The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance presented its report, “Canadian Ideas: Leveraging our Strengths” to the Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) last month, according to the AIC.
The AIC said it welcomed the report and was pleased to see that all of its three recommendations to the committee were contained within the report.
“AIC always appreciates the opportunity to make submissions and testify before the committee, most recently in February 2020,” the AIC said in a statement. “The inclusion of AIC’s recommendations to government in the report is a sign that AIC’s responsibility to protect the public in matters of real estate is leading to sound policy consideration within government.”
AIC’s three recommendations to the committee were:
- The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions exempt residential mortgage renewals from the application of the stress test under B20 Guidelines;
- The government of Canada work with provinces and territories to create a publicly accessible registry of beneficial ownership to help combat money laundering in real estate; and
- The government of Canada will make an immediate investment to improve the quality and availability of flood mapping across the country.
“AIC-designated appraisers are independent and unbiased and thus uniquely positioned to provide expert policy advice regarding real estate issues in Canada,” AIC President Thomas Fox said. “We’d like to thank Committee Chair the Hon. Wayne Easter and the committee members for the opportunity to express our views.”
AIC CEO Keith Lancastle expresses his appreciation as well.
“Our members’ opinions of value provide peace of mind to homeowners and investors, but also reduce the risk to housing and lending markets,” Lancastle said. “Our ongoing dialogue with Ottawa policy-makers is a valued one, and will continue to yield positive results for all Canadians.”