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CMHC self-employed program coming to an end Effective May 30, 2014, CMHC is doing yet another round of tightening of approval standards. To begin, self employed borrowers with less than 20% down will now have to fully document their income (the end of so called liars loans). This change seems like a bit of an attack on the self employed, an increasingly important part of our economy. There has always been a balance to be struck between aggressive accounting practices and declaring enough income to keep your accountant happy. However, given the higher insurance premiums and tighter beacon score standards I am fully opposed to this change. The second major shift was limiting borrowers to only one CMHC insured mortgage. This won't have a huge impact in lower priced markets such as Quinte West , but could fundamentally change markets in major cities by making it more difficult for parents to cosign for kids...... Thankfully Genworth has decided not to make the same changes for now. Regardless, if you are looking to be able to borrow with a limited down payment in either scenario, you are best to start the process sooner rather than later.