OSFI Mortgage Stress Test (B-20)
Also known as: Stress test · B-20 · Mortgage qualifying rate
OSFI Guideline B-20 requires federally-regulated lenders to qualify mortgage borrowers at the greater of (a) the contract rate plus 2 percentage points or (b) the Bank of Canada qualifying rate (5.25%).
OSFI Guideline B-20 — the federal mortgage stress test — requires every federally-regulated lender (banks, federal credit unions) to qualify uninsured mortgage borrowers at the greater of (a) the contract rate plus 2 percentage points, or (b) the Bank of Canada qualifying rate (currently 5.25%). The same higher-of test is applied to high-ratio insured mortgages by CMHC.
Effective November 21, 2024, federally-regulated lenders may renew an existing uninsured mortgage with the same lender WITHOUT re-applying the stress test, even where the borrower would no longer qualify under current B-20 rules. This applies to renewals only; refinances and switch-lender renewals still trigger the stress test.
Related terms
- CMHC Default Insurance Cap — The maximum home purchase price eligible for CMHC default mortgage insurance — raised from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 effective December 15, 2024.
- 30-Year Amortization Eligibility — A December 15, 2024 reform permitting 30-year amortization on CMHC-insured mortgages for first-time home buyers (any property) and any buyer purchasing newly constructed housing.
- Gross Debt Service Ratio (GDS) — A federal mortgage qualification ratio measuring annualized housing costs (mortgage P&I, property tax, heat, plus 50% of strata fees) against gross household income — generally capped at 39% under OSFI Guideline B-20 lender practice.
- Total Debt Service Ratio (TDS) — A federal mortgage qualification ratio measuring all annualized debt obligations (housing costs plus car loans, credit cards, lines of credit, student loans) against gross household income — generally capped at 44% under OSFI Guideline B-20 lender practice.
- Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) — An investor-side mortgage underwriting ratio measuring net operating income against annual debt service — DSCR ≥ 1.
See also
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@misc{bronsonjob-osfi_b20_stress_test,
author = {Job, Bronson},
title = {{OSFI Guideline B-20 mortgage stress test}},
howpublished = {BC Real Estate Codex},
year = {2026},
url = {https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#osfi.b20.stress_test},
urldate = {2026-05-08},
note = {Fact ID: osfi.b20.stress_test, version 1.}
}Job, B. (2026). OSFI Guideline B-20 mortgage stress test. *BC Real Estate Codex*. Retrieved 2026-05-08, from https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#osfi.b20.stress_test
OSFI Guideline B-20 mortgage stress test — Bronson Job, BC Real Estate Codex (2026-05-08). https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#osfi.b20.stress_test
Fact id: osfi.b20.stress_test · v1 · machine-readable: /api/v1/facts/by-id/osfi.b20.stress_test.json
Verified sources (1)Click to expand
Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.
- OSFIretrieved 2026-05-08Guideline B-20: Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedureshttps://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/Eng/fi-if/rg-ro/gdn-ort/gl-ld/Pages/b20.aspx
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