“Speaking with (executives) at some of these credit unions, the message is that they’ve seen considerable growth in products like contract-rate qualification mortgages,” McLister said. In 2012, the federal government paved the way for credit unions to expand beyond provincial borders to become federal financial institutions, but there was very little uptake. “We offer contract-rate qualification mortgages in some instances,” said Teresa Pagnutti, senior manager of public relations at the St. Catharines, Ont.-based Meridian. The credit unions’ gains were achieved even as the number of homes bought and sold was falling. “Only a small percentage (of credit unions that offer them) promote contract-rate qualifying publicly or to third parties” such as brokers, McLister said.
