stress test after a pilot, which OSFI confirmed earlier this year.
What the limit is, and what it isn't
Canadian Mortgage Trends describes the limits as a cap on the share of a lender's new uninsured mortgages that can exceed 4.5 times qualifying income. Thresholds vary by institution. Neither that report nor OSFI's own letter publishes each lender's number, so there is no public way to see who sits close to the line.
The part that matters most for a borrower is where the limit applies. In its November 2024 letter to lenders, OSFI wrote that the limits "do not apply to individual borrowers or transactions" and are meant to reduce the risk of high household debt building up inside a lender's mortgage portfolio.
For a sense of scale only: on a household qualifying income of $150,000, 4.5 times is $675,000. That is arithmetic, not a lending offer, and it says nothing about what any lender would approve.
Where borrowing actually stands
Canadian Mortgage Trends reports Bank of Canada data putting the high-LTI share of new uninsured mortgages at 11.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, down from 12.4 per cent a year earlier. OSFI cautioned that these figures are counted by number of loans and use definitions that differ from its compliance data, so the two should not be compared line for line.
That is consistent with OSFI's message. The regulator also said it expects the limits to become more binding when conditions push borrowing and leverage up, such as a stretch of cheaper borrowing or rising home prices. In other words, the cap is quiet because the market is quiet.
What it means when you apply
A lender that is nowhere near its limit has little reason to treat a higher-multiple file differently from any other. A lender that is closer may be more selective about which of those files it takes on. We cannot see any lender's position, and nothing in the reporting says lenders are turning files away. It is simply one more reason a mortgage broker compares more than one lender.
- Know your multiple. Divide the mortgage you are considering by your qualifying income. If it lands well above 4.5, expect the file to get closer attention.
- Keep income documentation clean. Qualifying income is what the lender can verify, which is why self-employed and variable-income files take more paperwork.
- Do not treat the stress test as retired. It still applies. The limits sit beside it rather than replacing it.
- Insured and uninsured are different. The reporting describes limits on uninsured mortgages, which generally means a down payment of 20 per cent or more.
OSFI's 2024 letter also said it will consider whether a separate prescribed minimum qualifying standard for uninsured mortgages is still needed once the limits are fully in place. That is a signal to watch, not a change that has happened.
Nearly thirty years in Canadian financial services, based in Waterloo Region and working across Ontario. Most people are handed a product — you deserve a plan.
Everything here is general information only, subject to full qualification, lender approval and final terms. Figures are as reported by the sources named and change over time.
Sources: Canadian Mortgage Trends — Some lenders have neared mortgage LTI limits, OSFI says (15 October 2026) · OSFI — Uninsured straight switches and portfolio LTI limits (21 November 2024)