In presentations to the more than 2000 delegates gathered in Montreal for the Annual National Mortgage Conference and Expo, the leadership of The Canadian Institute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders (CIMBL) indicated today that the organization’s transformation into a fully accredited, professional association is on track and that a further 10% growth for Canadian mortgage credit is expected in 2007.

“At our conference a year ago we announced our commitment to professional accreditation in response to feedback from our membership and from the Canadian public,” noted Ron Swift, past chairman, CIMBL. “Today more than 3,000 of our members have the AMP designation. With that in mind we will be changing our name to the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) on May 1, 2007”

The focus on accreditation comes at a time of continued growth in the sector. In its second annual report on Canada’s residential mortgage market CIMBL points out that Canadians are expected to invest an additional $78 billion in mortgages by the end of 2007 to produce a total mortgage credit valued at $808 billion.

“The Canadian mortgage market remains exceedingly robust,” said Paul Grewal, Chairman of the Canadian Institute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders. “The housing market remains very active overall in historic terms, setting new record levels of dollar volume sales. In addition, new lenders and mortgage insurers have entered the market increasing Canadians’ options for mortgage products,” Grewal added. “This will continue to fuel the mortgage market.”

The mortgage credit market is a big component of the Canadian economy. Outstanding Canadian mortgage credit was valued at $687 billion, mid-2006 (compared to $617 billion, mid-2005). Canadian mortgage credit is expected to grow by 10.8% in 2006 for a year end total of $730 billion. Further growth of 10.5% is forecasted for 2007 for a Canadian mortgage credit of $808 billion by year end. Approval activity in 2006 will be approximately $197.6 billion (8.5% higher than in 2005). For 2007, approvals are forecasted to exceed $200 billion for the first time at $204.5 billion (3.5% higher than in 2006).