RRSP As A Downpayment

Cynthia Dreger • September 11, 2024

Did you know there’s a program that allows you to use your RRSP to help come up with your downpayment to buy a home? It’s called the Home Buyer’s Plan (or HBP for short), and it’s made possible by the government of Canada. While the program is pretty straightforward, there are a few things you need to know.


Your first home (with some exceptions)


To qualify, you need to be buying your first home. However, when you look into the fine print, you find that technically, you must not have owned a home in the last four years or have lived in a house that your spouse owned in the previous four years.


Another exception is for those with a disability or those helping someone with a disability. In this case, you can withdraw from an RRSP for a home purchase at any time.


You have to pay back the RRSP


You have 15 years to pay back the RRSP, and you start the second year after the withdrawal. While you won’t pay any tax on this particular withdrawal, it does come with some conditions. You’ll have to pay back the total amount you withdrew over 15 years.


The CRA will send you an HBP Statement of Account every year to advise how much you owe the RRSP that year. Your repayments will not count as contributions as you’ve already received the tax break from those funds.


Access to funds


The funds you withdraw from the RRSP must have been there for at least 90 days. You can still technically withdraw the money from your RRSP and use it for your down-payment, but it won’t be tax-deductible and won’t be part of the HBP.


You can access up to $35,000 individually or $70,00 per couple through the HBP. 


Please connect anytime if you’d like to know more about the HBP and how it could work for you as you plan your downpayment. It would be a pleasure to work with you.


CYNTHIA DREGER

Bank of Canada Rate Announcement Oct 29th, 2025

By Cynthia Dreger • October 29, 2025
Bank of Canada lowers policy rate to 2¼%. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario October 29, 2025 The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, with the Bank Rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%. With the effects of US trade actions on economic growth and inflation somewhat clearer, the Bank has returned to its usual practice of providing a projection for the global and Canadian economies in this Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Because US trade policy remains unpredictable and uncertainty is still higher than normal, this projection is subject to a wider-than-usual range of risks. While the global economy has been resilient to the historic rise in US tariffs, the impact is becoming more evident. Trade relationships are being reconfigured and ongoing trade tensions are dampening investment in many countries. In the MPR projection, the global economy slows from about 3¼% in 2025 to about 3% in 2026 and 2027. In the United States, economic activity has been strong, supported by the boom in AI investment. At the same time, employment growth has slowed and tariffs have started to push up consumer prices. Growth in the euro area is decelerating due to weaker exports and slowing domestic demand. In China, lower exports to the United States have been offset by higher exports to other countries, but business investment has weakened. Global financial conditions have eased further since July and oil prices have been fairly stable. The Canadian dollar has depreciated slightly against the US dollar. Canada’s economy contracted by 1.6% in the second quarter, reflecting a drop in exports and weak business investment amid heightened uncertainty. Meanwhile, household spending grew at a healthy pace. US trade actions and related uncertainty are having severe effects on targeted sectors including autos, steel, aluminum, and lumber. As a result, GDP growth is expected to be weak in the second half of the year. Growth will get some support from rising consumer and government spending and residential investment, and then pick up gradually as exports and business investment begin to recover. Canada’s labour market remains soft. Employment gains in September followed two months of sizeable losses. Job losses continue to build in trade-sensitive sectors and hiring has been weak across the economy. The unemployment rate remained at 7.1% in September and wage growth has slowed. Slower population growth means fewer new jobs are needed to keep the employment rate steady. The Bank projects GDP will grow by 1.2% in 2025, 1.1% in 2026 and 1.6% in 2027. On a quarterly basis, growth strengthens in 2026 after a weak second half of this year. Excess capacity in the economy is expected to persist and be taken up gradually. CPI inflation was 2.4% in September, slightly higher than the Bank had anticipated. Inflation excluding taxes was 2.9%. The Bank’s preferred measures of core inflation have been sticky around 3%. Expanding the range of indicators to include alternative measures of core inflation and the distribution of price changes among CPI components suggests underlying inflation remains around 2½%. The Bank expects inflationary pressures to ease in the months ahead and CPI inflation to remain near 2% over the projection horizon. With ongoing weakness in the economy and inflation expected to remain close to the 2% target, Governing Council decided to cut the policy rate by 25 basis points. If inflation and economic activity evolve broadly in line with the October projection, Governing Council sees the current policy rate at about the right level to keep inflation close to 2% while helping the economy through this period of structural adjustment. If the outlook changes, we are prepared to respond. Governing Council will be assessing incoming data carefully relative to the Bank’s forecast. The Canadian economy faces a difficult transition. The structural damage caused by the trade conflict reduces the capacity of the economy and adds costs. This limits the role that monetary policy can play to boost demand while maintaining low inflation. The Bank is focused on ensuring that Canadians continue to have confidence in price stability through this period of global upheaval. Information note The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is December 10, 2025. The Bank’s next MPR will be released on January 28, 2026. Read the October 29th, 2025 Monetary Report

If You’re Looking to Sell Your Property, Start Here

By Cynthia Dreger • October 22, 2025
If you’ve been thinking about selling your existing property, for whatever reason, it would be in your best interest to connect with an independent mortgage professional before calling your real estate agent or listing it yourself. And while talking with your mortgage professional might not sound like the most logical place to start, here are a few scenarios that explain why it makes the most sense. If you’re buying a new property If you’re selling your property, chances are, you’ll have to move somewhere! So, if you plan on buying a new property using the equity from the sale of your existing property, chances are you’ll need a new mortgage. Don’t assume that just because you’ve secured mortgage financing before, that you’ll qualify again. Mortgage rules are constantly changing; make sure you have a pre-approval in place before you list your property. Also, by connecting with a mortgage professional first, you can look into your existing mortgage terms. You might be able to port your mortgage instead of getting a new one, which could save you some money. If you’re not buying a new property Even if you aren’t buying a new property and want to sell your existing property, it’s still a good idea to connect with a mortgage professional first, as we can look at the cost of breaking your mortgage together. Unless you have an open mortgage, or a line of credit, there will be a penalty to break your mortgage. The goal is to work on a plan to minimize your penalty. Because of how mortgage penalties work, sometimes it’s just a matter of waiting a few months to save thousands. You'll never know unless you take a look at the details. Marital breakdown The simple truth is that marriages break down. When that happens, often, people want closure, and unfortunately, they make decisions without really thinking them through or seeing the full picture. So, instead of simply selling the family home because that feels like the only option, please know that special programs exist that allow one party to buy out the former spouse. The key here is to have a legal separation agreement is in place. If you’d like to discuss the sale of your property and your plans for the future, connect anytime. It would be a pleasure to work with you!