New housing rules to curb exposure to rising debt: BoC + MORE Dec 15th

OTTAWA —The Bank of Canada is expecting new mortgage rules to help ease a continued rise in household indebtedness that it says has left the country increasingly exposed to an economic shock.
The central bank warned Thursday that the still-climbing levels of debt and the growing proportion of highly indebted households in many cities amid low interest rates have opened up a larger weak spot in Canada’s financial stability.
In its latest financial system review, the bank says at a national level the proportion of highly indebted borrowers with mortgage-to-income ratios above 450 per cent reached 18 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, up from 13 per cent two years earlier.

Hard to predict impacts of new housing rules: Morneau »

The report said high home prices have helped fuel growth in the proportion of these highly indebted borrowers in cities like Toronto, where in the last two years it increased to 49 per cent from 32 per cent, and in Vancouver, where it rose to 39 per cent from 31 per cent…

Falling affordability and tighter mortgage rules are expected to contribute next year to a drop in sales from record levels in both B.C. and Ontario, the Canadian Real Estate Association says.

Travel company says it will decide in coming months whether to buy remaining stake in hotel venture or sell its 35-per-cent share

Bombardier still looking for federal cash despite improving financial positionYorkton This Week (press release)MONTREAL – Bombardier says it's still looking for federal financial assistance despite having enough cash to achieve to its turnaround plan. Chief executive Alain Bellemare told investors Thursday that the request made a year ago for US$1 billion in …and more »

The second episode of the Canadian Couch Potato podcast is now available:

Many thanks to the thousands of people who downloaded and listened to the debut episode, and for sending your feedback and suggestions for future topics. After an initial delay, the podcast is now available through iTunes as well as all major podcasting apps, so please subscribe if you haven’t done so already. If you enjoy what you hear, I invite you review the podcast on iTunes, which helps more listeners hear about it.
Our new episode features financial planner Sandi Martin, who will be well-known to readers of Canadian financial blogs: she has her own blog at Spring Personal Finance, and has been a contributor to Boomer & Echo. Sandi is also one of the creators of the Because Money video and podcast series.
In our interview, Sandi and I discuss the important (and frequently misunderstood) differences between financial planning and investment management. The media often lump these two services together, but they are fundamentally different: in all provinces except Quebec, financial planning is not even regulated…