Following a year of unprecedented challenge and disruption, 2021 began with a glimmer of hope for repair and recovery in every aspect of our lives. Despite continued challenges and uncertainty as the year unfolded, hope prevailed. Vaccination rates rose, the economy reopened and we were able to reconnect with friends and family. We now end the year much stronger than we began.
We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the tireless efforts of our heroic front-line healthcare workers, and to the international team of scientists who delivered life-saving vaccines, marking the beginning of the end of the pandemic, and a return to a “new normal”.
As the year winds to a close, we also reflect on the resilience of our team, our partners and our clients, and the many ways, together, we provided help and hope to so many Canadians struggling through the pandemic.
Partnering to provide a lifeline to vulnerable borrowers
In such a financially challenging time, few could have predicted the record-setting activity that would unfold in the Canadian real estate market. Supply remained scarce in the housing market nationwide, pushing prices to historic highs – and the dream of home ownership out of reach for so many. At the same time, further tightening of mortgage lending guidelines left a growing number of borrowers shut out by traditional lenders and scrambling for options.
With the investment products you’ve entrusted with us – and facilitated through our mortgage broker partnerships – we’ve provided a lifeline to those who would have been without options, and facing dire consequences. Together, we’ve put more than $1 billion in the hands of Canadians to help them keep their homes, weather the storm of job loss and precarious employment, and chart a path out of financial hardship.
Continuously innovating to provide compelling investment opportunities
From the very start, product and system innovations have enabled us to provide you with an exceptional investment experience – which will continue in the future. We implemented changes to create a completely digital lending process, and through open banking partnerships made the deal submission process faster and easier by removing the need to collect financial documents from borrowers.
At the same time, as multiple pandemic waves led to further lockdowns, we adapted our lending focus, taking a progressive approach to accommodate those who were laid off or out of work. This meant providing the option of prepaying mortgages for the whole term to give borrowers time to get back on their feet. We also increased the geographic diversification of our mortgage portfolio as remote working arrangements drove many Canadians to relocate to suburban and rural regions.
As a result, we attracted – and continue to attract – a higher volume and a broader array of deals from our broker community. This means we can not only offer you a deeper and more diverse range of investment options, but also deploy your capital with even greater speed – and with the same quality and due diligence you’ve come to expect from us. With compelling yields along with risk mitigation and capital preservation benefits, it’s no surprise mortgages have become one of the fastest growing alternative investments in Canada.
Looking ahead to a promising 2022
In October, we reached the incredible milestone of $1 billion in mortgage fundings. We simply could not have done this without you. We share this success with you, and we thank you for your continued trust and confidence.
As 2021 winds to a close, the promise of a new year brings an opportunity to reimagine how we can continue to make a difference in the lives of Canadians who don’t fit into the traditional lending box, and in doing so, provide innovative and compelling investment opportunities.
On behalf of the entire CMI team, we wish you a very happy holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous New Year. We hope you get a chance to rest, relax and enjoy time with friends and family. The holidays look very different this year, and that is truly something to celebrate.
Sincerely,
Bryan Jaskolka
CEO, CMI Financial Group