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So unlike virtually every other business, big chunks of both the banks’ assets and their liabilities are guaranteed, protected from the risk that management might make a mistake.

Then of course there’s the promise of a government bailout if things go wrong for the banks. That support has always been expected but it became official earlier this year when the banking regulator designated all six lenders as “systemically important,” or too big to fail. To be fair, plenty of other countries have similar guarantees for their own too-big-to-fail lenders. But there are few places where the too-big-to-fail list encompasses virtually the entire banking industry, as it does here.

The banks have benefited handsomely from this arrangement, spinning off stellar earnings going back decades, but now some observers are starting to raise questions.

The main concern is around the impact of the CMHC. Critics worry that it’s massive presence in the mortgage market — roughly 62% of home loans in Canada are insured — has helped drive the recent run-up in prices. And given that the CMHC guarantee insulates banks from losses, some analysts say that it may have provided incentive to loosen up on credit standards. If that is indeed the case, then there is a risk that if the housing market goes into a serious correction, the CMHC could be overwhelmed by losses, leaving taxpayers on the hook.

For their part, the banks and the CMHC have always denied that such risks might exist, arguing that the government insurer is well capitalized with a stellar track record. But amid growing fears about not just the health of Canadian real estate but also the wider economy, both sides of the debate are beginning to look at what-if scenarios that might play out if housing goes into reverse and mortgage defaults start to pile up.

In a worst-case scenario, Mr. Reucassel’s argument goes, the government could require the banks to chip in and help out a battered CMHC through a tax or some other kind levy.

“In our view, if the CMHC requires recapitalization, then the banks would be subject to some manageable tax, or fee, over an extended time period to recapitalize the CMHC.”