Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation posted Q2 2025 net income of $419 million, up 15% from $364 million a year ago. Even as an update to macro assumptions sent insurance service expense up nearly ninefold, demand for insured mortgages and securitization stayed strong, cushioning the hit.
Insurance revenue rose 26% to $331 million, lifting the insurance service result 12% to $287 million. Guarantee fees earned increased 9% on higher National Housing Act mortgage-backed securities volumes and recent price increases.
Transactional homeowner units totaled 28,132 in the first half of the year, up 28% from 22,038 a year earlier, helped by lower rates and 30-year amortizations on insured mortgages. Multi-unit insured volumes reached $31.4 billion in H1, up 1% year over year, with new construction volumes at $19.6 billion (also up 1%) but new build units down 9% to 55,551 from 60,692.
“It’s encouraging to see these increases in the number of homeowner units insured… CMHC continues to facilitate the growth of rental supply in Canada with strong uptake of our multi-unit insurance products,” said CFO Michel Tremblay.
The national arrears rate for CMHC-insured mortgages was 0.30% versus 0.28% a year ago, still below historical norms. Claims paid were $4 million in the quarter, down from $9 million last year. In Mortgage Insurance, the combined ratio was 29.9% with a 16.6% operating expense ratio, reflecting disciplined costs despite higher insurance service expense.
The contractual service margin increased since year-end 2024 to $5.7 billion as new business outpaced profit recognition. Insurance-in-force reached $452 billion, well under the $800 billion statutory cap. Mortgage Insurance capital coverage stood at 195% of required, while Mortgage Funding economic capital coverage was 139%.
CMHC guaranteed $58 billion of securities in Q2—$44 billion NHA MBS and $14 billion Canada Mortgage Bonds—bringing year-to-date to $112 billion. Guarantees-in-force reached $569 billion.
MLS home prices averaged $668,000 in H1 2025, down 2% year over year. Sales averaged 454,000 SAAR units, also down 2% from H1 2024. Against that backdrop, H1 funding accelerated to $3.34 billion as Q2 logged $680 million. This is driven by a $516 million increase for the Housing Accelerator Fund and $299 million more for the Canada Community Housing Initiative, partly offset by $71 million lower Affordable Housing Fund and $55 million drop for the Innovation Fund outlays.
Total assets rose to $339.8 billion from $327.4 billion at year-end, Equity of Canada increased to $15.1 billion, and cash and cash equivalents climbed to $2.3 billion. Net cash provided by operating activities was $1.7 billion in the quarter, up from $0.9 billion a year ago.
CMHC gave no formal H2 guidance and noted funding patterns can vary year over year.
Information for this briefing was found via the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
