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Tal’s comments come as the housing market has cooled, but as some Canadians are still finding real estate out of their price range. In its budget last month, the federal government introduced a first-time homebuyer incentive program to try to give those would-be owners a hand.

A softer housing market has also weighed on firms that do business in the sector. Canadian banks have seen their rate of mortgage originations slow and the real-estate industry has complained that the stress test has made it tougher for homebuyers to get a loan.

On Monday, the Bank of Canada released its latest business outlook survey, which noted “continued weakness in housing-related activity in some regions.”

“During 2018, growth in mortgage originations continued to decline,” Tal wrote. “The value of new mortgages fell by eight per cent (or $25 billion) during the year. Note, however, that the slowing in the pace of mortgage origination growth started well before B-20 was introduced.”

The stress test was part of a revised guideline for residential mortgage underwriting, which was known as B-20. It sets out that the minimum qualifying rate on uninsured mortgages of whichever is higher: the Bank of Canada’s five-year benchmark rate or the rate on the contract plus 200 basis points. It also preceded a stress-test that was slapped on insured mortgages back in 2016.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, which oversees federally regulated lenders, introduced the new stress test for uninsured mortgages. In February, an assistant superintendent defended the measure as prudent during a lunchtime speech in downtown Toronto, although they also suggested that the regulator could make changes if necessary.