Canada does not have a Freddie or Fannie and it has a home ownership rate equal or better than the U.S.; about 60%.
It does have a national agency, which offers some things like our FHA and some other things too. But, it also works on a policy principal that assumes home ownership is NOT necessarily the right thing or the best thing for everyone.
Also, Canada’s mortgages
(1) are not so highly securitized as in the U.S.; most mortgages are held to maturity by the lender;
(2) you are never able to walk-away from a mortgage debt (as you can in the U.S.) if you default, it follows you;
(3) mortgage interest is not an income tax deduction.
What one really has to ask is:
how is it that the Canadians can ignore most of the shibboleths of U.S. housing policies, and obtain equal or better home ownership rates, if those shibboleths are so essential to high home ownership rates?
Answer: THEY’RE NOT!!!!!
Then why do we do them?
Politicians buy votes with them; that is their essential purpose and function.
Another shibboleth to add would be the role of monetary policy and “low” Fed interest rates that are being blamed for the recent bubble and financial crisis. Canada operated in a relatively similar interest rate environment.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2546103/posts?page=11#11 - Why Canada’s Housing Market Didn’t Crash