How to protect yourself from identity fraud in Canada + MORE Mar 31st

In 2024, Canadians lost a jaw-dropping $638 million to fraud, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). That’s already a hefty $60 million more than losses reported the previous year, but the true total is likely much, much higher—experts at the CAFC say that less than 5% of scams are ever reported.

What we do know, however, is the type of fraud reported most often in Canada in 2024: identity fraud. To pull this off, criminals use phishing scams and other ruses to trick Canadians into revealing personal and financial information. Depending on what they find out, scammers could impersonate you, charge purchases to your credit card, apply for a loan and/or mortgage in your name, drain your bank accounts and more.

Scams are becoming harder to identify. Some fraudsters now use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create highly convincing audio and video “deepfakes” using Canadians’ voices and faces. AI tools are also helping criminals target exponentially more people at once, making scams harder to avoid…

Well, it’s official: the would-be spring housing market is in a slump. Home sales dropped across Canada by 9.8% month over month, and by over 10% annually, according to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The organization which blamed tariff uncertainty.

It’s not surprising that buyers across Canada are hesitant to buy a home right now. Even though the blanket tariffs aren’t yet in force, the constantly changing rules around them has already harmed markets and stoked fears of a Canadian recession. That’s hardly reassuring for someone considering a home purchase if they’re worried about their job and their savings.

However, there’s an upside for buyers continuing to shop for a home. Affordability has largely improved across Canada, mainly due to dropping mortgage rates, which helped offset rising prices in some cities.

The February edition of Ratehub.ca’s Home Affordability Report found the required income to qualify for a mortgage on the average-priced home decreased in eight of 13 major markets…

The Bank of Montreal (BMO) caused some panic last week when it announced the tightening of its mortgage requirements for self-employed workers in the steel and aluminum sectors.

TD is making a long-awaited shift in how it serves mortgage brokers, addressing one of the channel’s biggest frustrations: inconsistent pricing across its sales divisions.