The news was loudly announced on newsprint, radio, TV and social media. Everybody now knows – the Canadian government has changed the mortgage rules by reducing the maximum amortization period to 25 years and limiting refinancing to only 80% of the value of the home. There are other changes, however, they may affect limited number of wealthy individuals.

After the dust is settled and nobody seems to talks about it anymore, I decided to go back and see how the changes introduced by the government over the last few years have affected the average Canadian family. The effect is quite significant. If this last pull on the strings does not result in a desirable cooling of the housing market, I expect the next government move to be a different one. But, look at the story of Jim and Marie below and see how their dream home shrunk to… virtually nothing.