Cost- The Bank of Canada policy rate has fallen substantially from its 2023 peak, reducing variable-rate payments meaningfully.
- Home prices have softened in the GTA and, to a lesser extent, Vancouver, while holding up better on the Prairies and in Atlantic Canada.
- The mortgage stress test remains fully in force, continuing to limit how much of any rate or price improvement translates into higher approved amounts.
The case that affordability has improved
Two real tailwinds support the idea that affordability has gotten easier since the 2023 peak: the policy rate has fallen substantially, which has lowered variable-rate payments and made fixed-rate renewals somewhat less painful than they would have been at higher rates, and prices have genuinely softened in the GTA and, to a smaller degree, Vancouver — the two markets where affordability pressure has historically been most acute.
The case that it hasn't improved as much as those two facts suggest
The stress test remains unchanged and, as covered in our stress test update, is arguably binding harder at today's contract rates than it did when rates were near zero. That limits how much of the rate decline actually flows through into a bigger approved mortgage amount for a typical buyer. And outside the GTA and Vancouver condo segments specifically, prices in most of the country haven't fallen meaningfully — the Prairies and Atlantic Canada, in particular, have stayed roughly flat to modestly higher over the same period, so buyers there aren't benefiting from a price tailwind at all.
Where that nets out for a typical buyer
Household with $100,000 income, comparing 2023 peak to today
| Rate improvement | Meaningfully lower payment on the same loan |
| Price improvement | GTA/Vancouver condos: real; most other markets: minimal |
| Stress test | Unchanged, still limits qualifying amount |
The honest answer is uneven: a buyer targeting a GTA condo today is in a genuinely better position than in 2023 on both rate and price. A buyer targeting a detached home on the Prairies is benefiting from the rate improvement but not much of a price one. See exactly where you land with the affordability calculator, which applies the current stress test automatically.
- Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) — accessed September 2026
- OSFI — accessed September 2026
- Statistics Canada — accessed September 2026