Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) announced today that it will improve its mortgage loan insurance approval system, through a product enhancement called Self-Employed Simplified, to help more self-employed borrowers realize their dream of homeownership.

“Self-Employed Simplified, will make it easier for certain self-employed borrowers to obtain mortgage loan insurance and, as a result, benefit from competitive interest rates,” said Pierre Serré, CMHC’s vp, insurance product and business development. “This product enhancement will help self-employed borrowers and commissioned salespersons to obtain a CMHC-insured mortgage, much like borrowers who receive a salary or hourly wage from an employer.”

In recognition of the growing proportion of self-employed people in today’s workforce, CMHC has developed tools that help assess the risk associated with borrowers who have difficulty obtaining third-party validation of their income using traditional forms of documentation. Increasingly sophisticated risking models will enable the CMHC to launch this product enhancement effective March 30.

CMHC Self-Employed Simplified is designed for borrowers who have a minimum of two years in the same type of work and a proven track of responsibly managing their debt. CMHC Self-Employed Simplified will insure mortgages on one- or two-unit homeowner properties and will also be available for refinance transactions, for mortgages up to 90% of a home’s value.